Le Jardin Bistro

We love this place! We’ve taking our daughter here for lunch since she was a week old. They let us sit in the back yard garden for hours and just enjoy our food, wine, and family.

We were visiting new York city and decided to have a very expensive brunch at what is for us a very nice establishment (we are from
Iowa). While the food was great, the table next to us was filled with what I can only imagine were wall street types spending some of the bailout money from hard working tax payers. They were spending money like water, each of them having at least one 60 dollar bottle of wine and talking like sailors about how great their lives were. At the end of their meal they tossed a half full bottle of wine over to our table and suggested we should «enjoy ourselves on them». Unbelievable nerve! We finished their wine and enjoyed the rest of the great food

On my list of restaurants to check out while visiting New York this was not one of them, but a friends recommendation got me there for dinner.
We sat inside because of rain, but the outdoor area in back looked quite big. The inside was nice and crowded. Many small tables in one room, so it was a bit noisy, but that in no way too away from our experience. in fact, i was happy to see it so lively even with the thunder and lightning outside.
I ordered their Poulet au Calvados, and it was the BEST chicken i can ever remember tasting. If i was on the show «Best Thing I Ever Ate», this might be it.
They had a very friendly staff and i was very pleased with our meal. This bistro is definitely a place i will go back to next time I visit.

RAT.
No, RATS!!!
My boyfriend brought me here for a casual birthday dinner on 9÷11÷10. We were seated in the outdoor patio next to a garden bed with a wall covered in vines that separated the restaurant from whatever is next door. Halfway through our entrees, we heard rats squeeking just behind us and turned to look, horrified to see at least 2 rats chasing each other about the vines at eye level to the people at the table, less than 2 feet from them and their food. They screamed, and I saw one run across the wall right next to our table, only to disappear in the foliage. I screamed.
Needless to say, It was a little hard to enjoy my nothing-​to-​write-​home-​about grilled duck and buttery catering-​style veggies after that. The staff said nothing, by the way.
The four wines we tried by the glass were all disappointing. Rats.

My first meal back in the city after being gone for seven weeks was at Le Jardin Bistro. I was looking for outdoor seating, good food and a good wine list. I can only say that I got one of those that met my expectations. You’ll see which one…
I started with the Gâteau d’Aubergines (Layered eggplant and tomato topped with goat cheese… three of my favorite food items all in one place). It was the best thing I ate all night! The eggplant was cooked to utter perfection… neither chewy nor slimy.
For the entrée I had the Duck Special (not always on the menu). It was passable as a duck entrée… but just barely. It didn’t capture my senses and taste amazing. It filled me up… which is a pretty basic feat that should have been surpassed. I could have done better.
The steak frites is ok… it was kind of a tough cut and a little chewy. The flavor was better, by contrast, than the duck… which was just silly and made me wish I had ordered something else.
The wine list was not that impressive to me. It was as if someone went to a wine shop, saw a bunch of wines that were separated by region and just took a few of everything. The waiter didn’t seem like he had any clue as to what the different wines were like or how to pair them… which I have come to expect as a pretty basic job requirement.
The service was spotty and lazy. Water took too long to get, bread came 10 to 15 minutes after seating and after finishing it took many attempts to get a check.
I’ve been wanting to come here for a while… and I wasn’t that impressed. The outdoor seating doesn’t make it worth while to me… it’ll be a while before I come back and try again.

Lovely garden dining area.
In the back there is this pretty area covered by the leaves of grape vines. It provides a fresh lovely area to eat under. This is such a big plus. The food is good and meaty. Everything has a slice of meat on it somehow. It is important to keep in mind this fact when you are a vegetarian. This is not the restaurant for you. They tried to put together something without a speck of meat on it and just ended up putting together the vegetable parts of the appetizers together. At least they tried.
The food is otherwise very savory and everything has strong flavors. Mussels are in season and were very fresh but surprisingly did not share the strong flavors of the other dishes. Chicken was dry. The sauce had a strong good flavor of red wine and attempted to correct for the dryness. Steak was perfectly cooked as requested and such a good cut of beef. Frites were fun but also dry. Desert was fantastic.
Although the staff was very nice and worked very hard to give good service to this large party (took up the whole back garden,) this is not a place to host a large party only because I don’t believe their staff and kitchen is equipped to handle it. But they try really really hard and sometimes we have to be like grade school teachers and give points for that.

You would never know it from walking by the front door, but the garden in back of Le Jardin Bistro must be one of the quaintest places in the city to eat on a nice summer night.
My biggest complaint is that the waiters run around the place like fools. It’s clear that they are all in a huge rush, and when I first walked in I couldn’t tell where I should go or who to ask to be seated.
Once we did a table, though, the service was fine. My steak frites was very good. The steak itself was fairly average, but the butter sauce made it delicious and the fries were crisp just how I like them. My fiancé had the coq a vin which was also very good.

Julia
3 ½ STARS
It’s a quaint place and only go there on a nice warm night when you can enjoy the outdoor seating. It’s a nice date spot and the food, hmm I think it goes from good to ok…
I say this as I enjoy the starters more than the entrée. i don’t get the opportunity to do French often so I’m no connoisseur… Start with the mussels as they are delish… I enjoyed the mushroom soup as well.
Steak frites was the entrée… yeah, I know… boring… but that’s what i felt like having. Steak was just average… Not saying much when i enjoyed the fries more than the steak.
Overall a pleasant experience and food good enough for me to return… The wait staff is hit or miss depending on the size of the crowd. If your way in the corner and the place is packed… they may forget about you…

Le Jardin was my favorite restaurant for a long time standing. I haven’t been there for a while but I still have very fond memories of it.
What I would order:
Appetizer-​Succulent escargots dipped into warm pots of melted butter
Entrée-​Medium rare, tender filet mignon
Dessert-​Decadent, to-​die-​for profiterolles
The perfect meal! With a classy, peaceful atmosphere

One of my favorite casual dinner place. I know this is not the modern nor fashionable place, but find it cozy to be surrounded by lots of miniature frogs and friendly (really) nice waiters in the backyard table.
The food is good, considering the price, i must say this is a good deal in this area. for the food, maybe 3 – 4 stars, but wanna give 5 stars for the service and the atmosphere (especially summer time).
I often come here with my boy firend, but maybe it’s also really good for an outdoor summer group dinner.

One of my favorite brunch/​outdoor dining spots. Sitting in the garden, you may forget for a moment you’re in the city.
The food ranges from good to very good; the nicoise salad and pâté plate are my favorite. Ok wine-​selection. Service is very good, although when busy, you might expect to wait a bit.
So here’s how the rating math breaks out: 3 for food. 5 for the garden dining area.

I came here with the boyfriend for the Valentines day. It is a very small intimate type of place, good to bring a date for dinner. The food was delicious! The starter was a lobster bisque soup (delicious, i wanted to lick the bowl !) main course was a Cornish hen with mash (delicious, nicely cooked). The only downside was that we were really looking forward to try to Escargot but they had ran out, then ran out of the apple turnover for dessert. I would go back, would like to check out the garden that everyone raves about ;)

sat indoors on a chily May night…
grabbed the banquette table… la carte was just fine, not overloaded… rve reviews for tartare, steak frites. i had the cassoulet (it was a cold night!) which was good but one too many tomatoes in the sauce.
tarte tatin excellent.
dinner plus wine ~$ 250 for four: i guess we didnt go foor the bargain.

Confused wait staff.
Lunch was excellent. A nice small intimate classic French Bistro. It seemed a bit like a model hangout as several tables seemed to have people from some agency upstairs. I’ll be back for lunch but will avoid the bad tasting espresso which was very unexpected for an European accent sporting wait staff.

There is also an outdoor garden with vines overhead — very romantic.
This is the place where I first discovered Monbizillac wine. Such an awesome pairing with Fois Gras. The escargot is pretty goodhere, but La Sirene’s is better! You will never stop asking for more bread to dip with! The steak is killer here though.
Must get: Escargot, Foie gras w/​Monbizillac, Tournedos Rossini
Notes: This place has special prix fixes every month with wine pairings.

Cute garden out back, great for our seemingly endless summer weather. We got there at noon on a Saturday and the gate wasn’t fully raised, but the door was open. No customers were in there, and they admitted they had just opened, which is odd when the rest of the restaurants in the neighborhood had been open for hours.
On to the food. Can’t say I was really impressed. We shared the pâté and each ordered a salade nicoise. The pâté was good, but the salad — I’ve had much better at so many other places. With all the tomatoes in season right now, I can’t figure out why the ones in my salad were not ripe.
Maybe it’s better when they’ve been up and running for a couple hours, but I know there are many better brunch places nearby, so I won’t be rushing back here.

C’est meilleur!
Damn I love this place — and I love it even more because of the garden area.
The food is always outstanding– I had a mushroom soup here one night that was simply incredible.
A must hit whenever I am in this area — which is sadly becoming less and less– I have turned on a lot of people to the incredible food here.
You totally forget you are in NY when sitting out back under the canopy of vines– a bottle of wine, some excellent company and you have a perfect evening.

Nice spot, inside or out. On our second visit, the food was maybe a *little* careless.
Classic French dishes that don’t have too many ingredients, if you know what I mean.

This is a great alternative for Sunday brunch when there is a long wait at more popular spots.
The garden is large, comfortable and quaint. The vine growing across the canopy is impressive and provides good shade. The atmosphere is relaxed and you feel like you are in a small town café — not steps away from SoHo.
The menu is classic French bistro fare. The Omelette Paysanne and the Steak Frites were just the right size and full of flavor. As for the fries — there were none left on the plate.
I would come here with a friend, a date, with a family or a large group.

The minute we walked into the place, the wonderful smells consumed us. The food is rich and flavorful, practically sinful actually. Seriously, it should be a crime to eat food this decadent. I had the best roasted chicken I’ve ~ever~ had, and I don’t even like chicken all that much. Let me tell you, the French know how to make chicken.
Anyway, the place is cozy and romantic, and the garden in the back is large — since the food is heavy, the best time to eat in the garden would be when the weather is slightly cool. As far as the inside of the restaurant, it’s cozy and perfect for a cold evening out (but the tables next to the windows can get drafty).