Bistrot le Chat Barbu — Restaurant in Town of Rosendale

La Chat. Appropriately named. We decided to venture away from La Carnard in Kingston to try the new French Bistro in Rosendale. That was a bad idea. We started with the bread plate. We ordered the whipped ricotta, mushrooms and butter. The bread was bland, definitely store bought, and a low effort attempt. The mushrooms were good. I ordered a small risotto and a French Soup. Undoubtedly, the worst French Onion soup I’ve ever had. The broth was very wine heavy, watery, and unseasoned. The onions were too sweet and the overall flavor profile was just unappealing. My girlfriend got the steak frites, ordered medium rare. The steak came out well, the frites were out of the frozen food section at Topps and the presentation was poor. The risotto was inedible. To their credit, we had 1-2 bites of our meals and expressed our dissatisfaction - we offered to pay, yet they refused, apologized and we left. The restaurant was virtually empty at 6:45PM on a warm Friday night. I can see why. The ambience was uninspiring, and the overall experience was La chat…and not in a good way. If you want to experience excellent French Food, go to La Canard. May I suggest that the La chat chefs go to learn what properly prepared French cuisine tastes and looks like. Highly...

Please do not lie about how food is prepared 😥

I got two sides of what were supposed to be roasted potatoes. Unfortunately, they appeared to be deep fried, which I can't have due to stomach issues. I called to confirm and the woman I spoke to was kind but said she confirmed with the chef they weren't deep fried. Then I check the other box and find a french fry with them that smells the exact same, and had the same consistency, thus confirming they were indeed deep fried.

It's a very lazy practice to deep fry roasted potatoes, so that in and of itself is a problem. But to lie about it is reckless, especially when I explained I needed to know because of a health issue. I hate wasting food but now these need to be thrown out.

Please please don't lie about how food is prepared as certain people have specific allergies or medical conditions that limit what they can eat. My issue causes pain and discomfort but some people can have serious reactions when they are lied to about things like this. Please be honest...

Was anxious to try Le Chat Barbu, which I did during restaurant week. The prix fixe menu ($39.99) offered the typical 3-course dinner experience, which was varied and thought out. While my wife found her meal mostly memorable, I found the night more hit and miss. The pork rillette platter was fine but undistinguished. The moule frites were a surprising disappointment. The mussels were well cooked but the broth was thin and lacking in flavor -- with no notes of wine, garlic, herbs, cream, etc. normally associated with a broth that one usually looks forward to sopping up with bread (Bread was $5 extra). My wife's boeuf bourguinon was tasty but uninspired and plated unappetizingly. The French onion soup was good but the deep beef broth flavor was a tad lacking. The two dessert offerings were fine. Things will undoubtedly be enhanced when the restaurant obtains a liquor license. The note on the menu automatically adding 20% to give the staff "a living wage" might raise a few eyebrows. Willing to give LCB a...