Will be staying at Ile St. louis the second week in May and wanted to go to Ambroisie but it is closed for the week. We enjoy walking to restaurants since that’s not something we can do in California.
The only other major place I know of in the area is Tour D’Argent , which was sort of good when I lived there 40 years ago but it seems it has degenerated into a tourist trap like Maxim’s , but I really have no knowledge about it for the past 10 years.
Is it worth going to? Seems like the room is pretty old and faded.
I’ve been there 3 times, in 2003, 2009 and 2015. The food quality increased each time. I would definitely go back. The wine list is out of this world, and the tour of the wine cellar is a treat.
Anyone go here in 2017 or 2018? Love more recent feedback also. I have great memories of the place, the view, the winelist. Haven’t been since maybe 2015, the food was ok, nothing great, but all the rest made it a reasonable value prop all in.
I was there last march. The food was very good, the service impeccable and the wine list is amazing. We lucked out and got the best table in the house (corner by the window, wasn’t expecting that). It’s worth going for the list alone, so many wines under retail.
I am a huge food snob and traditional French is usually not my thing. I went three times last year for lunch and the food was fine. Our last meal my wife asked for a vegetarian meal and they made her an all veg dish that was excellent.
The food was awful last year. Several of the wines I ordered clearly had storage issues. I would stick to bottles that have the tour stamp. They seemed to show better than those that did not.
Use the sommeliers. Crazy good wine list, and excellent service. I like the food very much, classic French and great sauces. The signature duck with the blood sauce is like an initiation…it helps you understand how bad haute cuisine used to be two hundred years ago but once you have (and got the postcard) you can move past it. Last time we went, in the fall, we had four bottles between the two of us because I had to almost laugh at the reasonable prices. Leftover wine was put to good use I’m sure. Drink the wine, drink in the view, and look at the food as something that fills the stomach so you can drink more wine.
Bonus: People watching can be very rewarding here.