le bouillon

a $250 punch in the gut. my husband and i dined with another couple here on valentine's day. we got the tasting menu with the wine pairings. we are all foodies and have been blown away before by food and wine tasting menus at some of omaha’s finest like v. mertz, boiler room, darios, monarch, & bella rose…..and we expected le boullion to be up there with these. unfortunately, we found the food at le boullion to be more comparable to what we had at the french restaurant at our all-inclusive secrets resort in mexico....which isn't bad, but it's just not a $250 dining experience.

the service was slow and terrible. our waitress made us feel like every request was a huge chore. ie: we arrived early to enjoy a drink before our friends got there. the waitress told me the only wine i could order would be a 3oz, $12 pour from the wine tasting menu. i explained i was hoping to have something other than what i was already going to have with dinner. she reluctantly dropped a wine menu off with maybe 6 wines on it, no description. i asked if she could elaborate on any of the wines, which she did in a sort of i-can't-believe-you're-such-an-idiot-that-you-don't-know-what-these-wines-are kind of way. she was just really falsely sweet. and when we got into dinner, she'd drop off our food with maybe a 5 word description and nothing to say about the wine that was paired with it. all of us teased about how bad she hated us and how she was probably spitting in our food in the back lol!

the food was the biggest let-down. before the tasting we ordered two separate appetizers. shrimp, which were overcooked and the oysters, which were bland. the tasting menu was a total joke. the amuse-bouche was a hushpuppy, a piece of bread and ham on a toothpick, and the worst i’ve ever witnessed on a tasting menu - a soggy cracker (that we're pretty sure came from costco) with what appeared to be easy cheese on top. course 1 - soup, way over-salted. course 2, the entree, was duck, which was tough and gamey. course 3 - dessert, which was a mold of what seemed to be dannon vanilla greek yogurt, and chocolate donut bite which was hard as a rock - i could not even bite into mine.

by the time the bill came we'd been there 3 hours and all of us needed to get home to our babysitters. we did not provide this feedback before leaving (we should have), but all of us were still so disturbed the next day by how ripped off we felt, that i called and spoke to the manager, katie. she said she would follow-up with me again but i never heard back.

bottom line, if you're looking for an exquisite food, drink and dining experience, do not go to le bouillon.

our server todd made great recommendations and we enjoyed all our food and drink. the thing about parisian food is that the portions are kind of small...and the price was moderate. it had a casual atmosphere.

we stopped in here just or desert and drinks after a great meal at ahmad's across the street. the staff could not have been nicer and the ambience top notch. we ordered the donuts and they were out of this world amazing. soft, chewy, sugary and hot, with a hint of salt, and some warm chocolate dipping sauce. i am glad we only got six of them because i could have popped them in my mouth all night at the expense of my health. bar staff was also very accommodating with my drink order. we will definitely be frequenting this restaurant more often.

not good. how this place averages four stars with 170+ reviews is beyond me.

as i always say before a review of a french restaurant, "i love french food", but i did not even like le bouillon.

we came with a party of 12 from a conference at uno as well as 2 last minute add-ons, but staff refused to add an extra table at first, making us squeeze into four small tables pushed together with just two small baskets of bread for 14 very cramped people. they told us that they were "fully booked", but less than half the tables were occupied all evening and a glass walled room with two giant tables sat empty next to the entrance. they finally got a clue and brought an extra table jusr before the first course arrived.

the server asked immediately what we wanted to drink, but there was just one, very extensive (at least 20 pages of small print - hundreds of options), wine/drink list for 14 people on the table. there were only a couple of wine options offered by the glass starting in the $9-$10 range and most bottles were well over $100 a pop with several approaching $1000. feeling perplexed by the poor start, we stuck with water.

the server then dropped a rather heavy butter knife on my arm as she was setting the table for the first course. things were spiraling downhill fast. they had no moules (mussels) or escargots (snails), focusing their menu on the raw bar instead (no thanks - i do not eat un/undercooked animal flesh), so we passed on appetizers. 

beside a couple of $9-$13 soups and salads, everything had meat/fish (my wife prefers to eat vegetarian whenever possible), so the only options to her liking were the le bouillon burger ($14) and the croques monsieur ($16). the only things that peaked my interest were the wagyu hangar steak ($26) and the cassoulet ($21), so she went with the croques monsieur and i the cassoulet. hers came with a bit of salad and mine with nothing, so we both, unfortunately, ordered a side of frites (fries) with aioli ($6).

the croques monsieur had two huge, thick slices of egg battered toast, but barely a hint of ham and cheese. it was so salty that my wife could barely finish half. my cassoulet came out with the top burnt, so i mixed it up only to find mostly white beans and a couple of small pieces of ham and bacon. there were no noticeable "garlic sausage" or "duck" as advertized on the menu and it was also very salty, so i gave up after trying to eat half of my $21 white bean casserole. the fries looked very nice, but were very thin and crispy (almost burnt), hard to eat with fork or fingers, and extremely salty. all other attendees had similar complaints of salty food and fries.

when they cleared the table, nobody wondered why so much food remained on all of our plates, so i mentioned to the server how salty the food was, especially the fries, so they removed them (just the fries) from the checks. at $42+ for water, half of a salty sandwich, and half a bowl of salty bean soup (minus the soup), this was one of the poorest values in recent memory.
 
combatcritic gives le bouillon 1 bomb out of 10 and a spot on my wall of shame ... booah le bouillon!

so as for my first ever date in omaha ne, i was looking for a pretty nice and special place to go to. le bouillon seemed to be the perfect place to go on a date, and so i did.  to start things off, the concept of the place was pretty unique, and the hospitality was pretty impressive, i liked it. whereas for the food, the presentation was pretty good, i was impressed. however there was no variety in the food menu, i played it safe and ordered their burger. the meat was cooked well, i enjoyed it, the buns were pretty thick and hard to eat which was pretty annoying. the fries were made as chips. was quite an unexpected twist. the salad they served alongside the burger was technically the best thing i had on that dinner.

i have been meaning to eat at le bouillon for quite some time now and finally had an excuse to check it out.  this review is not for full dinner service, as we sat at the bar and shared a few smaller plates and drinks.  the toasts were phenomenal, and the beef tar-tare was one of the better prepared versions of the dish that i have had.  our bartender was very knowledgeable not just with the wine and cocktail menus, but with the full food menu as well.  will definitely be returning to explore the main dishes!

the space is really wonderful, open and romantic with thought provoking art and antique amenities. our waitress was very knowledgeable on all the food, eager to make recommendations and polite. she was also very knowledgeable on their old world wine list, something i struggle with. we started with cocktails, they have a unique selection of liquors which initially threw me off but i ended up very much enjoying the gin she help me select for my gin and tonic. the menu seemed much smaller than what i had looked up online the previous day but perhaps they change the menu from day to day. the food was all fairly priced and well explained and everything tasted good, however nothing stood out as amazing. we also waited quite some time for our entrées to arrive, despite the restaurant not being full, that would be my only complaint. i will likely return to explore more old world wines as well as their diverse menu

le bouillon was fantastic. the service was exemplary and the food was even better. i recommend the vichyssoise and the cassoulet. they were extraordinary. my experience was excellent and i look forward to coming back!

gustatory. kudos, applause, cheers. fine food, great wine, especially when there is a visiting vitner pairing wines to dishes. really enjoy the ambience, service, taste and after taste.

very nice dinner. split the rabbit toast, frisée salad (ask for the eggs to be cooked firm if you don't like the idea of runny fried egg on your salad) and the cassoulet. the cassoulet was particularly outstanding. the all-french wine selections have some very interesting choices from well off the beaten path. your server can guide you if you're feeling adventurous. friendly, efficient service. will definitely return.

our first visit, we're going back. i'll start with the negatives: 1) the wine list is only french wines that i did not recognize, but our server did suggest a pretty good mid-priced bottle ($70), 2) the art and decor is odd and does take a little bit away from the feel of the restaurant; the place has been remodeled since it was "french cafe" and the atmosphere is, in the words of my wife, "meh." but the food was good, not a+, but we will definitely go back. we started with oysters on the half shell ($2 ea.) and i loved the lobster salad ($20). i had the duck with sausage and white bean and ate every bite. the princess ordered pork and liked it "okay" but said it wasn't outstanding. our server was attentive and helpful.

very disappointed. my husband and i went here for nye dinner last night and we were very disappointed. i was so excited to go here because i love these types of restaurants and food. we showed up about 15 minutes early for a reservation and got sat right away which was a great surprise. after a few minutes our waiter came by and explained there was a special prix fixe and then walked away. my husband and i knew we had to try the rabbit rillettes, so we only ordered one and the pate. now i have had charcuterie at many places and was disappointed at the portions. first of all the rabbit rillettes was just one serving on a single piece of toast. we had wished the waiter would have said something to us since we both said we were going to try it. also the pate charcuterie was 2 chunks of pate, store bought mustard, a few almonds, and the smallest amount of pickled vegetables i had ever seen. as soon as these we're delivered my husband and i decided we would like to order main dishes as well. however, our waiter did not deliver our first course to us and we did not see him until about 5 minutes after finishing these 2 "bites" for appetizers. i ordered the skirt steak and my husband had the duck, sausage casserole dish, which is not on the menu online. when our food was brought out we were a bit disappointed in the small portion size. when we ate our dishes we were even more disappointed with the lack of flavor!! i ate my steak, which was just steak, so sauces or tiny side of veggies or anything, in about 5 minutes. i started to get a bit irritated when the waiter came over and asked if i wanted more champagne and i said no thanks and he took the glass. he did see that i was done with my meal, clearly, since i had my fork and knife crossed on my plate and was just sitting there. my husband was also almost done with his meal. the part that irritated me the most was after that, we timed it because it was ridiculous, we did not see our waiter for 25 minutes!!!! i was livid. we thought maybe if we put our coats on he could see that we were finished eating and ready to go. i really wanted to have dessert, but after that i just wanted to leave. after he finally came by when our coats were on, he asked us if we wanted to see the dessert menu and cleared our plates. we told him no, we are ready for our check. that also took quite some time. usually i am very patient with servers when i know it is busy or i see them with a large section, however it was not that busy and everyone around us was getting great service from their waitstaff. in total, we saw our waiter to take our drink order, fill our water once (which he didn't say one word while he was doing it), to take our appetizer order, to take our dinner order, to ask if i wanted another drink, and to bring us our check. if it was his first night, i don't think nye was the night he should have started. he never even told us his name, i found out later, once we got our check that his name was dale. he was also very uninformed on how to describe certain items on the menu. i wish my experience was better, but i was hugely disappointed. maybe i will give it a try in about 6 months.

southern french comfort food. my wife and i went to le bouillon for our 22nd anniversary last night. i've been looking forward to going here since i heard that they were opening in september.

i had made a reservation via open table 2 weeks ago. we arrived shortly prior our reservation time and were promptly seated. the restaurant seems to be divided into a brightly lit area and secluded candle lit area. we were sat in the secluded candle lit area.

our server was very easy to talk to and was not snobby in the least bit. le bouillon had already made a positive impression on me by the way she approached service.

after being handed the menu of the day (it was markedly different than the one posted on their website) we were left for an appropriate amount of time to select our dishes.

after looking through all the mouthwatering dishes we placed our order. my wife ordered the pâté de maison and i ordered the tasso (smoked ham). both were excellent dishes.

next i ordered the butter lettuce with shallot vinaigrette and black pepper cracker which i shared with my wife and it was a delicious salad. the cold sauteed shallots completely fell apart when eaten. i was surprised that a simple salad was as tasty as this.

for her entree, my wife ordered grilled rabbit with glazed carrots and chanterelle mushrooms which she found delectable.

my entree consisted of a duck, garlic sausage and white bean cassoulet. which while was my first experience with duck. while the dish was tasty, it was lacking seasoning. i also ordered the potatoes aligot which in my opinion was the highlight of the meal.

all in all i rate le bouillon a very nice restaurant with delicious food. if you go there i do not think that you will be disapointed.

p.s. - the dress code is informal (the waiters were wearing flannel shirts & jeans) so don't feel like you need to dress up. it's comfort food after all. :)

opening for a special dinner. le bouillon will be opening for a special dinner that precedes the restaurant's actual opening; its official opening date has not been announced. the dinner is on november 20th 2013. limited seating left. tickets can be purchased at eventbrite's web site. after eating at the boiler room many times, i cannot wait to see what paul kulik has in store for us. it's bound to be great.