After this meal we felt robbed.  Robbed of $262.  The vibe was tragically unhip.  At 46, we were easily the youngest in the restaurant save for one table with two young couples.  I did see one of the guys chug his whole glass of wine, which made me laugh.  The place had that kind of effect.  We were not planning on cocktails, but we HAD to have them, it was so uptight.  We intentionally made our reservation for 7:30, as the pre-theater pre-fixe ends at 7.  Little did we know the 8pm opera crowd would push the envelope to the last minute.

The place needs a remodel.  The bar in the front has a linoleum looking floor.  Even some carpeting might warm it up and stop the thunderous noise.  The chairs all have shiny metal curved bases, which looks super cheap modern.  I was thinking 80’s.  However, I knew in the back of my mind that Boulud Sud was new?  It opened in May 2011.  So I don’t get it.  We were seated in the corner by the drapes.  Once, by the way, you are seated, it is difficult to navigate out.  When all of the tables are full, the metal chair bases jut into the narrow aisles.  And did I mention the roaring noise level?  We think there was music, but we couldn’t hear it.

 

One other huge issue, they had the air conditioning blasting to make up for the crowd, but man was it COLD.  There was a draft blowing on us.  Finally, somebody at the next table complained and suddenly the breeze stopped.  But from that point it took only about 10 minutes to get hot, so I get why they were doing it.  The ceiling is quite high, so I am surprised they have an issue.

Ok, now to discuss the food.  Sadly, it was way too dark for pictures, as I would have liked to illustrate how truly lame this meal was.  I had perused the menu in advance and thought it looked pretty great.  We had an unexpected large lunch, so I changed it up to some lighter options.  By the way, lunch at Angolo Soho blew this away.

FROM THE FIELD
Honey Comb and Lavender Infused Gin, Lemon
14.

This was one of the more amusing parts of the meal – Steve’s cocktail.  I was like, what is it called, from the BATH?  It was like a lavender bath.  Who doesn’t love the smell of lavender?  The saddest part was he could have drunk it in one sip.  This picture is a pro shot with twice the actual content of the drink.  They should at least serve it in a highball glass.  But we got a good laugh out of it.  I nursed my $20 wine by the glass. A Montrachet which was lovely.  The pour was surprisingly good.

SEA URCHIN & CRAB TARTINE
Green Olive, Lemon Cream, Seaweed Rye Bread
20.

This was 4 small crackers frighteningly similar to Nabisco Wheat thins.  On them were lump crab meat that smelled fishy when they set down the plate.  On the top was a dollop of sea urchin and parsley.  At $5 a pop we missed the point.  I was expecting a melt in your mouth experience or something.  Blah.  Again, the pro photo is not the proportion we received.  Double the crab, 1/2 the sea urchin, different garnish.

TUSCAN KALE SALAD
Dried Cranberry, Pine Nut, Pecorino Romano
17.

The kale salad was good.  It is a rather huge trend at the moment and I’m not getting why.  Most of them are pretty awful.  The best kale so far was at Fatty Cue where they didn’t lightly steam it to a state of limpness first.  Was it $17 good?  $10? $7?

MARRAKESH LAMB TERRINE
Ras El Hanout, Sweet Potato, Eggplant
23.

A terrine is like a pate with coarsely chopped pieces of meat.  And this was by far the best item I ate.  The sweet potato puree and babaganoush were great spreads and the entire thing was served with toasted bread.  The moroccan spices were great and this truly had some flavors.  But for the love, this was an appetizer for $23. Enough said.

NIMAN RANCH BEEF DUO
Parsnip, Black Trumpet, Sauce Bordelaise
39.

Steve ordered the only entree and it was rather petite.  The Beef Duo was beef cheek and braised short ribs.  We both preferred the cheek preparation with the parsnip. The short ribs were good, but short ribs, like kale salad are rather popular at the moment and other places excel in short ribs.  Again, $39 was highway robbery.

Since we were feeling a bit unsatisfied, we decided to have a dessert with digestifs and kick back for a few minutes.

POMME CROUSTILLANTE
Baked Green Apple, Caramel Semolina, Apple Cider Foam, Ginger Gelato
14.

We were a bit surprised to find the apple cold, but OK.  The oddest part was the rock hard florescent green coating we had to hack through before eating.  This photo does not capture the food coloring green we had.  The ginger gelato was a bit lacking and I have no idea where any caramel came into the picture.  Meh.

We paired it with 2 Tawny Ports at $20 each.  Geez.  But they were the highlight of the meal.

On the rare occasion that we go uptown, we often find the vibe to be uptight and uncomfortable and so uncool.  And the prices are just a gouging for the ‘well-heeled’ aging customers with too much money on hand.  And I must say, we are not newcomers to expensive food.  But damn it in this day and age it had better be WORTH the money.  This will make me question my next reservation at an expensive uptown restaurant.  We should have just booked Daniel.  Period.

http://www.bouludsud.com
24 West 64th Street – Midtown West