Louis XVI in Patchogue; very disappointing restaurant week visit

[mcf]

Three of us went to Louis XVI during restaurant week, one of has has been a fairly frequent diner there in the past and thought it was really excellent. Sadly, this was not the case during restaurant week. They were mighty busy, got diners in and out of there really fast, and the food was disappointing. My MIL, who's eaten there often was really turned off by what turned up at table the other night.

Nothing was awful, but nothing was very good, either. Pea soup was creamy and bright green, but with no flavor at all, not even with the addition of supposedly smoked ham. The duck and chicken liver terrine was okay, beautifully plated, lovely texture but not much flavor. Main courses were similarly disappointing, and just didn't have to be. Even with a pared down menu, salmon and chicken can be wonderfully prepared on the cheap. The brown sauce accompanying the salmon was just bland and gloppy. The fish was moist, but the "crispy skin" wasn't crispy at all, at least not by the time it arrived to table, only slightly warm. The dessert sampler was pretty to look at, but aside from a nicely bittersweet shot glass of dark chocolate pudding, the other two offerings were just sticky and exceedingly sweet. Runners seemed a bit frantic, kept delivering repeat trays of dessert samplers to previously served tables, but at no time during our meal were we offered a pepper mill (though one was provided upon request) nor did anyone check to see if all was well. I'm sure this must not be the norm, this place was packed for a restaurant week weeknight.

The setting of the restaurant is just beautiful, and this visit
would have made return patrons of us had the food impressed, but I can't figure out why the busyness of the week would require making the food so flavorless, even if other slippage could be explained by it?

I'm interested in hearing from other foodies who've visited this restaurant in the recent past for other perspectives and updates.

[wellsie]

Had a similar experience last night there. I thought the food was better than what you had encountered, but I wasn't dazzled by it enough to warrant a $300 dinner in the future. I felt that it was a good way to check this out for future special occasions or 'treat yourself' dinners, but it wasn't that impressive to me. I enjoy Mirabelle much more, or would go into the city. First, in my opinion, the building exterior is hideous. I was expecting something so much nicer. The interior was nice, but starting to look a bit tired. It appeared that they had jammed a lot of extra tables in for Restaurant Week, and as you pointed out the service was not up to par. I do give a lot of leeway for how busy they were (although you could make an argument that they should not book so many reservations if they can't handle it, but ...) and I understand that food prices have gone up substantially over the past year, so I wasn't expecting the caviar tasting or lobster, however I agree with you about that doesn't translate to mediocre food. In addition, the desserts were disappointing. I did not expect the Marie Antoinette dessert that I have heard much about, but I thought they might offer their ice cream in the chocolate hat (even a smaller version). As there was no description on the menu, I don't even know exactly what we had if I were to want to order it in the future.

On top of that, we didn't mind the fast pace of the dinner, but then the icing on the cake was that we had to wait over 1/2 hour for our check (and weren't offered any coffee refills as others were), and after having to ask the manager or maître d'hôtel (or whoever) for it, the waiter brought it and we waited another 15 minutes for him to pick it up. We kept seeing him lean against the wall looking in the room, but never at us (so it wasn't just that he was so busy), so we finally left and asked to pay at the hostess desk. When the manager (or whoever he was) took the check and card, he asked how everything was, and my husband told him it was pretty good, but we were kept waiting for the check for a LONG time, etc. His response was to smile at us and say "very good" or "very nice" - something along those lines. On the way out we heard one waiter say that if they do Restaurant Week next year, he will need therapy.

To me, the point of participating in Restaurant Week would seem to be to impress potential new regulars. I view it as an opportunity to try restaurants that are on the expensive side to see if they are worth the splurge. Past Restaurant Weeks have resulted in much subsequent business from both us (and family & friends we've raved to) at H2O, Jedediah Hawkins, Oscar's in St. James, among others. If you are just going to rush as many diners in and out as possible, while serving the minimal acceptable quality food and shoddy service, I do not see how participating will be any benefit to a restaurant. And while I'm on the subject, I am not sure the extra charge items are a good idea. I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth - Restaurant Week has been great overall, but some of the restaurants offer 3 unappealing or very basic choices and then another 3 or 4 for extra money. Bella Vita did this, and charged $6(!!) extra for a pasta with 2 shrimp and about 3 shredded pieces of lobster thrown in. Then they charged extra for blueberry pie! We ended up spending a lot more on dinner than we had planned.

What do others think of this I wonder.

[mcf]

I just noticed this response, sorry about that. You've summed up my feelings about the whole matter very well. I don't think any restaurant does itself a favor by participating in a week in which they put their worst foot forward.