"I had a high opinion of Bar Boulud but on Valentine's Day I lost that opinion. I have dined here before and in three of the group’s restaurants in NYC. I have several of Mr. Boulud’s books and I cook from them. This Valentine’s Day was a total disappointment. My wife and I changed three tables until we were seated in a quiet and not frigid part of the room. The menu price was very expensive for a place with no tablecloths and mediocre service by waiters who could not speak English clearly to understand what they were telling you. I know the lack of tablecloths and I knew the price, but I had high hopes for the service and, especially, for the meal. The served food was fancifully presented. However, good packaging does not make the food great. My lobster risotto was prepared hours before, was overcooked and the lobster was mostly small pieces that were lost inside the mussy risotto. I cook risotto myself for 20 years and I have visited Italy extensively where even a neighborhood restaurant will cook the risotto when you order it. This is the reason the menu tells you that you have to wait 20 minutes. Apparently in Mr. Boulud’s Boston bar/“restaurant” the risotto is made in the morning and heated in the microwave before it is served. The Dover sole my wife ordered was three very dry small pieces of fish that occupied only 10% of the plate’s area, the rest occupied by fanciful pre-prepared side actors while the mail actor, the fish, was a disappointment. A menu designed to be prepared and presented even by untrained people to control costs. What a disappointment for such a special day."
