Rene Bistrot

Ordered the bouillabaisse and this had to have been one of the worst I have ever eaten. It was so bad had to leave some behind, low on the protein and clams were gritty.

Fabulous oysters, wine & service. Happy hour oysters. Delicious and cheap. Yum!!!

Our party of five enjoyed a great Sunday brunch away from the maddening crowds of the Quarter. Prices ran $ 28+ but include appetizer, main dish, dessert, and all you can drink mimosas.
When a person in our party said he didn’t care for the app he chose, our waiter overheard and offered to replace it with something else at no charge. Other than that, everyone enjoyed their choices and the mimosas were continually refilled.
One glitch was when we received our bills (they happily split them up for us). We had been charged for our appetizers. When we asked the waiter about it, she immediately said that there should not have been a charge for the apps and removed the charges.
Definitely one of the better meals I had while visiting NOLA and the price was a great deal!

3.5 stars — a nice walk from the French Quarter and everything seems more serene and less crowded.
We peeked in, saw that it was open and quite sparse so we walked in to be away from the heat. Took one of the tables near the window and just relaxed. Service was slow and lacking but friendly when she made it over.
We had the seafood plateau for 2 — $ 35, which is very inexpensive for the portion but as expected, not the best seafood. Hubby had the Abita Golden ($ 4) and I had a glass of Montmartre ($ 8.5).

Let me preface this review with the stipulation that our my wife and my experience at Rene Bistrot was really more of a 2 star experience, but the expectations engendered by several meals at this establishment’s pre-​Katrina location (at the Renaissance Pere Marquette) and chef Rene Bajeux’s previous brilliance at the Windsor Court made our mediocre meal all the more bitter.
I perused the menu beforehand and was pretty stoked, even if the cuisine at this iteration of Chef Rene’s eponymous eatery is more rustic and less inventive than his earlier work.
First, the space is unforgiving if one is not wildly popular and even experienced diners can be put off by a sea of empty tables between one’s own and the next occupied cover. The hostess might have also been more prudent to seat us all a little closer as there was only one front and one back waiter so while the service was friendly, it was inept and usually absent. The front waiter was a nice guy but I’m not sure he knows how to speak to human beings.
All of this would be forgivable if the food lived up to expectations. My lovely wife Paige enjoyed her fried oysters just fine and that was the culinary high point of our meal. My roasted Portuguese sardines were OK, but quite greasy and the accompanying octopus salad (which were the impetus for my choosing this dish) was cloyingly sweet (really odd), though we both enjoyed their bright crimson color.
I’ve probably mentioned before that my sweetheart is quite the sweetbreads aficionado, but she was pretty bummed by the fried, heavily breaded and straight up overcooked, tough and lacking the silky tenderness one expects of ones thalmus glands.
I was very excited to try the roasted lobster (a preparation one doesn’t encounter much in N.O.La.) and while some elements thrilled (the house made paraodelle pasta was fabulous and the claw meat artfully stuffed into the head of the shell was brilliant), the ratatouille was undercooked and seemed to be napped with 1970’s era Prego straight from the jar and the tail meat was overcooked.
I found myself making excuses for the chef-​that he was saddled with a pre-​existing staff and was stretched too thin by the demands of room service, etc., but I will not return unless I hear it on good authority that this restaurant has turned the corner.

Great oyster happy hour option closer to the FQ (where oyster happy hours seem to have ceased existing.).
It’s in a hotel, so there’s obviously a bit of a cold hotel-​ish ambiance, but they have oyster specials ($ 9 for a dozen), and wine and beer specials at happy hour.
There is loads of seating, so I’ve never seen the place crowded, although it does seem to get busy around dinner time. Great service, and the presentation for oysters is far better than most nola spots — served with mignonette sauce (so hard to find in nola), and on a nice oyster serving silver tray rather than some cafeteria tray.
Their cocktails are also pretty good, should you be foregoing the happy hour specials!

Since we were short on time, and the menu looked decent, my wife and I decided to have breakfast at Rene Bistro. Big mistake. I should have known that something wasn’t right from the start. Maybe I should have listened to my gut since we were the only party in the entire restaurant.
To start, I ordered a cup of coffee that tasted like it sat on a burner all morning. No biggie, I ordered the OJ instead. When my breakfast came, the omelette was flavorless, and the hash browns were cut into three weird triangle shaped things.
I almost chipped my tooth on the dried out hash brown things. I would have sent them back for something else, but we never saw our server again! Maybe she took off to grab a decent breakfast. I wish she would have taken us with her.
My wife had some mediocre french toast that was limp and the total opposite of delicious.
At any rate, breakfast ended and 15 long minutes went by. I had a conference to get to. Then it got awkward. I returned to my hotel room to get my conference badge, then came back to find that my wife was still waiting for the bill! Remember, the restaurant was completely empty at 10 AM. It wasn’t like they were busy. We had to ask what looked like a manager for our bill.
Paid it and swore to never return. No hard feelings though, just a lesson learned. We still left a decent tip for the server.
Instead, we found a bomb breakfast spot that is a 10 – 15 minute walk away. It is called «Surrey’s.» Great coffee, fresh juices, biscuits made from scratch. Go there instead, and you won’t be sorry!

Tried it and it will be out first and last time. Place was empty on a Saturday night. Lamb dish was very salty. The whole redfish was poorly conceived as entire fish was consumed by the flash frying. There was almost no flesh to be found in the fish. Waiter was apologetic, but still. This place is nothing special. They comped us a dessert. Whoopie

Terrible service. We were here for lunch with kids, and it took them more than two hours to bring the food! The restaurant wasn’t even busy. Don’t come here if you have kids dinning out with you or if you don’t have patience for a three hour lunch.

The environment is wonderful, and that is sadly all that was wonderful about the experience we had this last weekend for brunch at Rene Bistro. We had a group of five in no hurry for brunch at 11:00 on Sunday. While busy it did not take long to seat. We were then left for twenty minutes to take a very long look at the menu, which as stated we were in no hurry so while it would have been nice to get a water or coffee in the intervening time, we were still happy to wait and we were well decided by the time we finally saw wait staff. They have a very, very limited brunch menu, with prices that are not bad (still pricey but.) if they actually had the things we wanted (you known, over 50% of what they had on the menu). As a vegetarian my choices were going to be limited to begin with, but since my family isn’t and were just visiting I could really care less, as long as they had a nice meal… EXCEPT they were out of over half the options and all vegetable only options were gone. Their brunch style is one of picking a choice of appetizer, main course, and dessert, each of which consist of only a few items. they were out of almost all choices, own to only bread pudding for dessert, and would not serve raw oysters at the table, only at the bar which was five feet away. NONE OF THIS WAS RELAYED WHEN BEING SAT! Had they told us before hand «we are out of this, and this, and this, and this» we could have left in a reasonable time to a place that knows how to manage their kitchen. After paying to park, and then waiting to seat, then get the very first service (which was less than friendly) after a drink less wait, we spent 10 dollars and roughly an hour to have poor service and no meal. The business that had been in this space before was amazing and I thought this was just a carry over and I could not have been more wrong. In a city of great food and service there is no reason to over pay for such bad, bad kitchen management and service. Will not be going back nor would I recommend this place to anyone… they ran out of french bread, eggs, and ham for the sake of all that is holy, on a limited menu brunch!

This was just a great carry over experience from the hotel. We had a limited menu because our group got there late and had to sit in the bar area.
I had the half-​chicken with frites. Excellent. Chicken is one of those items you arent sure if you should order when you are out and about but this chicken was worth it. Very juicy and the fries allowed you to soak up any remaining flavor.
My colleagues had the shortbreads and the onion soup. Every item was excellent, complimented with the service at atmosphere, an easy 4 star review.

This restaurant was a huge disappointment. My friends and I went here one night after a football game because it was the only restaurant that did not have a wait… it was for a reason. There are so many delectable eateries around the city, please do not waste your time and eat here unless your starved and about to pass out. I am just being honest and want people to have the best experience possible in New Orleans.

Great food, beautiful place across from Lucy’s. Greatly improved menu from La Cote which formerly occupied the space. Also one of my favorite hidden Sunday brunch spots in the city…

Very nice atmosphere with friendly staff
A few quick notes
–not many healthy options… I know, I’m in New Orleans.
–my steak was good but it didn’t knock my socks or anything.
–a little on the pricy side probably average for the area.
–wish there were more seafood options.
I’m torn between 3 and 4 stars. I’m sorry but I was unimpressed.

I was staying in the Renaissance New Orleans Arts Hotel and learned that a new resteraunt open here so I decided to give it a try. I did and then came back the next night for a second meal. This is unual for me to do while I am in New Orleans as I like to eat my way across the city. The first night I had the Roasted Portuguese Sardines, While this is not a dish for everyone their preparation was excellent and all that was left on my plate were the head and tails. They were seasoned and roasted to perfection. As my entrée I chose the Trout Campfire with fingerling potato fried egg and lemon butter. A dangerous preparation because if it is not watched carefully it is easy to overcook the fish — mine was perfect. My only letdowns were with the white wines that were available by the glass. I tried several white wine offerings and found them weak and tasteless. The white wines were not up to the standards of the food. I also did not have desert as they were sold out of one of my choices and the other choice was not yet prepared. But I came back the next day for meat.
The second night I started with the House Charcuterie Board (YUM!) and a glass of Spanish Tempranillo (a nice wine). I chose the Beef Short Ribs Bourguignon with buttermilk spaetzle and farm vegetable as my entrée (YUM YUM). Thus was a hearty robust flavorful dish that evoked memories eating the one of those special out of the way restaurants that one sometimes finds in France. It was French comfort food at its best. I paired this with a glass of the Cote du Rhone. Both of the red wines were quite good and complemented the food — much better than the whites I had the previous night. The desert — crème brûlée– was good and I paired it with a medium dry sherry. A good meal.
The staff were all great and well trained and contributed to a wonderful experience both nights.
I will eat here next time I am in New Orleans because there are many appetizers, and entrees choices that I would love to try. This is a winner! They just need to do something about the selection of white wines by the glass.

Walked by this restaurant in the Renaissance Hotel and thought we’d give it a shot. VERY GOOD! Went for dinner and the hubby and I ordered the Seafood Platter for 2 (good deal foronly $ 35) included dozen raw oysters, mussels, clams, ½ lobster, and 3 different types of ceviche (excellent!). We ordered a side of steamed mussels and they were super yummy too.
Even the olive bread and spread they bring out to you is incredible.
Service is top notch and ambiance is great.
Peach Cobbler for dessert — best I’ve ever had!
Try the Happy Hour — we didn’t get a chance to — $ 9 for a dozen raw oysters!

René Bistrot is one of our newest restaurants located now in the Warehouse District. Chef René Bajeux, one of only 55 French Master Chefs in the United States, has opened his restaurant in the Renaissance Arts Hotel on Tchoupitoulas St. The space was previously occupied by La Côte Brasserie. Chef Bajeux has operated the former René Bistrot in the Pere Marquette Building prior to the failure of the federal levee system in 2005. And more recently was the Chef at the Rib Room in the Royal Orleans.
And so my fiancée Bethany and I decided to see what the new restaurant and Chef Bajeux had to offer. The restaurant is large and with separate seating area for the bar. Although no major changes in appearance has been done so far, there will be some updating in the future.
We were made to feel very comfortable by Laura who handles the bar and we stopped there first for a before dinner drink. This would be a nice place to go for a drink even if you are not having dinner. Wide selection of beverages and a knowledgeable person behind the bar is a big plus. Antoinette is the hostess and with the personality that every hostess should have but doesn’t always.
We were pleasantly surprised to run into a waiter that has been around for a very long time. Nick who has put time in at Broussard’s and Tamarind is the kind of waiter that can guide you through the menu and wine list if you request it with knowledge and concern. He also knows to give you the space you need when you wish to have that quiet romantic dinner with the love of your life. Also met and chatted with a younger and outgoing waiter named Chad. He would be a wise choice to request when making your reservations here in addition to Nick.
Now for the food we decided to enjoy. First there was the Tarte Flambé. This is a traditional Alsatian tart consisting of fromage blanc, onion, and bacon prepared and served on a cast iron skillet. Very tasty with the spring greens on top and the skillet does keep the serving warm while eating. Very delicious and big enough for two people.
Should also mention that olive bread was served with butter and a garlic pesto olive oil dip to keep you happy while waiting for your first selection.
For the wine selection we enjoyed a French Bordeaux, Marquis de Chasse 2010, and it went very well with the food. The wine list is diversified and the price varies from moderate to expensive. The wines by the glass selections are also good and the prices are reasonable.
The entrée we finally decided to enjoy was the Basque Seafood Ragout. This consisted of mussels, clams, shrimp, white beans, chorizo, and a tomato broth. The dish was very flavorful and tasted more like something that you would have served at someone’s home than a restaurant. Chef Bajeux has always made me feel that way with his food preparation and choices for his menu. I would just add that a few more white beans would have added much to the dish.
The dinner came to a conclusion with a so called single serving of Baked Alaska that is really made for two. Very good and decadent with some very strong coffee capped the night.
Before leaving took a look see at the Sunday Brunch menu. It is a menu brunch, the only kind I consider, and it is three courses served with champagne of course. Every choice of the three courses on the brunch menu is under $ 30.00. Not a bad deal with the quality of the food and service at this restaurant.
This place has my Seal of Approval.