La Voile

How nice to find a French restaurant on Newbury St open for lunch. Extra excited to see the 3 course lunch menu. The service was legendary. I wanted to dine outside because it was a beautiful summer day and I could enjoy the flowers and greenery but after my first course the sun was too hot. "Can I switch to indoors?" "Of course madam"Ah, air conditioning, sparkling Rose, quietude and du pain. For my second course I chose P.E.l. mussels in Marinière sauce. The bowl was so full of mussels that I used one of the two extra bowl to pour in some of the flavorful sauce so I could dip each mussel. The portions of the first two courses were more than I could eat. My server asked how long until I could refrigerate the mussels, I said 60 minutes and he generously put the remainder in a takeout container and gave me another container of ice for the ride home. That is the legendary service.

We came here as Krasi was booked and this place had a reservation available last minute. Unfortunately food was mediocre. I thought the Les pates was bland. And I had much better duck at deuxave. My husband had the veal and that was delicious. Our server was also the bartender. She was nice and attentive.

I've been having days of not knowing what and where to eat. After some planning, I decided to go to La Voile for lunch. I had RSVP'd for 12:45 pm and I'm glad I did because the place was packed when I arrived. My tip is to always RSVP if the option is available. After perusing the menu, we ordered the pan-seared rib eye, the beef tenderloin and an onion soup. The onion soup was just mediocre. There was a large quantity of cheese and very little soup. Due the amount of cheese, it felt like eating chewing gum.The beef tenderloin was ordered to be cooked medium-rare and it came out medium and I felt it was close to being dry. However, the giant portobello mushroom was uberly tasty. The standout dish was the ribeye. I'd order that again in a heartbeat. I loved how it was cooked to medium rare and the red wine shallot onion sauce paired amazingly with the rib-eye and the frisée salad on the side was dressed in this delicious dressing I'm not sure what it was but it tasted similar to a honey mustard. The staff was nice, and because it was busy my waiter never came to check on us or bring us another bottle of water. I'm not mad at that and that won't stop me from coming back for another meal. The dover sole caught my eye today but I think I'll come back for the sea bass.

My husband and I went there for our anniversary. This is a good place to have a dinner. You can sit outside or inside. We were seated inside. The food tasted great. As a starter we ordered a "Foie Gras" On the menu you can choose from two options they have or order both of them. We ordered both. Both "Foie Gras" tasted great. As my main dish, I ordered "La Volaille" roasted chicken and my husband ordered "L'Entrecote" ribeye. Our waiter told us that my chicken cooking time is 45 minutes, I was aware of that because it was written on the menu as well. I confirmed my order. The chicken was amazing, it was soft and yummy. I recommend trying it. For dessert we ordered "Le Brouillard" and they brought us a candle. It was so sweet. It was delicious.

Having recently had dinner here I thought it time to update my lunch review from over 10 years ago.We had dinner with another couple and another friend so there were 5 of us in total. As we were going to an art opening later we had dinner early. Despite the early dinner hour, the place was full not long after we were seated. Reservations are a must.Our waitperson was lovely and greeted us with menus and water as soon as we were seated.One of our party with everyone's approval chose the wine for the table. I don't remember what it was but it was a delicious and crisp, dry white. We started with orders of escargot and spicy mussels in a traditional Marinière sauce...both delicious!For my main I ordered seared cod over quinoa which also had a pistou sauce (kind of a French version of pesto). It was quite delicious and beautifully plated.Two others ordered the whole sea bass which was deboned at the table...a lovely dish.Another person ordered the roasted duck with spring vegetables and sauce l'orange. My husband ordered the pan-seared ribeye with salad and frites.We all seemed to enjoy our food although later once we were home my husband confessed that he had not been happy with his dish. He found the ribeye was gristly and the frites came out cold. Not wanting to make a fuss as we were a group of 5, he didn't say anything to the waiter but he really should have! At the very least he should have asked for new frites that were freshly made and hot. Alas!For dessert three of us shared the French meringue floating in creme anglaise with almonds and caramel. The two others did not want dessert. The meringue was light, tasty and not too sweet. That said, I am not sure it was the dessert for me. A couple of tastes was plenty.My husband would have rated his food a two he told me. He had never been to this restaurant before and unfortunately he was not impressed.I have been here for lunch have been good experiences. This was my first time for dinner and it matched my expectations. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their food selections. The restaurant is small and for some it might feel a bit tight particularly those sitting at the tables for two. We had a fairly nice sized table in a corner and mostly out of the way although my husband who is a tall guy at 6'3" felt a bit cramped. He's a man who likes his elbow room and La Voile is tight on space. The interior design as I mentioned in my earlier review remains lovely and beautifully appointed. There are incredible black and white yacht and sailing photos on the wall from the 1970s. (Recall the La Voile means The Sail in French.)The zinc bar is a particular treasure. The service was attentive. Many of the staff do speak French although ours did not...one of our group is a French speaker and had started conversing in that language to no avail.I would return and probably will at some point for lunch as I am often in the area during the daytime. My husband has made it clear this wasn't the place for him other than the company we were with. Perhaps the restaurant should look into the sourcing of their ribeye steaks and work a little harder to ensure that frites are cooked to order and come hot piping hot. Overall in addition to his subpar meal, I think the place also felt a little too small and fussy for my husband. Prices are in keeping with the Newbury St. location and the times we are living in, which is to say thing are on the expensive side.

I went to their Newbery Street location. Ambiance was very nice and so was the service. Food was excellent with traditional French dishes perfectly prepared.

I took my niece for lunch. We had sandwiches and French fries and salad. The food was good. The crouque monsier was especially good. Service was good too. I wasn't sure how busy it was going to be on a Saturday afternoon so I made reservations but it wasn't super busy.

French bistro . Everything was delicious. We had the foie, mussels and duck. The waiters are attentive and friendly.

We really enjoyed our food but the service was slow and inattentive. We had to ask a bus boy to find our server so we could request our bill, and when the server came, it was not our original waiter. He initially brought a bill with a bottle of wine added that we hadn't even ordered! To his credit he quickly readjusted the bill to the correct amount. Again, the food was outstanding but the service was subpar. UPDATED TO ADD: I spoke too soon...my credit card now shows two charges: the incorrect bill with the bottle of wine we didn't order, and the correct bill showing our actual order, with no corresponding credit for the over-$100 incorrect bill. I have called the restaurant repeatedly with no answer and sent an email asking for a credit; stay tuned...

The food was very good as was the service and vibe. Ate outside on the patio, had the Saffron Mussels and the Whole Chicken, both were very good as was the wine. Great portions too and quick but not too quick to be served.