l'albatros

a truly fine experience, nearly perfect. food was wonderful,serviceattentive, nice quiet ambience. a really pleasant discovery while visiting cleveland.

after reading several reviews and now after eating dinner here, the thought that comes to mind is; the emperor's new clothes...
many over dressed, snooty people eating at a restaurant crammed with cheap tables and chairs pretending to enjoy horribleserviceand lukewarm food all because someone who has obviously never been to france gave this place a good review.
my complaint mostly comes because of the really poorservicewe received. our table was right between two other tables that were less than 18" away. when they brought a cheese tray for our neighbor table they had to put part of it on our table and proceeded to talk cheese selections. we had to suspend our conversation and husband had to move out of the way.
we waited 10 minutes to be acknowledged by waiter. waited another 10 minutes for sparkling water. asked three times for limes, when they finally brought them they delivered them to our cheese neighbors who promptly cleansed their fingers with them.
we did order a soup, escargot, and foie gras and we enjoyed them. although, we asked repeatedly for bread to accompany and it never came.
our order of glazed chicken was tiny and potatoes were cold and tasted like paste.
we sent it back and gave up.
to owners: your staff was sweet, but i am guessing they are all case western students with lots of brains and little common sense. staff running around everywhere with nothing getting done. no communication.

i have to admit i was somewhat disappointed in l'albatros. my son and i sat at the bar last thursday evening because we did not have a reservation and the restaurant was quite busy. we both started with soups which were excellent. i had a cream of celery soup that was a very nice introduction to a meal. my son had the french onion soup which was also excellent . there is however meat in the soup which was very good but we only only learned this before ordering from a fellow diner. the menu does not mention it. my entree, the veal short rib was quite disappointing. somewhere in the brazing process the veal got lost and the risotto turned to mush. the only apparent flavor was the wild mushroom sauce. the veal was boneless and the silver skin was not removed. i had difficulty pulling the meat away from the skin. i would suggest that the short rib be served on the bone which would make it easier for the diner to pull the meat away. i would suggest too that the meat not be cooked in the liquid for quite so long. also the risotto should be properly prepared so as to maintain its character. it should be distinguishable from the rest of the dish.
my son had the chicken confit. the menu does not mention that the paprika is smoked paprika. the flavor was quite strong and toanyone who does not like a smoked flavor this dish would be less than appealing. i am glad that i did not order it. ourservicewas excellent and the restaurant did accommodate us even though they were quite busy. for that i give them an excellent rating. sitting at the bar was quite pleasant.

poor service, okay food. we went to l'albatros for a birthday dinner. we arrived and were promptly seated. made our orders in a reasonable amount of time. then...we waited...and waited 1 and a half hours for our meals to arrive. after our main courses, we were given the dessert menu...and again waited and waited for the waiter to take orders. in the end, we left. amazing how quickly the waiter appeared when we got up to go to give us our large check. we will never go again. food was okay-but nothing really great(cheese was okay-but way over-priced),servicewas horrid! nighttown, club isabella, washington place and all the wonderful restaurants in little italy have wonderful meals-and friendly, great service!

fantastic. i've never seen betterservicein u.s. we were really treated with care. i had the trout (don't remember the entire name) and it was wonderful. my friend had a (again the name escapes me) a very, very tasty and elegant ham sandwich.

the staff was very well trained. two people scan the room and make sure you have enough bread and water and whatever. the waiter was knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful.

i will definitely come back with my sweetie and treat her to a wonderful dining experience.

l'albatros dinner. went there for my wife's birthday before going to see the orchestra at severance hall. food andservicewere great if a little slow for a thursday night. she had the roasted chicken and i had the pork two ways, which was one of the best meals i have had in some time. pork belly was nice and hot, with just enough crisp on the fat! only issue we had was the table next to us, who came in 15 min after us and left 15 min before, but complained about theserviceand left with a free meal and an apology! the waitress even said 'happy birthday', to which they replied it was no ones birthday... i understand trying to make the customer happy, but this puts off anyone else sitting nearby. i guess the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

best in clveland. we dined at l'albatros last night for our anniversary. we've dined at some of the best restaurants in new york, chicago, and boston, but last night was a special evening.

we started with french toast, a specialtyl of the house. it went great with our wine (gigondas). after a salad and a 3 cheese plate (the cheese sommelier was fantastic), we settled into our entrees: linguini for my wife, and mussels and frites for me. both were excellent.

theservicewas impeccable, as the owner, wine sommelier, and waiter stopped by to check up on us. the night concluded with dessert and a complimentary glass of dessert wine (from 1945) to celebrate our anniversary.

thanks to all at l'albatros for making our dining experience special. we truly felt we were in a french country house outside paris! i can assure you we will be back.

the one reservation. they don't filter their tap water. i had to buy a bottle of water.


-----27 mar, 2011-----

wonderful with one reservation. i took my cue from the new york times and reserved a table here for our one night in cleveland. we were seated promptly and theservicewas quite good. my husband had the hanger steak and frites, both of which he liked very much. i opted for the special, fluke sauteed and served on a bed of celeriac puree with mushrooms and a salsa verde. it is one of the best meals i've ever eaten; the flavors complemented each other so well. i highly recommend l'albatros.

wonderful food for special evening. as i'm reviewing this months after our visit for a special anniversary celebration, i may not remember all of the details, but i was definitely left with a feeling of great satisfaction with the meal,serviceand overall experience. it's tucked behind a non-descript parking lot, but the buildings around the lot and the trees give it a very cozy feel. we very much enjoyed the charcuterie as a starter. i think i had and enjoyed the monday special of scampi, but i remember distinctly that the cassoulet my spouse had was superb. the server was quite chatty and energetic, and provided us with very attentive service. the ambiance was warmer and less formal than we had expected. we'll definitely return for another special meal.

very pleasant surprise. my husband and i decided to have a date on a saturday night. we wanted to go somewhere more upscale. l'albatros was one place we could get a reasonable reservation time - 9pm. as soon as we entered, the hospitality andservicewas exceptional. if this is the kind ofserviceyou like, you won't be disappointed. our server made excellent recommendations for our entrees as well as dessert. our meals were fantastic. we were truly amazed at the level of flavor in each dish. i recommend the veal short rib and duck confit.

we went on a saturday for lunch a while ago. the cassoulet was undercooked. we had raw potatoes. yuck. theservicewas slower 'n' molasses. won't be back. other places to try.

expensive, but convenient and zach bruell. i visited l'albatros shortly after it opened for a dinner with some very important people. unfortunately for them, the deliciousness of l'albatros upstaged their importance. theserviceis a little pretentious, but it is exactly what you'd expect at this price point. for a moment, i forgot i was in cleveland, and so did my guests, thank god, not that there's anything wrong with cleveland. university circle needed a place like l'albatros - creative, cutting-edge, refined - and it has it now. zach bruell makes it all worthwhile; food pairings are perfect. i'm vegetarian, but my guests raved about the sausages. i loved everything i ate and never realized that an hour and a half passed before i left.

highly recommended for romantic escapades, the ambiance is intimate but modern. don't expect plushy velvet; it's intimacy in the 21st century.

in the words of my no-nonsense guest, "you can always trust a place where you can see right into the kitchen."

well, you see more than the kitchen. you see into the soul of what food is supposed to be.

stupid good. i had the pleasure of eating at l'albatros this evening, which ended up being one of the best dining experiences i've ever had. i could wax poetic for paragraphs about how great everything was, but i'll try and keep it brief. theservicewas timely and extremely attentive without being over-bearing or pretentious, and the atmosphere is modern but comfortable. i had a lovely mckenzie pinot noir and my fellow diner had a delicious chardonnay (from sonoma, don't remember the name??)

of course the highlight of the experience was the food. our party of 3 started with the chicken liver and fois gras mousseline served with toast points, pickled okra, gherkin, and red onion; followed by the watercress caesar salad, both of which were perfectly executed. for the entrees i had the cassoulet (again, i could go on for paragraphs), and my dining companions had the charcroute garni and the duck confit. all three were spectacularly flavorful, techniquely perfect, timely, and all-around one of the best meals (if not the best) i've had in cleveland. of particular note was the sausage served in the casoulet, the celery root puree beneath the duck confit, and the pork chop.

all in all it was a stunning meal, flawlessly executed. l'albatros really is a step ahead of other higher end restaurants in the city in terms of what they are achieving from a culinary standpoint. and to top it off, i got to meet chef zach bruell as i was leaving! spectactular.

exquis. casual brasserie cuisine with a modern flare is the best way to describe albatros. our server even greeted us in french! a mini cast iron crock held my escargo which was a little too oily but my husband's plate of fois gras mouse was absolutely delicious. to our surprise,our server privided frenchserviceand divided our beautiful watercress ceasar salad without even blinking and eye. my husband chose the pork two ways for his entree while i went with the recomendation of the snapper special wich was delicious.