Had the opportunity to visit Le Bernardin last night. Considering I am a seafood lover, and their 4 star review in the NY Times, I had extremely high hopes for evening. Simply, these hopes weren’t met, and Le Bernardin is perhaps my worst 3* experience of all time.
Food: The majority of the dishes I was served throughout the tasting menu were average to below-average. Some notable misses include the Taragi, Lobster and Fluke. There seems to be a seriously lack of inspiration in the kitchen as everything felt like it was appeasing a faceless corporate atmosphere. There wasn’t one ‘standout’ course from the evening but simply a few above average ones. Those included the Scallop-Caviar, Halibut and Citrus ‘Madeline’. Finally, as a side note, compared to other 3* the bread service was disappointing.
Atmosphere: Le Bernardin certainly needs some updating. The carpet and wood paneling along the walls are visibly old and dusty. Regarding the clientele, Le Bernardin is truly a corporate affair. Obviously, a lot of suits and ties, with only a few couples and families mixed in. Additionally, a small point, but the dining room is extremely dark and makes it hard to see the food’s full presentation.
Service: I was very disappointed by the impersonal service at Le Bernardin. My meal was rushed; we ate all 9 courses (plus bread) in 2 hours flat. In general, I felt was though servers had a very corporate and standoffish feel.
Aftermath: After my meal at Le Bernardin I began to feel sick. In fact, 5 hours after the completion of my meal, I got food poisoning and had multiple ‘reversal of fortunes’. Simply, it is unacceptable for a 3* restaurant (charging $310 for a tasting menu) to have such a mistake. This has been my first Michelin Star
food poisoning and hopefully my last.
by Cxmmodore
15 Comments
Pic 1 – Amuse-Bouche: Lobster, Hamachi,
Tomato Gazpacho. A decent opening. Tomato Gazpacho was nice.
Pic 2 – Taragi: Honestly this course was disappointing. The taragi was slimy and chewy, and considering it was sashimi-style there was nothing to elevate it.
Pic 3 – Scallop-Caviar: Best main course of the evening. Hard to go wrong with scallop and caviar in a butter sauce. Excellent dish.
Pic 4 – Lobster. Similar to the Taragi, the Lobster ‘carpaccio’ was slightly disappointing. Not a lot of flavor and the lobster was rubbery.
Pic 5 – Langoustine: This course was average. The langoustine was laughably small, but it was tender, enjoyable, and the accompanied strip of sweet corn was serviceable as well.
Pic 6 – Fluke: A truly disappointing course. The fluke lacked flavor as did its accompanied sauce. Honestly, outside of the small potato, this course was shocking below average.
Pic 7 – Halibut: Outside of the scallop-caviar, the halibut was the next best main course of the evening. It was extremely tender and the sauce bourguingnonne was excellent.
Pic 8 – Cherry: Moving on to the desserts this cherry course was a nice opening. Not too sweet, but a good ‘pre-dessert’ before the main event
Pic 9 – Citrus Madeleine: This course was the closest thing to a standout at Le Bernardin. It was excellent, and was a unique take on a classic dessert item.
Pic 10 – ‘The Egg’: After seeing Alexander the Guests recent video, I needed to try ‘the egg’. It was a nice dessert, extremely rich and creamy, and something I would order again. (FYI – I believe it was $20 extra)
Pic 11 – Petit Fours: A pretty miserable closing. The only decent bite here was the pineapple macaron.
I loved that halibut dish but yeah haven’t tried the others. Sorry about the food poisoning
OP, I agree with all your takes. Le Bernadin once held a very high place in the canon of fine dining but today it feels boring, uninspired and lacks punch. Not sure how they maintain their stars.
OMG E were there too and had the worst time, was going to post later. I would never have known it had even one star if I had gone in blind. The apps were good, the fluke was over cooked, the halibut was meh — and it was OVER IN TWO HOURS!
I had asked here if we could make a Broadway show after going to LB, and people said, no, you don’t want to be worried about time. We did the Chef’s tasting at 5:15 and we could’ve made a Broadway show without breaking a sweat. I had a cocktail and a glass of wine, my son had a Mocktail, I had a latte, he had a glass of milk. Altogether with too, it cost over $900, which is more than I’ve ever spent on a meal for two, more than Disfrutar was a few months ago.
I honestly feel robbed. Just a miserable experience. I should have listed to the wise ones on this sub who said to go elsewhere.
So sorry to hear about your experience.
Yeah Le Bernardin was my first *** and i was also underwhelmed
Yeah LB is not impressive. It was one of the most underwhelming meals of my life, Michelin or otherwise
Those 11 dishes equal one delicious dish at a non Michelin starred restaurant. I’ll never understand paying so much for so little. Bragging rights I suppose?
For me, Le Bernardin is a very hard restaurant to rate. I live in NYC and have been there many times, and I’ve only ever had an absolutely spectacular or a horrible experience, never really in between. They certainly shouldn’t have 3*, as consistency is one of the main criteria for 3*.
Thanks so much for posting this, I know a few chefs at 3* restaurants, and they work very very hard every day and every night to maintain those. None of them would have put out even one of those miserable plates. In all honesty, we all know Eric has taken a step back (or many many steps back) over the years to work on other projects, so it’s not totally surprising that the expectation level has fallen, but this is a new low. I am absolutely shocked at the photos you posted, this doesn’t even look like a 1* meal, the plates all look like something you would expect at any hotel restaurant. I’m so sorry you dropped 1k here, so disappointed for you. Just out of curiosity, how old is your son? Did he enjoy it? Sending positive thoughts your way that your next meal is far better (doesn’t look like that will be hard to do)!
Did your dining companion also fall ill?
I went there 5-6 years ago and I actually really enjoyed the food so I wonder if the quality has gone down. I do agree with most of the things you mentioned tho.
I also had a terrible experience with the service; I had a reservation for a party of 1, so I went there, was seated, and then no one talked to me for like 15 minutes. Then someone asked me if I knew how long would it take for the rest of my party to arrive. Knowing the party size is the least I could expect from any restaurant, and here we’re talking about a 3 star one.
Sorry to hear about your experience. We went recently and had a similar experience to that of Alexander the Guest (it was quite good). Our favourite dishes were the tuna carpaccio and dover sole-neither of which were in your meal-although we did enjoy several of the dishes you didn’t. It seems they may lack consistency.
That’s so sad. When I lived in NYC in the 90s, it was extraordinary.
They use the exact same plates for every course? Not something I’d expect from a 3 star at all. One of my favorite things about 2/3 star restaurants is seeing all the unique ways they plate food, using different plates and vessels to complement the look of the dish itself
The presentation here looks lazy and uninspiring