Le Bernardin

I tried the Chef’s Tasting menu and wine pairing tonight and was sorely disappointed. A majority of the flavors I encountered were something similar to an Asian fusion rather than an exquisite French restaurant. The key disappointments to the evening were 1) A white fish that was smothered in a miso/soy sauce and 2) A calamari dish that tasted seriously like a vegetarian dumpling. The white fish wasn’t actually bad, it’s just that well I’m Asian and my aunt can make a better white fish with soy sauce dish. It also wouldn’t cost me an arm. The calamari-vegetarian dumpling thing also would’ve been fine if I was in a restaurant in china town. Once again, china town does not cost my other arm.

There was an asian fusion dish that I think was first. A cerviche style halibut maybe? It was a white fish dish that was demolished of its delicacy by an over use of salt and orange citrus juices. It was almost good.

That all said, the highlights of the tasting were 1) a tasting of a scallop in an amazing pink sauce that was served first and got our hopes up, 2) the Wild Salmon which simply melted in your mouth and 3) the White Tuna that just tasted amazing since it was served right after the aforementioned whitefish and soy sauce thing. The White Tuna also had a thicker sauce which I believe allowed the sauce to more tastefully applied to the fish rather than doused in it. Did I mention that? At least 3 of the dishes had their seafood just swimming in an overpowering sauce.

I’m really hoping there was guest chef there tonight or maybe they were trying some new dishes because I simply don’t see why anyone would visit this place for their tasting menu.

Also, the wine pairings were close but still off. I wish I had a better memory to spew out the exact pairings. All I can say is that save for think the first pairing with the cerviche thingy and the pairing with the white tuna, the wine pairings were either too overpowering or just didn’t add any complimentary flavors to the dish. It was great to taste each wine on its own at first, but disappointing when the wine had ruin my palette for dish it was suppose to compliment.

it was a waste of $400…Per Se is alot better…i recommend u spend ur $ there

Disappointing. The chef’s tasting menu with the wine pairing had more misses then hits. There were too many watered down sauces. Service was also off at times and the atmosphere seemed more pretentious then inviting. Overall ok food, but not what I expected from a 3 star Michelin restaurant. Go to per se instead.

I’ve probably eaten here about 15 times over the years. It’s always good, but usually a bit disappointing. I like the room and the paintings, and the service has always been first rate. But there have been very few super memorable dishes over the years. When Soltner’s Lutece and Kunz’s Lespinasse were around, you’d have been hard put to justify coming here. Obviously the wine list is great.

I’m not really cut out for fine dining, which isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy it — it’s more that I’m usually satisfied with a great taco (harder to find than you might think!) or a good plate of Senegalese thiebou djenne. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed myself here, and liked every course of the $135 tasting menu. Perfect service, quiet environment, just classy. Restrained dishes and clean flavors. I have no complaints.

I liked it a lot mainly because I really picked and chose which dishes I wanted (instead of the tasting menu). There’s some really outrageous things on the menu and you’ll encounter some really different flavors in your dishes. Most I liked, others not so much. You just need to keep an open mind.

They don’t have souffles on the menu but we ordered them anyway. Our waiter was nice enough to take us into the kitchen and meet the chefs and the pastry chef. Too bad Eric Ripert wasn’t there.

It was an awesome experience though, they treat you like royalty.

This place is overrated in my opinion. The service is not very friendly (let it be known that stuffy but friendly service does not bother me). The fish was good but not as good as everyone says. Don’t get me wrong, a good restaurant, but there are better places to spend your money.