Le Bateau Ivre

Dropped in here for dinner with my husband a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and it was such a positive experience.

This is a wine bar with a great outdoor setup and fantastic ultra friendly service.

The food was delicious, we shared a salmon tartar and an endive salad to start. I had the duck as my entree, and it was exquisite.

We truly felt spoiled. Can't wait to go back!

Food was authentic French. We had the pre-fixe lunch. We both chose the escargot. It was good with lots of garlic. The snail meat was a bit small I thought. For main course we had the steak with peppercorn sauce and I had moules. The meat of the moules were very tiny compared to the moules elsewhere i had them. The sauce though was very good that I brought it home and added it to my baked fish for dinner. It was very good.

We both had chocolate mousse. It was also good.

Brunches in this neighborhood don't start until 10am. Thankfully a "breakfast" option got us in the door of Le Bateau Ivre for a meal I would consider brunch.

We sat by the window that gave us the best of both worlds: view of the street plus air conditioning in a charming French cafe atmosphere. The dining room wasn't big by any means but it had character.

My mom and I both went with the Croquet Madame and a mimosa. The croquet came with a small house salad and rosemary roasted potatoes. I savored every bite of the exquisite ham and cheese on thick French bread.

The pricing was just odd. The prices varied from breakfast to brunch. Our mimosas were more for breakfast but the croquet madames were less.

In any case, I enjoyed this experience over just doing a generic bottomless and basic at one of the neighboring American joints.

Very good french bistro for late lunch cos is open all day.,
Today I had the "menu du jour", US 29, with generous portions of salmon tartare and fish balls with steamed zucchinis. For desert a lovely raspberry sorbet. Ambiance typically french and Staffcourteous

If your in the mood for visiting a Paris Bistro in NYC then Bateau is the place for you. We have been coming here for years and mostly enjoy the food and people. The new management is trying hard to update and refresh the menu while leaving the old school favorites in place. The Onion Soup and Escargot are winners.
We also LOVE the beard its a treat to get a nice crunchy baguette.
The Mussels are good the sauce being a bit too creamy but tasty. The Duck Confit is excellent the meat was tender with the skin rendered crisp but not dry. One on the best I've had in NYC.
The salad is perhaps an area for improvement the greens look like they are from a Costco bag and dressing tasted bottled. The wine list is very good with option thought-out France in many price pionts.

Came here for the French restaurant week menu. The waiters were nice, but the serving of food was slow. It took us more than two hours to finish the meal, and it was not because of the French atmosphere (trust me, this place is NOISY).
My feelings for the food are mixed. Some of them are great like the Duck breast, some of them aren't that good.
Overall wasn't a pleasant experience for me. Maybe it was just an exception, can't say if it's the norm.

I would not give Le Bateau Ivre more than three start. It is a small french restaurant with a nice vibe but food is average.
This is my second time and definitely not going back only because the price range is not aligned with the food quality. First time I was there I tried burger which was ok but the bun was old and dry. This time i ordered mussels and fries. Mussels were cooked well but they were super tiny.
Service is good and servers are friendly but there are definitely better french restaurants within the same price range or cheaper in nyc.

Except for a mediocre espresso, my evening at Le Bateau Ivre was perfect. I've been to France and understand how a French meal is designed to unfold; it's an entire experience. Dining alone, I have neither the stomach nor the alcohol tolerance to do the whole nine yards, so I condensed the plan. Since I knew I couldn't handle aperitif/wine with meal/digestif, I ordered a cider, which I thought would work well in place of all three. They only had Aval, so I didn't have to choose. It was tasty, crisp, and indeed served the triple purpose I'd hoped for.

I don't often comment on service but the service was exceptional. The staff were on point-attentive and held a quiet joy and simple kindness, which made the experience a delight. The ambience was so French, I was confused to be speaking English.

Bread and butter is included and I didn't hold back. It was simple baguette slices but the butter was nice and salty in a rounded kind of way; a pleasant contrast to the beginning of my cider. When I asked for water, it was poured for me from a wine bottle into a wine glass. Ah, I love how the French are so civilized.

I ordered Steak Frites for the first time (what have I been waiting for???) and it was the best steak of my life. I chose the peppercorn sauce, and the sauce bested the little jars of said sauce I brought home from Paris once. I ordered the steak medium-rare and the taste and texture were extraordinary. I savored it as slowly as I could. The frites were also prime specimens; square and crisp on the outside with some serious bite and flavor to them. I was offered mayo and ketchup and took both. Some frites went in my mouth as-is, some went in the sauce, and some went in the mayo and ketchup. At Le Bateau Ivre, you can have it all.

I purposely saved some bread to sop up the remaining sauce and also purposely saved some of my steak to very un-Frenchly ask for it to go (I knew it'd make a great breakfast!).

I was gently buzzing from the cider and the meat and potatoes and decided to keep going and uncharacteristically asked for a dessert menu. I was craving chocolate, but the strawberries spoke to me, so I asked for some of the chocolate sauce from the pears with the strawberries. I was granted this wish; again: at Le Bateau Ivre, you truly can have it all. I'd have loved to have a glass of port, but I just can't drink that much; the cider went very well with the strawberries and yes, I thought they were even better with a drizzle of chocolate sauce from the little metal cup they brought me.

The only dimness to a dazzling evening was the awkward espresso. They must not have espresso cups as it was brought in a cafe au lait-sized coffee cup. It just didn't taste that good; it was weak in strength, flavor, and viscosity. On the other hand, it served the intended purpose of perking me up after the cider and steak were doing their part to lull me off to dreamland. The espresso also served its second intended purpose of serving as a capstone to my evening, giving it a sense of finality.

My solo dinner followed an amazing afternoon date that would have been a very tough act to follow. Le Bateau rose to the challenge.

Our go to French bistro! Since becoming vegetarians, we have gotten salmon on many occasions and it never disappoints! Our favorite dish is with salmon over large butter beans. Sunday brunch yesterday with the jazz band was exceptional. Thank you for always bringing your food A game!

Love this restaurant- tragic it is now closed. Our family has had many exiting evenings of dining and brunch experiences.