Bouley Restaurant - New York, NY: A vision of Master Chef David Bouley, the Bouley Restaurant nestled at Duane Street is a stylish fine dining eatery that boasts of eclectic and epicurean delights from Europe with creative local twists. The restaurant helps call a truce between international gourmet cuisine and local comfort food with its extensive menu and a range of the chef’s special creations.

We went to Bouley on a Sunday night, giving in to a last minute plan and the restaurant was almost empty; I’m guessing partly because it was a Sunday and partly maybe because we didn’t arrive until almost 10PM.

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The décor is amazing, with eye-catching warm tones infused in the furniture, ceilings and walls along with soft lighting radiating from elegant lamps and candle holders across the seating area. Even the tables are arranged to perfection with candle-light and aesthetic flower arrangements. Very neat indeed!

The emphasis is on creating a fusion look of the modern and the classic with pleasant cream-colored walls, a snazzily-patterned bar top and light brown wooden furniture. There are plenty of flowers here as well to jazz up and accessorize the tables.

They had an attractive looking tasting menu, though we opted to go a la carte because of the late hour. The meal started with North Carolina Pink Shrimp and Cape Code Sea Scallops with sweet Maine Princes Crab, Point Judith calamari and ocean herbal broth, at $19.00 for an appetizer it was a bit overpriced but delicious none the less.

Next came the Chilled Kumamoto Oysters, Oscetra (Iranian) caviar with homemade radish pickle, thinly sliced live sea scallops and parsley juice. Now considering that my dining partner loves his seafood but had the dish sent back because it was too fishy means that there was indeed a something not fresh or quite right with it!

The oysters were replaced by Sashimi-Quality Big Eye Tuna, comprising marinated cucumber, spicy radish sprouts and yuzu (a Japanese citrus)-miso dressing (priced at $15). Delicious? Yes. Better than tuna sashimi you get at a good sushi restaurant? Not really.

For the main dishes we went with Long Island Duck-Balinese pepper crust, white truffle honey, Julienne of snow peas, Tahitian vanilla-glazed turnips, kohlrabi (German turnip) puree and verjus (acidic juice made by pressing unripe grapes) and ginger dressing ($42.00). With all those frills, I thought the duck would have been too amazing to eat but unfortunately it was just about average.

My dining partner had the Organic Colorado Rack of Lamb, made of rosemary crust, stew of du Puy lentils (French green lentils), matsutake mushrooms (from Japan), zucchini with mint and rose olive sauces ($43.00) It was excellent and perfectly prepared, however the portioning was small and there was too much fat hovering around it.

The wine list at Bouley was heavy with French Wines and we went with a Chambolle Musigny ler cru les Charmes, it was delicate and silky with a beautiful bouquet. A bit steeply priced at $220.00 but it ended up being one of the best parts of our meal.

For dessert we had Amaretto Flan with Caramelized Banana, White Coffee Mousse and Amaretto and Vermont Maple Ice Creams ($12.00). It was interesting but definitely no award winner. The Hot Caramelized Anjou Pear with Valrhona Chocolate, Bisuit Breton, Hot Toffee Sauce Réglisse Sorbet and Tahitian Vanilla Ice Cream at $13.00, sounded much better than it actually tasted.

The service at Bouley, was attentive and never intrusive but then again there were just a couple of other parties dining. It would be interesting to note what it would have been like if the restaurant was packed. On a pleasant note, even though we ended up being the last people dining there, we never felt rushed, a big compliment to them!

Overall, the prices for the food at Bouley were a tad too much for the quality we received. The drink prices were on the high end as well.

Would I go back to Bouley? I doubt it. There are several other great restaurants in New York. Would I suggest for others to go? If so, only to see their fantastic décor, it is simply stunning. If you do plan to go, go for lunch. It is just not worth a trip there for dinner. Our rating for Bouley Restaurant in New York is between bombastic and not.

What I liked: The Chambolle Musigny ler cru les Charmes wine, the amazing décor and the attentive yet non-intrusive service.

What I didn’t like: The overpriced menu and average food.

Rating: Between Bombastic and Not

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