Tuesday, October 22, 2013

La Mangeoire Midtown East

Looks like and from reviews, is, a very nice French restaurant--but pricey

People who dine out a lot seemed to be as picky about customer services as anyone else..

La Mangeoire

3.5 star rating
122 reviews Rating Details
Category: French
1008 2nd Ave
(between 53rd St & 54th St)
New York, NY 10022
Neighborhood: Midtown East
(212) 759-7086
La Mangeoire opens Wed at 12 pm.
Nearest Transit Station:
Lexington Ave./53 St. (E, M)
51 St. (4, 6, 6X)
59 St. (4, 5, 6, 6X)
Hours:
Mon-Thu 12 pm - 10 pm
Fri 12 pm - 10:30 pm
Sat 5:30 pm - 10:30 pm
Sun 11 am - 9 pm
Parking:
Street
Accepts Credit Cards:
Yes
Price Range:
$$$
Attire:
Casual
Good for Groups:
Yes
Good for Kids:
No
Takes Reservations:
Yes
Delivery:
Yes
Take-out:
Yes
Waiter Service:
Yes
Outdoor Seating:
Yes
Wi-Fi:
No
Good For:
Dinner
Noise Level:
Quiet
Ambience:
Intimate, Romantic
Has TV:
No
Caters:
No
Wheelchair Accessible:
No

Review Highlights   What's this?

  • "Prix-fixe brunch menu includes a free drink." In 17 reviews
  • "Calves liver, coq au vin and duck confit all exquisite." In 8 reviews
  • "The staff was very attentive and I loved the charming decor." In 20 reviews
Rating Distribution | Trend
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122 reviews in English

  • Review from

    • 176 friends
    • 451 reviews
    San Francisco, CA
    10/10/2013
    If a restaurant can do roast chicken well, they can do everything well...
    The most amazing roast chicken I have ever had, with a simple butter lettuce and shallot salad.

    You feel as if you are in France in this charming little place.

    Very good service by a nice French waiter.

    This was just simply an incredibly simple yet delicious meal.
  • Review from

    New York, NY
    8/9/2013
    La Mangeoire is another restaurant I had heard about forever, and was so glad I finally had the chance to go. Dining here is one of those transformative New York restaurant experiences where you leave the day's stress at the door and step into an unexpected respite. I stopped in with a friend late-ish on a Thursday evening, and we were promptly seated. My sole complaint would probably be that they seated us at the two-top right next to the front door, which was kind of lame. All told, it was hardly busy at that hour, and the view of Second Avenue through the rustic curtains on the French doors added some charm.

    La Mangeoire presents a somewhat typical, if "French Country"-heavy menu including some noteworthy standouts. My friend and I started with the endive and Roquefort salad, which was presented nicely and served in a very shareable portion. Paired with a lovely basket of rustic bread and interesting olive oil and anchovy tapenade, it was a perfect starter. For my main, I ordered the steak frites, which again, was enormous and delicious. The steak was cooked perfectly and topped with a terrific "au poivre" sauce. It was accompanied by a huge bowl of thickly-cut crisp French fries (So good!). My friend had the duck confit which was served in a cast iron skillet over haricots verts. The duck was delicious and by the end, we were both in a euphoric food coma.

    The restaurant itself is charmingly decorated to resemble a country house in Provence. I could almost be convinced that Aix was down the road. Service was doting and friendly, and I enjoyed a couple of glasses of Malbec with this tremendous meal. La Mangeoire is, in my opinion, worth going out of your way for. It's a little on the expensive side, especially considering how many very good French restaurants are in the neighborhood, but the extra touches here go a long way, and I'll be back.
  • Review from

    • 7 friends
    • 214 reviews
    New York, NY
    7/22/2013
    Food here is tasty, no doubt about that.  But it's a very odd place with an oddly confusing menu.  While the service and ambience is fine, it is not commensurate with the prices they are charging.  The restaurant itself is pretty small -- a few small rooms.  I can imagine it'd be very cozy in the wintertime.  We came late in the evening and unlike many of the other Yelp reviews which indicate the pace here is slow, they were definitely rushing us along.  (For instance, anybody who walked by our table refilled our wine glasses even if 1) they were already full, and 2) somebody else had just refilled them 2 seconds before.)

    I was also seriously confused by how most of the entrees come in "smaller" and "larger" portions.  As compared to what?  Are the "larger" portions for sharing?  Or just for bigger people?  Nobody ever explained that.  I guess I could've asked a lot of questions (and I did, a few) but I came here to eat dinner, not do research.
  • Review from

    New York, NY
    5/9/2013
    I had a really nice business lunch here. The restaurant is very charming and quaint and has a pretty authentic  feel.  It is hard to find a place that appeals to everyone when doing a work lunch meeting, but I can say, everyone was very happy here.

    I ordered Pan Seared Sea Scallop with Tomato Orzo Pasta.  It was awesome (maybe a little small, but still awesome). The service was fast enough and very friendly. Someone in our group knew some French, so some casual French banter took place, which was a nice touch.

    I would place the food above par for French food in NYC.  I rarely come to midtown for dinner, but I would honestly recommend coming back here for a dinner date.
  • Review from

    • 0 friends
    • 4 reviews
    Rye, NY
    9/29/2013 Seated via OpenTable
    We were quite disappointed in our lunch at La Mangeoire.  Definitely expensive for what you get and the food really wasn't even that great.  Ordered the Coq au Vin for lunch, it was not even hot.  Seemed like it was pre-cooked and just mixed together for our lunch.  Ambience was kind of nice but not worth it. Disappointing.
  • Review from

    • 0 friends
    • 111 reviews
    Upper East Side, Manhattan, NY
    9/2/2013
    Went there for the brunch on a Sunday. While this was good, I agree that the price doesn't seem commensurate to the food. Service is ok, nothing special.
  • Review from

    New York, NY
    4/2/2013
    3.5 stars

    Really cute French restaurant with a charming countryside feel to it. The pace is slow, so don't come here if you don't have the time to slowly enjoy your meal! I kid you not, our dinner was 2.5 hours long (after informing them we were in a rush mid-way through) and we didn't receive our entrees until 1.5 hours into the meal.

    My entree was the scallops with a tomato orzo in lobster broth, and yes it was as tasty as it sounds. I was here for a birthday dinner for 10ish people. The servers were very accommodating to our larger group, bringing in extra chairs for us when someone arrived late, and moving a plant that was pressed up against our table. Only thing is, it may be a little hard to understand them as they all speak with thick French accents =P, but hey that's what you get at an authentic French place right?

    I've also been here for brunch and enjoyed it, the place gets really sunny and gorgeous during the day and the setting is perfect for a girls' catch-up brunch.

    Come here if you don't mind a long meal!
  • Review from

    Brooklyn, NY
    3/11/2013
    Great restaurant - the crowd is a little uppity for my tastes, but the food and service are pretty spectacular, I must say, and besides - it is in Midtown East after all.

    We had a reservation for 8:15pm on a Friday night for 4, but the other couple couldn't make it, so I called last minute to change it to 2.  No problem at all, Gerard, the owner, was SO nice about it.  He really makes an effort to be present and involved in everything that's going on in his restaurant - you can tell he loves what he does by the pride he shows.

    I had the prix fixe and chose the beet, endive and hazelnut salad (fantastic!), the coq au vin (awesome, though VERY heavy) and the lemon tarte with berry coulis (perfect way to end the meal).  My husband had the country pate (he's in love with that chicken liver mousse), the monk fish (delicious fresh and a little sweet) and then a glass of dessert wine.  We each had the pinot noir with our meals as well.

    I was really impressed with the service.  They took care of little things like taking our coats and bags, presenting me with the menus and water while I waited for my husband to meet me, and waiting until he got there to fill his water glass and maintaining the perfect balance of quickness with our orders and food but not rushing us out of there or bothering us every 5 minutes.

    The decor is super charming and warm - great for couples and groups alike - a really homey and welcoming atmosphere and you get the feeling you're in someone's house who loves to entertain, not just a restaurant that wants your dollars.

    Perhaps the best part of the evening was Gerard's hospitality.  He had dinner with a large group right next to us, and apologized for the noise (it was fine, we weren't terribly bothered by it).  Then, at the end of the meal, he comped my husband's dessert wine ($20) and thanked us for putting up with the noise.  classy.  I thanked him, and he asked if our friends were okay.  I explained that they were 10 days away from their first child's due date, and she suddenly wasn't feeling well, and he understood completely, then suggested we come back a few months after the baby is born, before it gets old enough to be a terror - we both laughed about it and I promised to be back.

    Overall, it's a little pricey and the crowd there is a little uppity, but it's totally worth it.
  • Review from

    • 1 friend
    • 13 reviews
    Zauggenried, Switzerland
    Updated - 9/8/2013 1 check-in here
    We are coming this place twice a year or so, since 2009. Always positively surprised with the food, the friendly service and the great wines. Jacques, our friend and waiter has retired, now lives in Nice. One day we will meet him there! Todays start was a wooden board with rilettes, terrine, liver mousse and smoked sausage. The main course was rabbit with mushrooms, and a cauliflower gratin, superb combination. Complemented by a Cornas 2009 by Jean Luc Colombo, an outstanding syrah from Northern Rhone from one of the most renowned winemakers there. There was enough of this great juice left to order a cheese plate with 5 French cheeses, followed by plum ice cream, with plums marinated in Armagnac. How to digest all this? With a glass of Cognac from Delamain, of course. Offered by the house, what a positive surprise. To be honest, at home I needed a Fernet Branca to support digestion, how unFrench :-)

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