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| - I think I've been utterly spoiled by O&B restaurants, especially Canoe, for things like Summer- and Winterlicious. My fiance and I felt a bit ripped off at Cafe Boulud (CB) on their first day of 2013's Summerlicious. I think calling CB "upscale casual" pretty much hits the nail on the head, because it hasn't decided what it wants to be yet. The presentation of the food: upscale, the taste of the food: casual, the service looks: upscale, the service is: casual and varied.
I had a very good impression of this restaurant when I made my online reservation. The day before our dinner date, I received a lovely reminder phone call from the restaurant. Service sets the mood before you even get there, and for this CB gets high praises.
We arrived 20 minutes late! But the hostesses were nice and not sour looking about this. I also noticed that none of the female hostesses were wearing heels (+1). This is a good business practice that many restaurants ignore, so I think I can infer that CB cares for their staff.
My fiance ordered: Chicken Gallantine (interesting); Cumbrae Beef (can't go wrong with beef, nice smokey flavour); Chocolate Gateau (yum). I ordered: Digby Scallops (I don't think they know what seared means, the corn succotash was delicious); Cumbrae Beef; Tonka Bean Sundae (get this!). One of my scallops had a fish scale on it. Do scallops even have scales, I was under the impression they are bivalves. I sense some cross contamination with the Sea Bass main in the kitchen. We also ordered the 2-course wine selection ($25/person). The wine pours were so SMALL. It was a complete and utter rip off. We could've ordered a lower end bottle of wine for the same price. The food looked absolutely beautiful and tasted average. I wouldn't say anything was my utter favourite, there was nothing that stood out to me. It was just all so average. I should've known we were in for a weird night when the chef sent out complimentary gougeres (cheese puffs) that were so salty it was hard to enjoy the soft and airy texture.
I noticed table-side service was so varied! The table to my left received descriptions for some of their food (complimentary gougeres for the table), the table to my right received descriptions for all their food (the chef sends out complimentary gougeres, cheese pastry, for the table) and my table received the names of our order and nothing more (enjoy). We also had no idea what wine we were drinking. Terrible oversight! I also noticed there was a SNAFU in the kitchen as some tables were very slow on receiving their mains.
It was nice to try, but CB tries to look like more than it is. A restaurant can't decide to charge upscale prices for casual tastes and service. I mean unless it's in the Four Seasons and is always guaranteed clients. Our total came to $170 (not including tip) for 2 Summerlicious dinners, 2 2-course wine pairings, 1 coffee and 1 cappuccino. What a rip off! Just to put that in perspective, we recieved a better meal and better service at Canoe for $110-120 for 2 Summerlicious dinner, 2 3-course wine pairings and 2 cocktails.
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