Citronnelle

Best restaurant in Lancaster. menu changes accordingly to season. I started off with their seared duck and black kale salad. Hubby had the exotic wild mushroom soup. Wonderful start to the evening. We had their take on lamb bolognese with saffron homemade noodles and the pork dish. Flavors are really good and there’s a pleasant twist added to the dishes. The chocolate bread pudding with hazelnut ice cream is absolutely delicious! Best bread pudding I have had in a while. It’s a really nice place that pays attention to small details that make the dining experience a treat!

Disappointing, the food was mediocre and the portions were small. For the price, it’s definitely not worth it. I don’t mind small portions if the quality is outstanding… But for my first experience dining here the dishes I tried lacked creativity & flavor. I will say the service was very good. My glass was always full and our server was very attentive, friendly and knowledgable. We started out with the crab croquettes, which were mundane and small. My main course was the Pork loin which was boring and tasteless. My girlfriend has the fish of the day which was nothing to write home about but the actual dish escapes me at the moment. All in all, not bad if the price was representative of an average mom & pop restaurant in the area.

Mediocre food
Byob
Too pricey for quality delivered
Bit great service and nice ambience

I am not a French cuisine expert in any way, shape, or form so take this review for what it’s worth:) I spent the evening here with a friend, and thoroughly enjoyed the cozy and relaxed feel. Our server was great and very helpful in explaining the menu and informing us of the evening special. My friend and I split the first course of Sesame Roasted Duck breast. Absolutely delicious. I chose Spicy Merguez Sausage Bolognese as the second course and loved the spicy lamb paired with the mild tomato sauce and mini eggplant.
For dessert I chose the Signature Soufflé. I am not a huge dessert buff, and I found it a bit on the sweeter side. However the presentation was exceptional, so I found myself enjoying it anyways:)
I highly recommend this place for it’s warm and cozy atmosphere, flavorful menu, and all-​around good vibes!

Sweet place, romantic atmosphere, great service, bright vibes. Just came for dessert and we tried everything on the menu. I don’t live in Lancaster so I never got a chance to return, but I believe they have a seasonal, changing menu. Very nice but pricey.

The food at Citronnelle is beyond delicious! The ingredients are fresh and seasonal, and chef Raphael prepares his dishes so carefully and perfectly. The portions are extremely generous and yet I still found myself licking my plate afterwards! The lamb I had was very tender and the burger I had for Iunch the next day was amazing. I would recommend trying a dish on the menu that’s in season, as well as their homemade sorbets and ice creams for desert. The owner Susan and her staff also do a fantastic job of making sure their guests are happy. All around an incredible dining experience. I wish I lived in Lancaster so can eat here all the time!

Great service and excellent food. Great flavors and high quality dishes. We had the octopus app the 3 pork dish and the fish special, every dish was delicious. And the dark chocolate soufflé was to die for. The owner is making guests welcome and spent time at every table. I would’ call it French though. Flavors are more Asian and N. African influenced in my opinion. Surprising and Excellent choice in Lancaster.

So fabulous! We took our daughter there, a new Lancaster resident. Don’t be afraid of the Octopus, just spectacular. And, as others have stated, do order the soufflé. We had a chocolate and a lemon, both equally delicious.
They make a special point of noting on their menu the dairy free items, gluten free, vegan, etc., a great touch. And they offered to make a regular menu item dairy free — and were very happy to do it.
We will be back!

The octopus and soufflés were incredible, and it’s a quaint and enjoyable atmosphere!

Amazing food, interesting and friendly staff, great ambiance. Honestly I wasn’t expecting a ton in Lancaster, but finding these hidden treasures is always a great surprise.
I had crab croquettes, a steak with some of the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had, and a deconstructed crab cake for dessert. The croquettes were creamy and crunchy, and I would have kept eating only those if I could. The steak was very well cooked, and like I said the mashed potatoes has a smoky hint to them that made them awesome. The dessert was alright, but their homemade ice cream was exceptional.
I would definitely recommend this place to anyone stopping by, truly a dining experience I would expect in a metropolitan areas. Good work Citronelle!

Never thought I find great French restaurant in Lancaster, but this one is definitely a great place to try. All the dishes are very thoughtfully prepared and delicious.
the small bread served were superb.
we had Moroccan Spiced Free-​Range Australian Lamb Loin and Trois Petits Cochons, both were great. the lamb was very tender and flavorful. the 3 kinds of por just had different texture and flavor and the Shaved Brussels Sprouts was wonderful (I don’t usually like brussels sprouts).
And you can’t leave without trying their Signature Citronnelle Soufflé, my husband loved it (he usually does not even like dessert), and I had Dark Chocolate Soufflé and it was great too.
cons — our dishes did take a long time to arrive, but it was worth the wait.
I am glad to tried this place and will definitely be back next time.

Being greeted by owner and designer, Susan Louie, was an incredible personal touch. This restaurant’s décor can hold its own with my favorite Orange County, CA, restaurants and that is saying quite a lot. Even the music was straight off one of my personal playlists. It felt like I had arrived home and if I ever own a restaurant I will be emulating that of Citronelle.
The food was too-​notch and thoughtfully prepared. Chef Rafael has done an amazing job with the duck breast appetizer and even made for me fresh grapefruit and mint sorbet when I was crushed at being misinformed about their sorbet flavors for the evening. Here, the customer gets what they want and that level of service is rare.
At this establishment I slip the waitstaff an extra $ 20 on top of tip, but pass it through the owner to make sure she knows just how well her staff are performing. Bravo!

What’s there to say? I find it very difficult to describe a culinary experience using just a few words. I can go on and on about how perfectly textured the Berkshire pork belly is, or how deceivingly rich the chocolate sorbet is, or how there is such a creative amalgam of flavor within every dish but honestly it would not do this gem justice. The food is great, the ambiance is great, and the people are great. Just come and see for yourself.

Amazing! The food was out of this world (you must have the soufflé!). The staff is so wondering! I high recommend this fabulous restaurant! Yum!!!

Delicious French menu
Soufflé is to die for
Byob which is always good
Fun with a group of couples or family

really impressed. the food was good the atmosphere was just right.
got the prix fixe menu. was worried when we got there and we were the only table. but the place filled up quickly. not only that but the same entrees were included on the prix fixe menu. I reluctantly got the chicken and was very impressed with how it was done. my dinner companion also raved about the chicken. the pork belly salad was amazingly flavorful… everything had a very subtle twist in flavor. like the salad had one or two mint (??) leaves in it… and it just brought out a completely different flavor. and I don’t even like mint!
the soufflé is. a.mazing. must have. plan on going back for brunch soon and getting the soufflé. we ordered it at the beginning of the meal. planned ahead!

Top 10 for sure. Excellent service, gracious owner and beautiful food. Our dinners were cooked perfectly and absolutely delightful.

Excellent! While visiting from Miami, we stopped for dinner. My husband had the lamb tagine which was full of robust flavours. My forager’s delight was excellent & creative. My salmon was cooked perfectly, with a crispy skin, which I never eat, but couldn’t resist this one. The soufflé was superb with its sweet lemony flavour.
It’s BYOB. Teas are very good & nice variety.
Nice décor.

I come to Citronnelle whenever I visit friends in Lancaster and love the food, the service, really everything about it. It is the same kind of hip fine dining experience that you can get in Brooklyn except that it is in downtown Lancaster and is BYOB. On our recent visit the dinner was so good that we came back for brunch the next day. The menu is very focused and had changed since our last visit with choices that were well-​chosen for the season.
For dinner, we started with creamy crab croquettes, and they are very good. These are not your typical crab cakes – these have a unusually sinful taste and texture. Next I had the Lamb Tagine and it was to die for – so many flavors, all of them delicious. If you like it spicy, you should ask for a bit more fire as mine was safely on the mild side. My wife had the salmon and it was a different animal from the farmed ones that are ubiquitous these days – super tasty! For desert we went crazy with both the air cake and the sorbets. Both were excellent, with the air cake very creative and unusual and the sorbets (chocolate and strawberry rhubarb) exploding with flavor.
All this whetted our appetites for brunch. We had the bread basket, the leek and cheese soufflé, the open face market omelette, and the andouille sausage. Hard to pick the highlight because it was all so good, but combination of the spicy sausage and fluffy soufflé was wonderful, and the croissant and other bread basket goodies were delish as well.
All of this is a bit of a splurge because Citronnelle is not inexpensive. However, the food is consistently excellent, the service was knowledgable, attentive, and thoroughly professional, and the entire experience was well worth it. It also helped that we brought a great wine that would have been prohibitively expensive if it were not BYOB. If I lived near Lancaster, I wouldn’t just go there for special occasions because you get really great food for perhaps just a bit more than a lesser alternative. I don’t live near there, but Citronnelle makes me want to visit more often.

I live in New York. I went to Lancaster to visit a friend and we had dinner at Citronnelle. When we got there, the restaurant was really busy but we got seated right away. The waiter was really friendly and professional. We ordered Crab cakes and crispy artichoke salad for starters which both are so delicious. Then for main course, we had the pork tenderloin and organic chicken bisteeya. They are also to die for! At last, my peanut butter cake and soufflé… Ooohhhh… we clean the plates, so they don’t have to wash them again :)
I will definitely go back anytime soon! The food quality is on par with New York standard with much affordable price.
We love this place!