Le Rivage

We had the prix fixe pre-​theatre dinner at Le Rivage. To start, I had the mussels baked and topped with breadcrumbs and herbs. They were very good. Then, for dinner, I had the lamb chops, which were delicious. I also appreciated that though I requested medium well for my chops, they took it upon themselves to make them medium, which I must say was definitely the best way to eat them. For dessert, one of the richest chocolate mousse desserts I have ever had. Service was also very quick and the waitress was quite attentive.

This place is great! Wonderful pre-​fix menu and very generous portions. I highly recommend coming here. The establishment has a series of paintings on the walls showing lovely French landscapes. A real treat! I will certainly visit again.

Great server Alicia. Horrible miserable owner. Went after the theatre with a reservation. My mom and I were early at 445 so we were able to sit quickly. Alicia came over, got our drinks and asked if we were ready to order. We were but we didn’t want to be rushed. The owner literally came over to our table to ask why we didn’t order everything at once, with Alicia on hand and then we proceeded to watch her get yelled at the bar. In front of the entire restaurant. After all was said and done, he came over to our table again to apologize, while Alicia had been doing that for him all along. No family ties. Nothing. I only give this 2 stars cause the food was good, but Alicia deserves better. But he’s a horrible man. He doesn’t realize he’s on restaurant row.

Most of the food was underwhelming, but the french onion soup burger was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had in new york.

The food is amazing and classic with tons of flavor done right. I went for my birthday and was not let down. They were accommodating when I wanted a different item not on the menu until dinner.
Bottom line I’m crazy picky and if you try this place u won’t be let down. Plus chef Paul is the real deal.

This place was just so quaint and adorable. The waitresses were so attentive and our food was very prompt. I had the escargot and my boyfriend had the Cordon De Bleu. It was phenomenal! The dessert was amazing, the crème brûlée was perfect, as was the chocolate mousse.
I would definitely go again.

Unfortunately this place is just not that great. The atmosphere is nice and cozy, but the food is meh. It seemed to be similar to pre-​made catering food. Even the Caesar salad was disappointing with just a glop of dressing in the middle –nothing was mixed. The short ribs tasted OK but were definitely not short ribs. The cordon bleu tasted like a cheap version of a cordon bleu — the thin chicken was dry, only the overwhelming amount of sauce make if taste Ok. There are so many other restaurants on Restaurant Row with better food.

Lovely French bistro. Has authentic feel. Good prix fixe menu pre-​theater. Very much enjoyed the frisee salad and trout almondine. Will certainly add this into our repertoire of pre-​theater restaurants.

Excellent prix fixe pre-​theatre menu with classic French dishes (modules farcis was super). Reasonably priced bottles of wine. They know how to serve and still get you to the show without being rushed at all.

Absolutely my favorite restaurant in midtown! My mom, sister and I always get the same dishes. Escargot is amazing! And duck is outstanding! Get extra sauce on the side. Can’t wait to go back!

Amazing little french spot, cute décor, staff treats you like family, food is great. Sits on a big strip of largely mediocre theatre district pre show tourist traps, this ain’t one of em.

Overall, we were satisfied with the dishes and service. I especially like Peach Melba. It was pretty awesome!

The place is very cozy and comfortable. The food is ok, its not great. Portions are generous for pre-​fix menu and there are good options to choose from. I ordered muscles and duck with cream desserts. The muscles in my opinion were very good quality and all that extra breading and what else was on it actually killed the taste. The duck was good size, at least ½ of the bird, very crispy outside but bit over dried inside. It came with side if squash. My Rose wine was kind of blah but I did not have high expectation from $ 11 a glass wine. My husband ordered french onion soup and short ribs, he said both dishes were fine. I tasted his short ribs and it reminded me of food I had in Czech Republic rather then France.
The service was all over the place, it started out well but at the end we asked for check at least 3 times and on my way to the bathroom I saw waitress going through her bag instead of printing my check while I told her that we have to get to the show. I was bit annoyed by this.
Its a decent choice for pre show or after for dinner, am I going to come back? Probably not!

This restaurant is amazing and has a fabulous prefix lunch. I greatly enjoyed the mussel appetizer and seafood crêpe. The duck entrée was delicious too. The atmosphere is also charming with lovely paintings.
The servers are attentive and nice, I will definitely come back.

This is one of the very few places in NYC that still offers delicious and authentic traditional French Bistro dishes like Canard A L’orange (Duck), Coq au Vin & Boeuf Bourguignon. All are very good, but the duck is outstanding. Also outstanding were the appetizers we tried. The house French Paté, which in this case was duck terrine w/​pistachio (so good!) and the French onion soup gratinée, which was deliciously rich.
— They offer great entrees for both the lunch and dinner menus. They also have a prix fixe menu for $ 39, which includes an appetizer, entrée and dessert/​coffee. A great deal, especially considering their prix fixe menu includes most of the classic dishes I named here. Also, if you do need to make a small substitution, they will charge a very fair $ 3 fee.
— Their French wines by the glass are very sensibly priced at $ 10 — $ 12/​glass and the selection is pretty good, including nice Bistro pairings like Georges Duboeuf Pouilly-​Fuisse & Louis Jadot Bourgogne Pinot Noir.
–The quiet dining room, accessorized with colorful French Country oil paintings, copper pots and rich, dark wood furnishings, creates the perfect French Bistro atmosphere, which is also very warm and romantic.
–The service is very good too. Our hostess was friendly, with a very peacedul demeanor, but she timed everything perfectly so that we did not feel rushed, yet we were done and able to leave on time for our show. Overall, it was a great dining experience.

Delicious! My husband and I came for a pre-​theater dinner on Saturday, and it was packed. I ordered the house-​made pâté and hubs had the lobster bisque. Dinner was trout almandine for me and filet for him. Dessert is the only reason I’m not giving 5 stars as they were blah — bread pudding and apple tarte. But we would certainly go back. And the best part? Reservations at 6 pm, and we were out in a little over an hour — plenty of time for the 8 pm show!

Wonderful pre theater menu. A lot of choice for all palates. I loved my frog legs in garlic butter sauce, onion soup and cheesecake. The prix fixe is even cheaper during the theater hours so don’t limit yourself. Old style French. Sauces.

Le Rivage is one of those places on Restaurant Row (46^th street) that people typically enjoy their pre-​theater dinners before a Broadway show. But I decided to try them out for their $ 25 lunch prix fixe, which includes an appetizer, entrée, and dessert with tea or coffee.
The escargot appetizer was delicious, with a playful presentation in the shell. Who could not like garlic and butter?
The venison steak came out simultaneously rare and well-​done. It also tasted as if someone marinated it in cognac for two days. The meat’s chewiness actually made the sad lumps of sides (pureed potatoes and spinach boiled into oblivion) welcome additions on my plate.
The dessert was New York Cheesecake — who doesn’t like cheesecake?
Service was helpful but clumsy; there were many missteps. I waited several minutes at the hostess’s station looking for someone who would seat me until the coat check lady checked me in. The waitress handed me the wrong menu and did not realize it until I was about to order my food. Lastly, I was confronted on the way out the door because of a mistake with the receipts.
All in all, food is passable, service is clumsy, and the décor seems like a frumpy living room your grandmother may have decorated. There are many other places you can go for a quick pre-​theater meal in this neighborhood.

Best value for money: appetizer, entrée, dessert for $ 25, I’ll come back any time! The owner was very nice to us, even offered a sweet port for free at the end of our dinner.
The food, as said in other reviews, is far from modern French cuisine, more on the traditional side. But if for once you want to enjoy a very satisfying three course meal without feeling totally bloated by fat and calorific American food, this is the place to go. We went after 7.30 pm, not too many people, it was perfect.
No wonder it’s in business for how long it’s been!

This is a hard review to write. For $ 25 you get a lot of food, 3-​course meal and coffee or tea. The food itself is nothing extraordinary. It’s good but it’s not great, fantastic or anything worth coming back for. I am French and I know good French food, this was alright, but not to the standard I had hoped for.
First of all, this place has to be redone. It looks awful! It’s called «rivage» which means the shore or has a connotation with the sea side, from the outside you can see it, the façade is white and blue, but then you walk in and you are in a mountain cabin themed restaurant, it is so weird and so outdated. The host and the waitress were very nice though, and the fresh roses on the tables were a nice addition to the overall tern and sad look of this place.
Our first course consisted of frisee salad with bacon and hard boiled eggs, I like it but I am not sure about the authenticity of the dressing. We also had the pork pâté which was good. I asked the waitress if it was made in the house, she confessed that it wasn’t. I was a little upset to hear, pâté isn’t hard to make and admitting that you bought it elsewhere and selling back to me is lame.
Main course was boeuf bourguignon, it was edible but honestly not very good at all. I had the trout amandine, again it was good but there was no kick to the dish, it cruelly lacked depth and flavors. –UGH–
Deserts were a super duper yellow crème brûlée to which I believe the vanilla was forgotten and the cracking caramel super thin and a poire belle helene from which the pear was from a can.
Oh well, for $ 25 you get a lot of food, and again it’s totally decent, but it’s not the best French food you will ever eat.