Maximilien Restaurant — Restaurant in Seattle

We came to celebrate my wife's birthday. When I mentioned that to the guy taking the reservation, he couldn't have cared less. He said "yeah yeah every table at the restaurant has an incredible view" which was not true, some tables have an incredible view, and some upstairs have a view through some small windows 6 feet away. So if he views wooden paneling as incredible, he was correct

When we arrived, we were met and taken to our table immediately (very nice, actually). We asked about switching the seating, and he told us that outside was cold and we agreed, we didn't want to sit in the cold. The table was very nice, and tucked away in the back of the restaurant

Very shortly afterwards, we placed our drink order and waited. After waiting for 5ish minutes, we were asked what our name was for the reservation. We told them, and then waited some more. Apparently, there was another party with the same last name scheduled for the next day, but instead arrived that day. Either way, the restaurant had made the decision to wait until that disaster was handled, to ensure that we actually had a reservation before they served us

We were able to order, the waiter made some logical recommendations on what to order for appetizers and entrees, and we waited. We ordered the french baguette, Les Moules Marinière (mussels), and Steak Fries (steak and fries). It was then that I went to the waiter to again tell the restaurant about my wife's birthday. I asked him to bring out the creme brulee, and he said yes, it was no issue, the creme brulee comes with some stuff on the side and it makes a great presentation. Creme brulee is normally served by itself, but the try-hard frenchies that start restaurants in America occasionally try a bit too hard. Either way, no issue, all was going pretty well

When the food arrived, it was vastly underwhelming. The french baguette was incredible, but not warm. The french fries were incredible as well, but that was it. The steak that was ordered rare came out with a warm pink center. The salad came out on the same plate as the steak and fries, and turned into lukewarm, wilted lettuce. The mussels were mediocre at best, at worst, a bucket of mussels with butter, garlic and shallots dumped on top and heated up. Again, the fries were incredible. Even if they're the easiest item on the menu

Meanwhile, that party that was there on the wrong day got seated right next to us, and then received much more attention than we did. If they're a day early, they can wait a bit longer for their stuff, in my opinion. It also happened to be someone's birthday in that party, and they received their cake with candles before we got our plates cleared after the entrees

Once I finally re-asked for the creme brulee to be sent, we received Profiteroles au chocolat, which yes did look good but that was about it. My wife doesn't like chocolate, thus, creme brulee. However, the dessert that was sent (after I had time to grow a beard) has chocolate in the name. Now the waiter couldn't have known how much she hates chocolate, but the miscommunication was just characteristic of the night - bumbling, sloppy, and forgettable.

The decor was alright, nothing special, the ambiance was not very private but passable for what the restaurant is, and the food didn't stand out. If it wasn't for the name and the location, this restaurant wouldn't make it. Sad to say, because even with all the online positivity for this restaurant, I would not recommend this restaurant, even to my worst enemy (my worst enemy deserves...

Food reviews...take with several grains of salt. Someone who thinks Applebee's is a great place to eat out is not reliable when they say "BEST __ I EVER HAD!" Go to a foodie. Maximilien is not fine dining, it's an introduction to someone who's never had French food and is curious.

Some thoughts on our visit from early September 2023. We had Onion soup, Baguette with Imported Butter, Escargot. Foie Gras Frais, and Basque Burnt Cheesecake. We did NOT get Caviar, which is what we came for (more on this later).

First off, EVERYTHING needed salt, but you don't want to upset the chef at a French restaurant, so we just had a bland meal. No salt on the table for adding to dishes

ONION SOUP: -Barely ANY cheese -More sweet than savory (salt lacking), MILD broth. Verdict: go buy Trader Joe's frozen French Onion Soup if you want lots of gooey cheese, tons of onion flavor, rich broth.

BAGUETTE & BUTTER bread was fine. Butter may be imported but I'd be surprised if it's not bought from a local upscale grocer. They gave only a tiny pat from the end of what looked like a freshly-unwrapped foil stick of butter. Thankfully the server offered more. Verdict: when I visited Paris and stayed at a boutique hotel, the butter they served there changed my understanding of how fresh and sweet butter can be. I've been trying to find something like it for over 25 years but have struck out each time on this continent. Including at Maximilien.

ESCARGOT garlic flavor essentially indiscernible does this kitchen even have salt? tried dipping bread into melted garlic butter drippings but gave up. No flavor. Verdict: purely for novelty for first-timers. I recommend skipping it here if you've had it elsewhere

FOIE GRAS FRAIS a whole liver, it seems, served as one piece seared but cold, not crispy. I guess "Frais" here means "rare---cold and not cooked through”. Nothing seared about that! chutney pretty flavorless no seasoning? Just seared with bland chutney? I gave most of my foie gras away Verdict: get yourself a properly sliced, seared, and seasoned dish elsewhere

BURNT BASQUE CHEESECAKE Ordinary cheesecake you could find at the supermarket but with a toasty crust. Whee! Verdict: We didn't finish it.

CAVIAR could not obtain asked server to determine source/origin of caviar. She spends a few minutes in the kitchen then gets back to us. We order it as our first item. she was just in the kitchen moments ago, right? Well she goes again to place our order, only to return saying they're out of caviar.... Verdict: call in advance to make sure they have some.

Now onto the dining EXPERIENCE Service. Perfunctory. Sweet enough server, but seemed uninterested in our enjoyment. Distracted? Bored? All plates were cold, and our food cooled commensurately. Service charge: we knew about it beforehand so it wasn't a surprise, but prices were already easily within range for an increase that nobody would complain about or even notice. Instead, they offend us with this nonsense. It "says" this charge helps pay more to untipped staff. If true, maybe those staff should care more about the work they do? Just do whatever many other restaurants do: take a percentage of the tab and add it behind the scenes to the back of house staff. If the server does a lousy job (didn't happen at Maximilien) and gets stiffed on a tip but still has to pay a percentage to the kitchen, so what? She'll try harder next time and...

This is like my 4th time in Maximilien. We really like the vibe and food (specially the bread which is one of the best you can find in Seattle). For this review I am going to talk about the Christmas Eve Dinner.

Vibe 5 stars Overall the time ran by so quickly as we enjoyed the atmosphere and feeling. The accordion music was great and the player made the time fantastic. Christmas decorations were on spot, and looked lovely.

Service 3 stars We arrived a bit earlier so we could get a spot with a view. However, instead of asking us where we wanted to be seated, they brought us to the corner with no view (the worst table in the place). Not really sure why, we had to ask the server if we could move to a better spot before they were taken. They told us we could move to another table with a view (great!).

Service was attentive and explained to us the food and drinks. However, it felt a bit rushed and spoke too fast. Not sure if they were a bit short on staff or if there was a rush to serve all the food faster. Would have appreciated a slower pace to get a cozier feeling.

Finally, I was a bit surprised that the bread for the soup was charged extra when the check arrived. Not that it is a lot of money, but not sure why that specific item was not included in the overall Christmas Dinner if the food menu was "fixed".

Food 4 stars Food in general was great, with some fantastic dishes and others more regular. We paired the Wine Pairing to match our dinner. Here is a summary of the menu:

Foie Gras toast & chutney - 5 stars, very well done and delicious. Just wished I had more of it! Smoked salmon and brioche with pickled red onions - 4 stars. Salmon was delicious, nothing special about this dish. Cream of turnips and roasted garlic - 4 stars. Great cream, but nothing special about it. Monkfish braised in a lobster and fennel broth, carrots and leeks julienne - 4 stars. Fish was seasoned well with some pepper touches that made it interesting in the mouth. The sauce was very good Roasted herb beef tenderloin, lobster tail, Brandy and black pepper sauce - 5 stars, meat and lobster were really well done and the sauce was really tasty. Well balanced flavors with the touches of mushroom. Tiramisu - 4.5 stars: creamy...