Bastille

Reviews 6

UL

Ulysses Grimm

Went to this place, and wondered what the hell I paid for. Unfortunately, it was not my choice to go here, but thats the thanks I get for taking others advice. At $30 bucks a plate, you expect more than youre getting. You anticipate fine French cuisine in a delightful atmosphere, you get appetizer-sized entrees in a loud and boisterous environment. This place would have benefited greatly from separate dining room and bar areas, but instead the ruckus of the bar spills over into the dining area. Ever been to a chain restaurant (Bonefish Grille, Olive Garden, etc.) during happy hour? Thats what this place is like. As for the food, smh. I expected French and got a menu that was put together by someone just making things up as they went along. I had the duck, and it was tough and laced with gristle. Ive had better from the freezer case of the supermarket. The duck was accompanied with candied kumquats (which had seeds) and a Grand Marnier sauce which was the only good part of the meal. However, the chef chose to pair the succulently sweet sauce with what were supposed to be caramelized endives. I presume the bitterness of the endive were intended to counteract the sweetness of the sauce and the candied kumquats. Epic fail. I nearly forgot to mention the sunchoke puree, but thats mostly because they forgot to put more than a dab on my plate, and what was there was beyond forgettable. I wanted to go try La Begarie and instead got dragged to this place. Thus, I have no intention of going back because I never wanted to go in the first place. You might find better French food at La Madeline on King Street, but avoid this place either way.

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A

A Private User

BAD Business Practice!!! BAD Attitude!!!! I will have to give them no star at all. DO NOT go to this restaurant ever, BAD business practices!!! We made reservation for the restaurant week on 1/25/2011 (their website posted the restaurant week was from 1/17/2011 - 1/30/2011), we even printed out a HARD copy with the lunch promotion on it. They updated the website on 1/25/2011 by taking out the lunch promotion, so I called them 30 minutes before we left the office, and the person who answered my call told me that they still had the restaurant week promotion for lunch going on, which was $20.11 for 3 courses lunch. However, when we sit down, they only gave us the regular menu, which was $25. I asked the waiter about the promotion, he told me that it was ended. I told him I called before I left, and my colleagues were there when I made the phone call, but he insisted it was over. We even have a HARD COPY of the promotion with the date and price for the lunch promotion in the office (we should have bought it with us if we know that they dont care to have good business practice and would NOT honored their own promotion), I left the restaurant and told them that I would never go back there again!!! To me, it wasn’t the money, it was the principle. I’ve been eaten there (including my hubby’s birthday dinner last year) a few times coz it was close to the office, now I would tell everyone I know NEVER go there again!!!! There are lots of French restaurants out there with much better business practices and much better services, just DO NOT go to this one, period!!!

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Courtney Biggs

I have been wanting to try this place, so I made a reservation a few weeks back for restaurant week. My husband just left for a deployment and I didnt want to try and find a friend to go with, so I made the reservation for just me. I was 10 minutes early for the reservation. They seated me and brought me water. Then....nothing. I sat there. A pair of women were seated directly next to me. I overheard them say how they were lucky to get a table because they didnt have a reservation. A server immediately came over to them and said she would be back to describe the specials. Still no one came to my table. And that server didnt even bother to ask me if I had been helped. The server returns to the table next to me and tells them the specials. Another table across the room is seated. Their server comes over. I finally got up and dropped my menus off at the front. The folks by the hostess stand asked if something was wrong. I explained and said just forget it and left. I wasnt going to write this review but THEN THEY HAD THE NERVE TO CALL ME AND ASK WHETHER I WAS GOING TO COME TO MY RESERVATION!!!!!!!!!! I then had to explain to the guy on the phone that I had been there and no one helped me so I LEFT. I live in Old Town and have plenty of options, so this place is off my list.

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BL

Blake Ourso

I dont recall the exact variation I had, but I had a variation of their duck item, and man, it blew me away! Everything, top to bottom, was amazingly delicious! We also had some form of TarTar, pretty sure it was Salmon, and the portion size was very large and enough for two people to get pretty full off of it, honestly. The wine selection is as youd expect at a decent French place. We sat on the back patio, and the weather was wonderful, but I cant rate that. The patio was very very nice though. I do feel like we got separated from the rest of the guests because of our child, though, but shes an angel! Honestly...the table next to us told us "we wouldnt even know she was there had we not seen her." Shameless plug #NumberOneDad The staff was very friendly and very helpful. My lady friend can never decide on what she wants and always asks a million questions. This is very good for reviews, though! (Youre so cute!) Food 5/5, Staff 5/5, Patio 5/5

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AL

Alexa Rukstele

I had the unfortunate experience of going to Bastille for my birthday. My gift? The worst case of food poisoning ever, courtesy of the duck carbonara ravioli. Management could not have been more rude, dismissive or unresponsive -- they were only interested in knowing if I was forced to go to the hospital. Bastille is undeserving of anyones time or money, but if you go, be prepared for the long, unpleasant day/night to follow. Please be advised that the Managers response is a lie -- my husband spoke directly with Jeannette and others at Bastille several times before I posted a review. It was written after they completely disregarded my illness and were only concerned about the restaurants potential liability. Additionally, it is now evident that Bastilles practice is to delete unfavorable reviews from any forum they can (including OpenTable and UrbanSpoon) in order to protect its image and artificially inflate ratings.

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A

A Private User

I had the $17 foie gras which was about the size of a fig, but the rest was masked to look like more by serving it w/ roasted figs. Not only was the portion disappointed so was the flavor. They should take a tip from restaurant Proof which has a wonderful foie gras. I had the squab for an entree and while it looked beautiful, it tasted gamie, dry and tough. It was also supposed to be stuffed w/ foie gras but rather, it seemed like it was just dry Stove Top stuffing. I had to send this back only to get the skate which was very oily and super salty. What a disappointment. I was so looking forward to this place. One of the most expensively disappointing meals Ive had in years. The only reason I even bother to write this is because I see all these rave reviews about this place and I consider myself to be well versed on good restaurants in DC and I cant help but point out that something is amiss at this place.

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