La Voile
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: (617) 587-4200
- Price:
- $$$
- Cross Street:
- Gloucester Street
- Hours:
- Daily 5:30pm-10:30pm
Editorial Review for La Voile – by Gerrish Lopez
In Short
This casual yet elegant Newbury Street brasserie is authentically French through and through. The décor--red velvet, nautical lighting, zinc bar--was imported directly from the restaurant's namesake in Cannes. The menu features moderately priced classics divided into appetizers, pates and entrees. Highlights include braised sweetbreads in morel sauce, foie gras, veal blanquette, and whole fish de-boned tableside. An all-French wine list, Italian coffee, and a selection of cheeses and desserts round out the meal.
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Insider Tips
Where to SitInside dining is cozy and romantic while an outdoor patio is refreshing in warmer weather.
User Reviews for La Voile
06/23/2008 Posted by rank
The staff were really great: very friendly and helpful and the atmosphere was quite nice - but the food is mediocre at best: - the bone marrow was interesting and quite okay. - a beet and green beans salad which was very very cold and equally boring tasting mainly of onions. - the bordeaux (both bottles) was served chilled... but it was quite good once it warmed up a little. - the mussels were so over cooked, like cardboard. We all gave them a try and eventually gave up and sent them back. Tried dipping the bread in the sauce and that was quite bland as well. -The steak tartare tasted basically of just worcestershire sauce.. - The roast chicken was quite nice. - The fries were good. with the other options for french food in boston, we won't be going back to la voile any time soon. It is a shame though since it has a lot of potential but the food needs some major improvement to set it apart from the other available choices in town.
06/22/2008 Posted by Carina305
...referring to all the flies buzzing around. I do realize it's difficult to keep flies away, but there were so many flying around, it was a bit off-putting. The decor was fine, but the music was a bit loud, which resulted in people talking very loudly. But my main focus is the food: overall, I was unimpressed and will not be going there again. We had the fried zucchini blossoms, the marrow, and the rabbit and pistachio terrine. Of the three, the terrine was the best - a very tasty and well executed dish. The marrow was fair if unremarkable. The fried zucchini blossoms were terrible. They were stuffed with a mushroom mix, battered in a thick, heavy batter, and served on top of a tomato sauce. The batter was bitter, and overpowered the other components of the dish. For our main dishes we had the filet mignon with marrow, the sea bream deboned tableside, the frog legs, and the lamb chop and saddle of lamb. I didn't try the filet mignon. The sea bream was fine, but not something I'd order again. The frog legs were very tender, but the sauce was very rich, buttery, and a bit bland. The lamb dish was a bit of a mess. Everything was swimming in some sort of oil, and everything tasted like red peppers (there was a stuffed red pepper on the dish - not tasty at all). They didn't ask me how I like my lamb prepared, and the chop came out mostly raw. When I was able to taste the lamb, it was very tasty and tender - too bad they ruined it with the weird red pepper flavor. Desserts were average, nothing to write home about except for the creme brulee which was fantastic. The staff is very friendly, the wine list was very good (few by the glass options, though).
Pros: Staff, wine, creme brulee
Cons: Flies, food
