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For
details on
French Affair, click here. Ray Ashton
party of 2 had dinner at French Affair in Sarasota and rated the
salmon & sweet breads fair because, "Sweet breads tender &
tasty, but way over salted" and writes on May 11, 2010, "Renee
did a fine job of serving.
But the salmon was over done, and appeared to be coated & pan
seared, rather than grilled, as featured on the menu.It also had
the skin on it.
The sweet breads were very tender & tasty, but were wrecked with
the salt.
I was attracted to the restaurant by the Sarasota Sally Review,
and the mention of sweet breads.
We might go back, but would hold the chefs salty hand."
Service Rating: 3
Ambience Rating: 3
Cleanliness Rating: 3
Kid Friendly Rating: 3
Value Rating: 3
Overall Experience: 4 Anonymous
party of 9 ordered Weiner schnitzel, grouper French Affair,
mango chicken, beet salad, hearts of palm salad, avocado and
crab meat salad and rated the food excellent because,
"authentic, delicious, and well-presented." and writes on
9/24/2009: "Our waitress, Renee, was courteous, helpful, and
unflustered by the late arrival of a few members our party. The
pacing of the meal was good, leisurely, but not unreasonably
long. The wiener schnitzel was a winner, and people were
uniformly happy with the mango chicken, grouper French Affair,
and other dishes. The lamb wasn't quite as good as in the past.
The salads were wonderful; I especially liked the dressing on
the hearts of palm salad. Our party appreciated the selection,
price ($5 above cost per bottle), and help in selecting wine.
The intimate and quiet atmosphere was one of the reasons we
chose French Affair, though some in our party would have
preferred a more upscale setting. Overall, our party was very
happy with the experience."
Service Rating: 1
Ambience Rating: 3
Wine List Rating: 1
Cleanliness Rating: 1
Kid Friendly Rating: 1
Value Rating: 2
Overall Experience: 2
Times At Restaurant: 10 Anonymous
party of 2 had dinner at French Affair in Sarasota and rated the
food fair because, "unfortunately tainted by the disrespectful
service." and writes on February 14, 2007, "I rated the service
poor due to a very hostile hostess/waitress. We were looking
forward to eating here for a Valentine's Day treat but were
horribly disappointed when the hostess/waitress (she spoke in
broken English with a very heavy French accent) began taking our
order. After 10-15 minutes of initially waiting for one male
server to come back (after having been served a glass of
wine--Merlot) and take our order, the hostess/waitress finally
came back to wait on us. We tried asking for a description of a
particular menu item, the Large Scallops with Malaise sauce only
to be insulted with a sarcastic answer stating that "it is
prepared with an orange with a sauce...do you get it...orange
with a sauce, not apple, not lemon, orange." She further told us
that we were "wasting her time and that the table was going to
be given to another incoming reservation in 45 minutes and why
didn't we understand that this is a business...." After being
shocked by this kind of treatment my spouse and I looked at each
other and simply told the waitress we would order just a Caesar
salad. Just before we were served our salads, the next table was
being seated with two ladies and a gentleman. They waited for
the hostess/waitress to come to them. The gentleman asked a
question about one of the menu items and was sarcastically told
that it was a very stupid question. Although they initially
laughed at her remark, after she left they looked at each other
and commented that they were taken aback by her rude behavior.
After we ate our salads, my wife left very much put off by this
kind of treatment. I paid our bill only to be further insulted
by this lady. I cannot honestly comment on the quality or taste
of the food served in this establishment but I can comment on
the lack of respect or professionalism of the service provided
and is tolerated by the owner of this restaurant. Unless as a
customer you are looking to be verbally abused or rudely treated
and told to get out of the restaurant because you only have an
hour to dine, I would not recommend this establishment to my
worst enemy. One more observation: there seemed to be a bias
towards larger group tables as compared to the smaller more
intimate table settings (most likely the reason as explained to
us in her primer on running a business....)
My spouse and I enjoy the many restaurants around Sarasota and
have dined in a variety of restaurants during our 5 years that
we have lived here. This is the first time in our lives that we
have ever been shocked at such rude behavior at a restaurant. We
have also strived to let the general manager or owner in various
establishments know when we have had either a great
waiter/server or positive feedback about the food."
Service Rating: 5
Ambience Rating: 4
Wine List Rating: 3
Cleanliness Rating: 4
Kid Friendly Rating: 5
Value Rating: 4
Overall Experience: 5 Pierre
Forestier and a party of 5 dined at the French Affair Feb. 3,
2003. Pierre says he rates the food excellent because, "Well
prepared with superb seasonings. Many varied choices. Excellent
desserts." And he writes, "We had made reservations (not
required but important during the season). When we arrived our
first impression was it's a long narrow hole in the wall Well,
it is! Once inside we were cordially greeted by our waitress,
Rene. One can easily see into the kitchen (it runs the length of
the left side of restaurant) so you can see the chef preparing
the meals. The kitchen is separated from the dining area by long
glass enclosed counters filled with several pates, smoked
salmon, many cheeses, desserts, etc. and the counters are topped
with French wines, giving one the sense we have entered a "Charcutrie".
The tables line the right side and center area of the restaurant
and towards the rear of the restaurant, stand racks filled with
many more wines.
We were seated and promptly asked for our beverage order. Two of
our guests had glasses of the house Merlot and both enjoyed it.
Three of us had the Iced Tea which was fresh. The French bread
was excellent. The menu has about a dozen appetizers and easily
20 different entrées. I chose the lobster bisque and the
bouillabaisse. My wife chose the hearts of palm and the veal. My
Mother had the lobster bisque and the salmon. Our guests had
pate maison and the osso bucco while his wife skipped the
appetizer and had the moulles marinier.
Although the restaurant was full (maybe 40-50 people) the two
waitresses kept up and we received our meals fresh from the
oven.
The bouillabaisse was excellent and was prepared in a similar
fashion to my experience in the south of France. It included the
croutons on the side so they were not already soaked. The fish
paste was also served separately so one could add as much or as
little as one wanted. The bouillabaisse included clams, mussels,
shrimp, salmon, a white fish I guessed was cod, potatoes, and a
wonderful "soup" with spices (not spicy) including garlic,
saffron, parsley and many more I didn't recognize but enjoyed.
The moulles mariniere was also cooked in the traditional
delicate milky soup with garlic. They were NOT the huge
Australian mussels which tend to be chewy. These were very tasty
and void of any sand/grit.
The Veal came in a cream sauce and was garnished with a
ratatouille and mashed potatoes. It was well prepared and
enjoyed by my wife.
The osso bucco was prepared in a traditional dark sauce and also
enjoyed.
Although we were given dessert menus, we stretched our legs and
looked in the glass counters to choose which ones interested us.
With coffee, the bill before tip, for the five of us was about
$100.00.
The only complaint on this occasion was we had to wait about 10
minutes for our bill.
We did not see any children. There was nothing on the menu
specifically listed as a child's meal. I'm sure children are
welcome but not catered to.
I certainly recommend this restaurant for its service and well
prepared food at very reasonable prices." Anonymous
ordered the Sweetbreads, soft shell crabs and writes on
5/1/2002: "This is a very small "storefront" restaurant and
without reservations especially in-season you might not get
seated. The two servers who take care of everything including
some kitchen work are very attentive and pleasant. There are
lots of regular patrons and those who find out by word of mouth.
My wife adores sweetbreads and French Affair does the best of
all. Large portions and simply delicious. I usually have the
trout which is wonderful but this time I had the soft shell
crabs. They were served with a wonderful sauce and were very
tasty. Two large crabs breaded and fried served with veggies,
rice and some great other goodies. The vegetables are different
each time and are done perfectly. They also do potatoes very
well. Their chardonnay is excellent and there is a small variety
of beer including Fischer from France and believe it or not
Corona. When I left I told the server that the food is as good
as it looks and it looks as good as it tastes!!" |
