La Voile

We had a great time at this restaurant! Delicious food and pleasant atmosphere. I wish they had a better quality bread though. Escargots 5⭐ Pan-fried foil gas 4⭐ Duck 5⭐ Entrecôte 5⭐

Came here for a lunch date during Dine Out Boston. My partner and I both ordered from the prix fixe menu — $36 for three courses. The price was unbeatable. For appetizers we tried the terrine and the cauliflower soup, for mains the monkfish and risotto, and for dessert the floating island and the chocolate mousse. The terrine was absolutely delicious and I could have had it on its own as a light lunch. The caramelized onions really added a lot to the dish. The soup and monkfish were okay, a bit bland for my taste but not bad. The risotto was similarly okay — good, but a bit plain. The goat cheese added a lot and made the whole dish. I would have that for a light lunch as well. As for desserts, the floating island was too sweet for me to have more than a single bite. The mousse was good, very thick and rich but the strawberries on top balanced it out well! The ambiance of this restaurant was beautiful. My partner and I sat inside on the high top tables, and the vibe of a French bistro was captured perfectly. The nautical themes added a lot, and the setting felt very cute and romantic. I don’t think I’d necessarily come here again, but I don’t regret trying it out and I might bring my parents here, or friends who like simpler, lighter foods.

A Newbury street institution. You always have a lovely experience at La Voile. The staff go above and beyond, and the food is always fantastic. In the summer their patio is set back from the sidewalk, protected from the public by greenery, so it feels very private. We had the escargots, the Dover sole, and the sea bass.

The service was excellent. Our waiter was amazing, and the highlight of our night was the Dover sole.it was absolutely delicious. We ordered Dauphinoise potatoes and risotto as sides, and both were fantastic. For the starter, we had the tuna tartare, which I thought was good, though it lacked the flavor I was hoping for. The tomatoes, on the other hand, were very well-seasoned and delicious. Overall, we had an amazing time here.

Baguettes with crunch paired with escargot was a delicious appetizer. Duck was cooked perfectly, and accompanied with a bright carrot purée and beet sauce. I do think some table salt was needed to maximize flavor. Friendly service.

Nice experience. The food was delicious, and the presentation was beautiful. The only thing that was not enjoyable was the “honey” served with the tea. I’m not sure what it was, but it was not honey. The staff were nice and on point. The atmosphere was cozy and really captured the essence of a classic French restaurant. It’s a great spot for a relaxing and enjoyable meal.

If I could I would give this restaurant a score of 4.5, so don’t be turned away by the score. If you are looking for an authentic French cuisine experience, I think this is your bet and my dad who I ate with was blown away by the restaurant and will definitely eat there again. I ordered the escargot, the basil soup, and the duck. My dad ordered the tuna tar tar and the Sole. I’ll get the two bad things out of the way: I did not care for my soup, at all. But also I wasn’t expecting it to be chilled which may have been a product of my poor reading skills on the menu and the anticipation of a warm savory pesto soup and then confronted with a chilled grainy mush. I feel like I didn’t meet this dish where it was at and I do think I judged it unfairly and it wasn’t terrible by any stretch, I just didn’t care for it very much which was surprising as I love all the ingredients. What is probably the biggest black mark was the complimentary bread, which seems like such a pedantic thing to poke holes about but French cuisine is known for the quality of their bread and the bread was extremely basic, not a crisp baguette crust, no delicious window-pane gluten strands. I wouldn’t ordinarily care so much but I feel that bread is such a quintessential stable of Italian and French cuisine that to offer frankly subpar bread is a bit of a blemish. But on the good stuff. I quite enjoyed my escargot. Some of them were particularly meaty and juicy. I also greatly enjoyed the fact that it came with some slivers of other toasted bread (much better than the bread basket) that I could dip into the sauce once I’d eaten the mollusks. It was also very hot (temperature wise) which I enjoyed as a contrast to my cold soup. The duck was very good. Very well cooked and served with a particularly tasty sweet potato (I think? It was orange) spread which was by far the tastiest thing I had during the meal. I also had half of my father’s Sole dish which is apparently their signature dish and it was also quite good, extremely tender and delicate though essentially tasting of mostly butter, which frankly went for the escargot as well. So I struggle with reviewing this restaurant because I walked away thinking that a good deal of the food was quite well made and served and I actually think it’s pretty reasonably priced for a high end meal. But there were two things that I struggled with and one them is just a personal preference thing with me: 1) Portions I had soup, an appetizer and a main course, plus half of my father’s sole and once leaving I still felt hungry (I’m not really a dessert guy). And I’m not a big eater either. I usually walk away from restaurants with a to go bag, so that felt disappointing. 2) I mostly eat Asian, Indian, and Central American cuisine and I think I really missed the big bold flavors. French cooking is very subtle and uses richness and butter in lieu of spice and flavor (in my very pedestrian opinion). I don’t think I would eat here again, but that’s not really the fault of the restaurant. I think overall things were cooked and presented very nicely and both the service and ambience were lovely (very reminiscent of the close quarters of a genuine French restaurant). I think I just might have been so saturated with different types of cuisine that I found it challenging to truly enjoy what was being offered. If you’re looking for an authentic French dining experience I think this is your go to, but for me, I think I’m going to stick to spicier options.