L'Absinthe Restaurant

Mediocre food for the price, terrible service

by t23

November 12, 2007

When I spend $100 (for two) at a restaurant, I expect to be wowed. However, the presentation of the food did not excite, and my dining partner found his appetizer (the crab cake) to be only "so-so", while I thought the same of my entree (steak and fries...what?? fries??) In the food's defense, I did enjoy my appetizer (grilled asparagus and portobello) and absolutely LOVED my partner's entree (gnocchi), as well as the bread served before the meal (yummy and garlicky!) What really threw off my experience was the rude and inattentive demeanor of the waitress. We were pretty much done with our appetizers before our first glass of wine was served, though I saw tables that came in after us with drinks before us. She failed to do anything when we finished our wine, and we had to call her back over to ask for a second glass after another long wait. It seemed like spending more than 5 seconds at our table was a huge inconvenience to her. Plus, despite my friendliness the entire time, I never received even ONE smile--I really did feel like I was inconveniencing her for expecting her to bring me anything. When I asked if someone could pair a red wine with my entree, she said "I'll give you (fill in the blank), it's the cheapest". NOT the service I'd expect at a restaurant like this. We waited at least 15-20 minutes after we had completely finished our meal (including coffee and water) without any attention, and had to flag someone down for the bill. However, one positive aspect of the meal blew me away....the dessert trio was AMAZING!! The raspberry creme brulee was the best I've ever had in my life,both the flourless chocolate cake and tiramisu were absolutely delicious, and the entire thing was beautifully plated.

• Pros: Absolutely amazing dessert!
• Cons: Terrible and rude service

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Most amazing restaurant experience to date

by coolbeans0730

September 11, 2007

Food, atmosphere, and service this restaurant gets top marks across the board. My coworkers and I stumbled in to get some drinks at the bar during cocktail hour and we were treated to the wit, and conversation provided by the bartender who we later discovered was one of the owners. He suggested wonderful drinks from his worldly experience. We tested his knowledge of wines, ports, vodka, rum, scotch and tequila. We had already had dinner that night so we only sampled some of the desserts, the flourless chocolate cake was amazing. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we came back the next day for dinner.

We started with the lobster ravioli with the most delicious flavoring, the onion soup was thick and full savory, then the main course. friendly owner kept us company with good coversation as he floated around the restaurant. I had a Steak with a spicy sweet sauce with pepers and onions while my co-workers had the tuna and a seafood special. All of us had a great time and the food was fantastic. I should also mention aside from the host, the waiter was extremely professional and gave 5 star service. I could not of had a better experience, definately find time to make it to L'Absinthe.

• Pros: Management, service, food, menu variety, drink variety

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Best authentic atmosphere

by coco_tony

November 12, 2006

what an old school restaurant this is! Good old fasion french cuisine...no fake fusions...L'Absinthe provides a well rounded dinning experience accompined by real french culture and excellent recipies kept in secret over decades to re-establish fine dining..

good for dates, parties, catering, wine, and excellent american franco cuisine!

• Pros: excellent VIBE

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Visit the green fairy!

by harddriv

April 13, 2005

The well-appointed dining room's live piano player helps set the ambiance. The menu is classical french dishes with a modern twist. We started with the open-faced lobster and rock shrimp ravioli which featured spinach, dried cherries, mozzarella, and a light curried cream sauce (delicate and flavorful). We also tried the Lobster & Crawfish Bisque (a little too intense). Having only been opened two months, they are still working out the kinks. For our entrees we tried the lamb rack served with a potato gallette (potatoes were too crunchy), poached figs and spring vegetables. The lamb was a perfect medium-rare but most of the veggies were too al dente. We also tried the stuffed gnocchi with heirloom tomatoes, in a meyer lemon sauce (a good and nicely-sized portion). The wine list offered many well-known labels, at reasonable prices. Many in the $25-$40 range. L'Absinthe will only get better with time.

• Pros: Decor, Live Piano

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