La Mangeoire
“Gerard has had me try almost everything from Pate' to Frog legs to you name it.”
“We both loved our entrees (coq au vin and baked salmon) and the Malbec.”
“The ambiance was so pleasant and charming.”
La Mangeoire
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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The Quick: Very average French restaurant with under-seasoned food and a cute atmosphere. 2.5 stars. Overpriced.
The Details: Everything at this restaurant was good; not bad, not great, just good. There's definitely potential to be great, but the food was so under seasoned that I had to add a heavy hand of salt and pepper.
The escargot had a good sauce but this also needed more salt and was too chewy (never a great texture for snails). The sea bass also had potential with truffle mushrooms, but was uninspiring. My friends enjoyed the scallops which were extremely large and came in a creamy pink sauce.
The only real winner here was the Apple crêpe toppedwith gelato for dessert. It was spectacular. It was also nice that their entrées came and half portions which were great size if you had an appetizer.
The Damage: $145 + tip for 3 people with no drinks, 3 half portion entrees and 2 appetizers. I was unimpressed and spent a good amount of money; I do not plan to return.
Rounding out a birthday week of iconic culinary institutions we decided to patronize this classic French country restaurant in New York sans Christian Delouvrier. Had the evening's 2 specials, beef bourguignon and pork belly after a starter of escargot. Finished with profiteroles. Can't get any more country comfort than this on a gloomy sleet-ridden night. Merci beaucoup Monsieur Gerard for your hospitality. Felt like you and your staff were innkeepers and we were hungry weary travelers who were warmed and nourished by your stove.
3.5 stars
Really cute French restaurant with a charming countryside feel to it. The pace is slow, so don't come here if you don't have the time to slowly enjoy your meal! I kid you not, our dinner was 2.5 hours long (after informing them we were in a rush mid-way through) and we didn't receive our entrees until 1.5 hours into the meal.
My entree was the scallops with a tomato orzo in lobster broth, and yes it was as tasty as it sounds. I was here for a birthday dinner for 10ish people. The servers were very accommodating to our larger group, bringing in extra chairs for us when someone arrived late, and moving a plant that was pressed up against our table. Only thing is, it may be a little hard to understand them as they all speak with thick French accents =P, but hey that's what you get at an authentic French place right?
I've also been here for brunch and enjoyed it, the place gets really sunny and gorgeous during the day and the setting is perfect for a girls' catch-up brunch.
Come here if you don't mind a long meal!
La Mangeoire is another restaurant I had heard about forever, and was so glad I finally had the chance to go. Dining here is one of those transformative New York restaurant experiences where you leave the day's stress at the door and step into an unexpected respite. I stopped in with a friend late-ish on a Thursday evening, and we were promptly seated. My sole complaint would probably be that they seated us at the two-top right next to the front door, which was kind of lame. All told, it was hardly busy at that hour, and the view of Second Avenue through the rustic curtains on the French doors added some charm.
La Mangeoire presents a somewhat typical, if "French Country"-heavy menu including some noteworthy standouts. My friend and I started with the endive and Roquefort salad, which was presented nicely and served in a very shareable portion. Paired with a lovely basket of rustic bread and interesting olive oil and anchovy tapenade, it was a perfect starter. For my main, I ordered the steak frites, which again, was enormous and delicious. The steak was cooked perfectly and topped with a terrific "au poivre" sauce. It was accompanied by a huge bowl of thickly-cut crisp French fries (So good!). My friend had the duck confit which was served in a cast iron skillet over haricots verts. The duck was delicious and by the end, we were both in a euphoric food coma.
The restaurant itself is charmingly decorated to resemble a country house in Provence. I could almost be convinced that Aix was down the road. Service was doting and friendly, and I enjoyed a couple of glasses of Malbec with this tremendous meal. La Mangeoire is, in my opinion, worth going out of your way for. It's a little on the expensive side, especially considering how many very good French restaurants are in the neighborhood, but the extra touches here go a long way, and I'll be back.
In the last few years living part-time on the Upper East Side, I have been to Bistro Chat Noir, Quatorze Bis, Bistro 61, Mon Petit Cafe, and Sel y Poivre.
I only eat at breakfast or brunch at Mon Petit Cafe and I always order the same dish: poached eggs over ratatouille with gruyere and a baguette. The brie and cherry tomato omelet is very good too. But I never go there for lunch or dinner, having been sort of underwhelmed by dinner there a few years ago.
Sel y Poivre is my favorite deal (27.95 three-course prix fixe nightly and a 14 dollar lunch prix fixe) for French on the UES in a charming, old, family-run operation and everything is excellent there. Of the places listed, Sel y Poivre wins the best bread and butter award. Addictive and dangerous!
Chat Noir I've been half a dozen times. It's expensive, elegant and excellent with pleasing cream and black color scheme and art deco framed prints. Lovely.
I've only been to Quatorze Bis once and it was excellent (steak tartare wow) but I wouldn't go back there alone. It's in the upper 70s I think and a very old crowd. I was with a family friend in his mid-60s and it's just not somewhere I'd go to eat alone, 30 years younger than the average customer.
Bistro 61 I just tried and really enjoyed: casual French, high quality food and terrific service. They're known for their mussels and they also have good lunch prix fixe but I've only had soup, bread and pate.
But I had never heard of, much less been to, La Mangeoire, this French restaurant just below the Upper East Side (54th/2nd) and I fell in love with it so much that my last day in New York (with horrible cramps), I walked back JUST to get their seasoned French fries.
To understand the magnitude of this endorsement, let me say I don't eat fries. Sure, I'll steal one or two from my boyfriend's son at Outback or have a leftover at Eureka or wherever. But I'm not a fried food girl and I certainly am not regular eater of French fries.
These defy description and they come with the mussels, which were truly off the hook.
The first time I went I had the small plate of scallops over tomato orzo and the signature French onion. Yes, 16.50 is a lot but it's worth it because it's the best French onion soup I have eaten in all my life. I will be 42 soon and I have always loved and ordered this dish and truly, there is no better French onion anywhere. Not even Bouchon (the one in Santa Barbara, though that's excellent and different).
The decor is perfect and makes you feel like you're in France, as does the ubiquity of French at tables and among servers. At Christmastime, it was magical but I'm sure it's equally cute the rest of the year.
It's nice that you can order most things as a smaller or larger plate. My friends both had beef, different cuts and preparations, and both were perfect.
And after lunch or dinner, you can pop into the Cigar Bar and have a cigarette or cigar indoors.
Seems they are closed for remodeling thru part of January? That worries me as when places say that they do not always come back! I hope they do!!!
Good but not spectacular. Boyfriend and I tried the escargots, PEI mussels and the coq au vin… the service was sooooooooo slow. Food took forever to arrive at our table. My gosh. Maybe it was an off day, but everything we tried was just average.
Cute interiors, decent prices. The salmon eggs benedict was a bit rich, but nicely balanced with the side salad. The complimentary muffins are to die for.