Coquette

Reviews 6

A

A Private User

We had reservations for a Friday night during Restaurant Week, so the place was very busy, and we had to wait at the bar for a short while until our table was available. The seating hostess, bartender and all the wait staff we encountered were delightful, professional and upbeat. The atmosphere was lively, warm and welcoming. Despite being a fairly large space, there as an intimacy that was very charming. We didnt try the special Prix-Fixe menu but ordered some of the regular offerings. My husbands Shrimp Cocktail was lovely, with large shrimp cooked to perfect texture and firmness. The busy kitchen didnt provide him with the appropriate fish fork, but that was solved by giving him one of the two I was given with my Escargot. My escargot were swimming in a somewhat watery broth, seasoned with butter, garlic and herbs, but oddly, they tasted like they were boiled in water and had the sauce added afterwards. They were not infused with the rich flavor I normally would have expected. And there was no bread added to the dish for the buttery broth. Salads were then presented, and Frisse with lardons was well flavored, although the poached egg was infused with vinegar and overcooked, with a yolk that was completely set and solid. The two pointless large slabs of toasted bread would have been welcome with the escargot. On to the main courses; we chose classics. My Coq au Vin was very nice, tender chicken nicely flavored served atop creamy and rustic mashed potatoes. The flavoring was delicate but balanced. I would have preferred a little more wine flavor; the namesake of the dish was absent and the flavors just didnt quite marry. My husbands Bœuf Bourguignon was a bigger disappointment, as it was presented with a thin, watery broth instead of the rich, savory sauce the dish is known for. It looked and tasted like a bowl of soup with insufficient broth. Once again, flavors were good, but where was the body? Plus the meat, which was a lean cut...perhaps top round, was not browned prior to cooking and unpleasantly rubbery and firm. Perhaps someone thought that smothering the dish with pearl onions would make up for the lack of other vegetables? Maybe thats all that was left after a busy night? But every other bite was an onion... and after picking through the dish, there was quite the pile left over. The flavors all the way through seemed to be good, but rushed in the kitchen and lacked soul. Our impression was that the classic dishes we ordered tasted like French-inspired cafeteria food... good flavor, but lacking completion. I think we felt like we just at a French restaurant in a theme park, like Epcot. All the appearance and concept, but not enough soul. Maybe it was because they were so busy, but we were disappointed. There are better choices for French food in the triangle, such as Vin Rouge in Durham or Saint-Jaques, which is also in Raleigh. Perhaps I might return on a less busy night, but Im in no hurry given other choices.

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JO

John Bauerlein

Worst dinner experience! Recently experienced the worst dining experience of my life at Coquette Brasserie on the occasion of my fathers 70th birthday. The majority of the issues we experienced came from the kitchen and despite a pleasant wait staff they too fell short in the end. Heres a list of what went wrong: 1. One entrée ordered at the same time as the others arrived 20 minutes after the rest 2. French onion soup (one thing a bistro/brasserie should get right) was bland and included raw onions 3. Oysters had good sized shell fragments in them from poor shucking and cleaning 4. Terrine du jour, a pate, had bone in it 5. Steak was undercooked, for only half the steak lengthwise. Im not really sure how you even do that. 6. Waiter brought two incorrect drink orders 7. Despite being reminded twice, the wait staff forgot to put a candle in my fathers dessert 8. Gave us a gift card but didnt credit any items from our meal. All around terrible experience which is too bad since the décor and ambience was nice and the menu was enticing. We will not return. For the benefit of other customers I really hope they sort out their kitchen issues.

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A

A Private User

We actually had planned on eating at a different restaurant, but couldnt wait the 45 mins to get a seat since we had tickets to the ballet, so we went next door and tried Coquette. I am SOOOooo glad we did- it was one of the best meals Id ever had! I got the seafood crepes with scallops and shrimp in a superb lemon cream sauce. My husband got an absolutely divine seared tuna on an olive risotto plus a house side salad. We also shared the truffle oil fries with Parmesan and garlic aioli that were to DIE for!! The service was also great. We gold them we were in a bit of a time crunch, and they took care to bring things out quickly and have the check back to us in no time. We were in our car 50 minutes after we walked it the door! Interestingly, the restaurant wasnt even full on a Friday night, but with food and service like that, I hope more people discover them. Best of all, our whole meal was right at $50- a perfect night out that I hope to repeat soon!

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TH

The Private user

food not good. High prices and small plates of food. The tables are close together and hard to walk. the front of the restaurant is good decor. The hostess and waitress both behavior. Rush to get rid of, talk back rude, yell and interrupt, stand behind and yell in the ear, yell and interrupt, eat while wait on, try to stick finger into the skin of the hand, repeat the same questions, walk away from females guests while trying to talk to them. And sometimes they come back and other times they do not come back. Hostess threw the menu on the table.Many good offerings. And the plates are small of food. And waitress said not want to write down the order. we had to ask her to do the job. She said we had to wait to take the order. And we said not required to wait. And she did it. gave us food and drink. Asked if we want anything more. And tried to run away quickly when wait on us. And got angry at us. We not spend much money. Got angry at us that we not give her a tip.

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PA

Paula Cothren

Ive eaten at Coquette Brasserie many times. Friday January 30 2015 at 2:00 pm was horrible. The restaurant was full, I later learned to be likely because it was Restaurant Week in Raleigh- possibly why our lunch was abysmal. Escargots were teeny tiny swimming in an ocean of butter. Charcuterie was sparse and uninspired, and we got the end cuts of the duck confit- unrecognizable. The crispy trout was 1 and 1/2 teeny tiny strips of trout. My sons salmon looked OK but as soon as the waiter placed the trout in front of me the table immediately smelled rancid. The accompaniment to trout is now lentils, which I love. But lentils should smell earthy sweet. These lentils smelled bad. I ate them anyway. Two hours later I felt horrible and had a headache. That night and the next day I was sick. Foul. Sick. Youre going to kill somebody, Coquette. All this food was brought out nearly simultaneously, for which Lori did apologize. Just horrible.

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GR

Gregory Martinez

Staff was friendly, jovial and entertaining. Between friends and my girl we had a few quiches and a sandwich. The quiches were more greasy than Id like. We had some drinks as well. The bloody marys were excellent, I mean really really good. I like a good amount of horseradish in my mix and this was spot on. I love French wine and while I understand that this is a French restaurant in North Carolina in a shopping mall geared toward affluent white people that dont know the difference between a crêpe and flapjack, the glass pour selection was way too safe. Im sure the bottle list had more to offer and I know that Im being a little picky/judgemental, but in the ever-growing and boundary pushing city we live in, itd be nice to see something on that glass pour list that intrigues the growing population of the triangle. This area is evolving, and so should the service industry. The experience was enjoyable overall. Ill be back.

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