Le Veau d’Or Review

Restaurant

Jul 13

Upper East Side cafe known for French classics and a Parisian feel.

Frank and I had the pleasure of dining at Le Veau d’Or, which opened in 1937, but today it’s an incredibly difficult reservation to get. Le Veau d’Or releases reservations online via OpenTable at 9am, two weeks in advance. I tried to get a reservation for my birthday, but I logged on after 9am. Only waitlist was available. I tried again the next day at 8:59am, and BOOM! I got a Friday dinner reservation for 2 at 5pm.

We got there maybe 5-7 minutes before our reservation, so before the restaurant opened for dinner. The front door remained locked until it was 5pm, so we had to wait on the curb. I understand why, because there were already 4 people in front of us waiting to get an open seat at the bar - there’s only 5 seats at the bar by the way! There’s also only 15 tables (and a private room for events upstairs), so it fills up quickly.

Prix fixe is the only option - each person chooses an appetizer, entree, and dessert, and there’s a green salad for the table before dessert. You can also add more dishes a la carte, if you’re feeling hungry.

For our appetizers, we had the escargots and paté. The escargot had little croutons on top, which is fine but I (personally) like straight snails. Frank and I prefer a duck or goose paté over a pork-based paté, so it wasn’t our personal fave, but not terrible!

For my entree, I went with the Duck Magret aux Cerises. The combination of duck and cherries was divine. Like I was obsessed and ate the whole dish! If you’re looking for something delicious, but also not a large meal, this is a great option. Frank went with the Gigôt of Lamb with Coco Beans. This dish has been on the menu for decades, and I understand why. It was very tender and flavorful.

I LOVED the table salad that came after our entrees. In traditional French dining, a salad is served after the main entree, acting as a palate cleanser. It was just greens and red wine vinegar, so very light and simple.

For desserts, we had the Pêche Melba and the Gratin au Chocolat. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any good photos of either dish because we were too excited to start eating. In other words, don’t skip the dessert!

If you want to visit Le Veau d’Or, check out their website HERE.