Bouley – Lunch, NYC

Posted by gooseva on December 9, 2011 · Leave a Comment

I love walking into Bouley and being greeted by the aroma emanating from the wall of shelves stacked with fresh apples. That is just a precursor to the greeting from the warm and affable maitre d’ and servers who welcome you inside the gorgeous restaurant. I’ve already written about Bouley after we celebrated Jen’s birthday there a few years ago but recently I got to play hooky one weekday and try the lunch menu, and I think the meal warranted its own post. So for full coverage, see the main post; for lunch, keep reading! If you are tight on budget, I definitely recommend going to Bouley for lunch versus dinner. You get a very sizeable amount of food for $55, which is a very reasonable prix fixe menu compared to the $125 dinner. Ordering à la carte doesn’t make as much sense, because 1-2 courses will cost as much as a 4-course prix fixe meal. We did order the foie gras separately though because it wasn’t an option on the prix fixe and we really wanted to try it. Some of the dishes were repeat favorites from dinner (Porcini Flan with Dungeness Crab and Black Truffle Dashi is to die for); others were new. The summary of what we ate is below.

AMUSE BOUCHE

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Pine Nuts
The amuse tasted like autumn should.

FIRST COURSE

Carpaccio of Kampachi, Young Blue Fun Tuna and Striped Amber Jack Prepared in a Mediterranean Manner
Generous portions of very high quality fish. Beautiful dish.

Roasted Green Asparagus with Pencil Asparagus, Basil Dressing in a Comté Cloud
I’ve had many derivation of kampachi before, so decided to try this asparagus as something different (my friends had the kampachi though). Tasty course, but can’t really do much to asparagus.

New York State Foie Gras, Roasted Yellow Peaches, Poppy Seed Flower Nectar, Celery Root Purée
Very large slab of foie, deliciously fatty especially with the accompanying sauces.

SECOND COURSE

Porcini Flan, Alaska Live Dungeness Crab, Black Truffle Dashi
This course is out of this world. I mean the aroma of truffle itself is intoxicating. Then the savory soup mixed with delicate crab…I’ll stop. Order this if you go.

THIRD COURSE

Organic Long Island Duck Roasted with White Truffle honey Purée of Organic Dates and White Turnip
French chefs know how to do duck right. I am not a huge fan of foam, but the tenderness of the duck overpowered any negative feelings I have about white soapy bubbles on my plate (delicious white soapy bubbles).

Slow Braised Kobe Style Beef Cheeks with Blue Kale Gnocchi
Amazingly tender beef cheeks

Cape Cod Black Sea Bass, Steamed Warm Heirloom Cherry Tomato Salad, Vanilla and Tarragon
My friend was not a fan of this dish at all and jealously eyed the other two of us devouring our beef cheeks and duck (we shared with her, I swear).