Cafe Boulud - Palm Beach (FL)

3 /5 Sofia Manzo: Visited Cafe Boulud for high tea. I was horrified when the waiters poured hot water in our tea cups and then gave us tea bags for us to awkwardly dunk into our water. I would have never imagined that, at such a nice location (or those prices), we wouldn’t have been served loose tea in a pot. That being said, the staff were warm and helpful.

5 /5 John Bernardi: 10/10 lobster roll in South Florida! Menu is approachable, fresh, and delicious for a work lunch. I have tried over 50 rolls from here to Key West. Not pictured* steak tartare & refreshing glass of Chablis. Café Boulud always delivers a wonderful experience, I recommend going for lunch if you’ve never been. Beautifully remodeled, the entire area is inviting & refined. Staff is delightful & extend true hospitality.

5 /5 Dan Dowling: Excellent fine, yet approachable, dining. The way they prepared the prime strip and duck was a masterclass on flavor and texture. For the duck, the meat is a spot-on mid rare throughout, sous vide, then a thin layer of seared crisp skin that makes for the perfect bite as you drag it through the carrot puree. Youll find he ginger gastrique is satsfyingly mellow with just enough astringency to compliment the relatively lean breast. The strip steak melts in your mouth, as tender as a choice filet. The classic, straight forward presentation with tender asparagus and hollandaise will satisfy your steak crave. The watermelon and prosciutto salad with brown butter and tarragon was the perfect start to what would be an excellent meal. The broccolini with garlic and chili was the perfect balance of roasted and/or confit garlic and a faint bit of chili. Smooth, sweet and savory with no sharp notes. Every staff member was attentive, professional, and friendly, from the chef to the hostess they had each been expertly trained. Overall there was an attention to detail in the balance of flavors and textures in every single thing we ate. Masters of their craft. Will return.

5 /5 Erica_Electra: The food and service were both outstanding! We had some shared appetizers and 2 dinners, one being the jumbo stone crab claw the other a wagyu steak. Our apps were steak tartar and grilled octopus. I will say I like my octopus a bit more charred, but the octopus was cooked perfectly and the tartar was deliciously fresh. We also ordered breakfast room service which was good. The club sandwich served by the pool was plenty for 2 people to share. We also had the jumbo shrimp cocktail which was 5 large prawns and very fresh! Overall a wonderful dining experience! On Friday night the bar area got very busy with a DJ and dancing, very lively and fun! Will definitely return for the Friday night nightlife too!

2 /5 Lisa Abdelmoumen: We were highly disappointed by the service at Café Boulud Palm Beach. We expected much better from a French fine dining establishment with a renowned chef behind it. We arrived at 9:15 PM on a Sunday. The restaurant was quiet, and although they offered a 9:45 PM reservation, we chose to come earlier specifically to avoid being rushed for last call. Unfortunately, that made no difference. A first server greeted us, a second server came to take drink orders (we weren’t ready yet as we were considering a bottle of wine), and then the sommelier arrived — who, by far, was the nicest and most welcoming employee we encountered all night. He was helpful, polite, and the only one who made us feel like we were actually guests in a French restaurant. Then the issues started. When the first server returned to take our food order, we told him we knew we wanted the foie gras but needed another minute for mains. He abruptly told us to order everything immediately because “the kitchen is closing now.” At 9:45 PM. Said with zero elegance, zero hospitality. Both my partner and I work in fine dining, and we were shocked — not only by how early they were cutting off the kitchen, but by how it was said. It completely killed the mood. We ordered the Dover Sole and the duck. The fish was delicious, but considering it’s served whole, we fully expected classic French tableside deboning — which never happened. The duck arrived overcooked, even though we asked for medium rare, and was very chewy. We sent it back, and the second one was much better: crispy skin, tender meat, and a beautiful carrot purée. By the time we finished our mains, we felt so rushed and unwelcome that we decided to take our dessert to go. At the start of dinner, they had asked us to pre-order dessert, so we reminded the server that we chose the mignardises. He didn’t seem aware of it… and then returned with a tiny plastic box containing two chocolates, two macarons, and two fruit pastes — the type of thing given as a complimentary gift at hotels or events. Definitely not what you expect from a French fine dining restaurant. We politely declined and asked for it to be removed from the bill. The server’s reaction made it feel like we were inconveniencing him by staying “late” or asking anything at all. Throughout the night, there was zero attention to detail, no elegance in service, and no sense of true hospitality. Another surprising detail: servers in a French restaurant at this level should at least know how to pronounce the menu items correctly, especially since everything is listed in French. Hearing foie gras called “foye grass,” frites as “frytes,” and Dover Sole pronounced as “solééss” was… difficult, to say the least — especially in Palm Beach, where the clientele expects refinement. In the end, we spent close to $500 for beautiful food but a genuinely terrible service experience. Extremely disappointing, and unfortunately we will not be returning.