sylvain

two couples go out todinnerand all but one orders the chick-sil-vain. great sandwich. i ordered the swordfish special and two bites in i realize my fish is completely raw in the middle. the server handled it very well & sent the manager out to apologize. i ordered the pork & beef meatballs to replace my meal. the meatballs come out &the tomato sauce is very hot but the center of the meatball is ice cold! i'm sure they tried to rush the order so i wasn't the only one at the table without food but c'mon, guys.. make it right the second time at least. the kitchen sent their condolences with a root beer float. i left hungry & $78 lighter. 4 drinks and a chicken sandwich. :/

one of my favorites in the city. great menu and great vibe. lunch brunch ordinnerjust have at it! brussel salad one of my favorites. nice wine selection and handsome cocktails. sat a bar last night brussel salad and steak pom frite. a+

its entrance, nestled behind and in between buildings, can be easily missed so pay close attention not to miss it; for missing the entrance means missing an enjoyable and tasty dinner.
once seated, the server, in our case joe, gave us the most attentive service. his knowledge of the difference in the wines offered lead him to choose the perfect bottle that matched our distinctive taste preference for the night.
we started with the shaved brussel spout salad. it was refreshing and light. the lemon white balsamic dressing gave it a special kick.
one entree was the daily fish preparation. it was fresh and depending on the season and day of the week, the fish type itself differs. it was pan seared and then backed to a perfect outside crisp with a flaky inside.
the second entree which was made especially for me, a vegetarian, was a house made pasta with a light sauce and vegetables. this dish allowed my tastebuds to "party yum yum yum!"
this place is a must not only for the food and service, but for the atmosphere.
i never knew that sitting in an alleyway on non descriptive tables and chairs could be such a different and pleasantdinnerexperience.

this is one of my favorite spots fordinnerin new orleans. the atmosphere is easy and quaint. the charm of new orleans can be seen all over this place. chef alex harrell serves up drool worthy dishes time and time again. my personal recommendation is the shaved brussels sprouts salad and the braised beef cheek. eat here. you won't regret it.

very romantic! we have always eaten brunch here which is amazing. we finally came fordinnerand it also was amazing. we sat outside in the courtyard which i recommend!!

my wife and i haddinnerhere on a friday night and had a wonderful meal. it was a fabulous restaurant but, we found a couple of things that we wished were a little different. 
the hostess stand is towards the back of the restaurant, where their al fresco dining is, which is fine, but there is nothing in the front of the house, or in the street that lets you know that. we saw several people trying to figure out how to get into the restaurant, as we were figuring it out ourselves. some signage would be nice at the entrance to let patrons know where to find the hostess. the other issue we had was it is extremely dark, i mean really dark (forgive my picture quality). we had to use our cell phones to read the menu. i like a nice ambiance like the rest of you guys, but this was more like a bat cave, and the candle on the table was a tiny disposable one and was just not enough to read what they were offering. 
that being said, i can say that thedinnerwas very good. i ate the veal sweetbreads and they were some of the very best i have ever eaten. i took a picture for you all and it was not of the quality i would want to post, due to the lighting. i next chose the seasonal market salad and it needed salt, quite a bit of it. i do not ask for salt in restaurants of this quality, since they frequently do not have it on the table, but it improved it a huge amount. i would say it was so-so before and good after, but not mind blowing. 
what was mind blowing was the beef cheeks! oh man.....these should be on your bucket list! it was a flavor explosion and my wife conceded to me that i out ordered her by a huge amount. the beef melted in my mouth and i ate every bit of it. 
my wife ordered the pot de cream and i am not a huge dessert person, but i easily gobbled down half of her dish. it is rich, with whipped cream on top, but a great texture....somewhere between mousse and cheese cake. 
i would recommend sylvain to anyone that is a foodie, you can find wonderful dishes, and pretty affordable prices, particularly if you are a little adventurous. the salad was the only thing in my meal that was not wonderful. 
the only thing that took points off my rating was just how dark the main dining room was and the aforementioned salad.

lots of curb appeal, but doesn't deliver the goods. this is one of the rare new french quarter places with a promising looking menu, but is reaching for something that it can't seem to grasp. it really registered with me how much i disliked it when i found out it was the chosen spot for a recentdinnerobligation. there's so many classic dishes in new orleans, i can't see exploring the menu at sylvain any more.

the failures are quite heinous, the pappardelle bolognese being the worst offender from thought to execution. they went to the trouble to make a homemade pasta, and can't figure out how to cook it properly without it clumping into gummy blobs, and then there is the flat boring sauce. on my second someone at my table ordered this dish, she swore it was good, but i could see the same lumpy mess that i had tried. given the fact that domenica consistently makes some of the best pasta and sauces known to mankind, the kitchen at sylvain should take a page from their book on quality before getting so ambitious with pasta.

if there's one thing on a menu i can't resist next to pasta with a meaty ragu, it's sweetbreads. sylvain advertises them as buffalo-style, and that's exactly what i got, and their texture was actually delightful. so why am i bitching? because while buffalo wings are an ultimately decadent comfort food, the sauce just isn't suited—think of putting supermarket steak sauce on a properly cooked prime steak—for sophisticated food. in my mind's eye, i see a more subtle take on elements of a buffalo sauce that would work, but that would take some intuition and imagination.

even the nicely cooked beef cheeks on the first visit weren't stellar in the flavor department. the best dish of the first night was my friend's fried chicken sandwich.

to be fair, i love the atmosphere, and was really seduced by the selection on the menu. on my second visit the hamburger seemed to be the best idea because it was half the price of the other main courses. it was nicely cooked, flavorful, and an upside surprise. the cocktails are hit and miss, but there are too many other good places to explore.

delicious ****but noisy. haddinnerthere sat.11-12-11. the food and service is great, the place is cute and has an interesting menu. heirloom tomato salad with spicy sprouts was sublime. decent prices because the quality of the food is so high. wonderful tuna entree and husband's entree of beef cheeks were melting in the mouth. great service, friendly and efficient.
major problem: so noisy you may feel assaulted. i know that noisy restaurants are the hip thing but if you can't talk to yourdinnerpartners it detracts from the meal...

went for a lightdinneryesterday after the oyster fest. food was delicious but wait time was terrible. we ordered 3 salads n we waited over 35 minutes for the salads. we have been in the past n food has always been great but apparently service is better when ordering hot food

one of the best dining experiences i've ever had. here's a letter i wrote to selena, manager of sylvain, after my experience there:

hi selena,

i came by fordinneron sunday night with some friends of mine. we were lucky enough to get a recommendation from philipe at the kitchen witch down the street. i just wanted to share that the dining experience at sylvain, even for a foodie like myself (i worked on organic farms for several seasons and my wife is a food writer), was out of this world. the tastes, the quality of service, the decor, the feeling of a secret hideaway made it one of the best dining experiences i've ever had. keep up the fantastic work, and i'll be certain to spread the word and visit next (and every time) i'm in the area.

cheers,

aaron