MyWorldReviews.com

Balthazar

New York, New York, United States

Balthazar is a slightly upscale French restaurant in New York's SoHo neighborhood. The restaurant is a popular hot spot. It is fairly noisy inside, especially near the bar, since the restaurant is all open and the noise travels. Their dinner menu offers a variety of French appetizers and entrees.

We gave them a fairly low rating because they were somewhat expensive, and the quality of food was really just mediocre for this class of restaurant.

Dress

Smart casual. Although the restaurant is slightly upscale, jeans and a nice shirt are appropriate.

Cost

$25-$30 per entree

Service

The service was very attentive. There were many waiters coming around keeping our water glasses filled. They also refolded napkins when people went to the bathroom. There was also a person in the bathroom offering personal grooming products.

Reservations

When we arrived just before 7pm on a Friday evening, I think we were lucky to get the last available table. You can call for reservations if you want to avoid waiting in a line later.

Items Ordered

Free Bread Basket

There were many loaves of bread sitting on a rack in the middle of the restaurant. The waiters were constantly cutting slices of bread from the loaves on the rack to bring to each table. We could tell the bread was fresh, but it wasn't anything special.

Roasted Beet Salad

With leeks, haricots verts, walnuts, and fourme d'Ambert

This was a different salad. I enjoyed it, but you have to be the kind of person who enjoys beets to enjoy this salad. There was a mild dressing, and it mixed well with the beets and green leaves. There was a bit of blue cheese on the side, which I didn't even want to try.

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli

with thyme, butter and Parmesan

The ravioli were pretty good. The butter thyme sauce on them was also delicious. It's pretty hard to go wrong with ravioli. This appetizer portion was shared between three people. It wasn't a huge portion - there were 6 ravioli.

Pork Milanese

with mesclun salad, red onion confit, cherry tomatoes and artichokes

This dish was a real disappointment. It really was just a large piece of breaded pork with a cold salad thrown on top. It didn't go well together at all, and there was something missing with the pork. There wasn't enough sauce and it was just very plain tasting. I also thought the meat quality wasn't that great - there were some fatty bits.

Grilled Lamb T-Bones

with Dauphinoise potatoes and rosemary

This dish on the other hand, was pretty good. The meat was quite tender. It had a bit of a nice sauce on it that was very good. It was very awkward to eat with the big piece of bone in the middle.

The potatoes were excellent. There were layers of sliced potatoes mixed in with some cheese and baked to a crisp. It was very good and went well with the meat.

Chocolate Pot de Creme

with toasted coconut cookies

The pot de creme was pretty good, but I've had better. It was a cup of chocolate mousse. The cookies weren't very good, and didn't really taste much like coconut.