Province En Boite

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Ponyo

Joined 3 years ago

Best croissants in New York. I mostly come here for the croissants and the pains au chocolat. I have travelled the city far and wide for the best ones and can safely say the best croissants I have ever found were those from Provence en Boite. It helps that the rest of their pastries are great as well (thinking of the madeleines, particularly).

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HarveySalt

Joined 4 years ago

C'est très bon!. Not sure what Gerry212 meant when he said that he lived in France many years and he can't believe that Provence En Boite call their food French. There's probably another country called France somewhere on the planet. The one that i'm from (the one with Paris as the capital) has croque monsieurs EXACTLY like the one at Provence en Boite. In fact, when my wife and i first had brunch at Provence en Boite and had the Croque-Monsieur (madame to be exact), our first thought was 'wow, it tastes exactly like the croque-madame at the St Jean (the bistro in the 'Les Abesses' neighborhood in paris where we used to live).'

I also had the french toast, made with brioche bread. Awesome. Our daughter had a crepe which she thoroughly enjoyed, and our son had the charcuterie platter which he also loved.

This isn't supposed to be some uppity high end french restaurant. They're shooting for Bistro, and they're doing a fantastic job in my book, both with the food and with the atmosphere. They also throw in some american brunch classics because they're not uptight, and they do it their own way (the french toast, made with brioche bread for ex).

We live in Berkeley CA, and were visiting NYC for a few days. During our stay, we had brunch/breakfast at Provence En Boite 5 days in a row, if that means anything!

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CSMobileUser

Joined 5 years ago

Fine french cuisine, you should try it. I dine at provence en boite @ least once a month and have never had a bad experience. The food is always prepared properly & with total perfection. The ambiance is the perfect setting to replace a trip to paris, from the music, to the food, to the friendly owners speaking french. I will certainly be returning to provence en boite soon & recommend anyone to give it a try

Doesn't Recommend

Gerry212

Joined 5 years ago

Steer clear - bad food. 'fake' service. Steer clear of this restaurant. The place looks charming and the owners did a great job with the place but the food is very disappointing. I don't think the owner/chef spends much time in the kitchen and the quality of the food obviously suffers from his lack of attention.

They do a really good job of pulling off their French act, but don't be fooled it's all a veneer. Their hot chocolate is overpriced and not worth it. I have lived in france many years and I can't believe that they call their food french.

I don't recognize any of the locals eating there and I don't see any regulars.

Beware!

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Slanderess

Joined 5 years ago

Warm, inviting and fun place to go - Love it!. I'm a regular...they started getting me hooked with their chocolate croissants...baked fresh daily and ready 9am on the weekend. I'd stop by and also indulge in their hot chocolate, which is so decadent that it quickly became a ritual. I started going for brunch occasionally and now I'm there almost every weekend. I love the place...the atmosphere, food and warm staff is a great combination. The service the staff gives is fantastic...they work hard to get you the table you want, ensure your food is quick and good and keep your tea and coffee all topped up. Keep it up! I love it!

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Elsie107

Joined 5 years ago

Fantastic, great food, atmosphere, and owner's are freindly. I guess there is no way of stopping reviews from disgruntled former staff (see previous review). I disagree completely. It is a very clean and quaint atmosphere, you can see into the kitchen from the restaurant or from the sidewalk...the kitchen is spotless as are the restrooms which are constantly cleaned. I think if there was a rodent or insect problem it would not be contained to the kitchen area - this is New York!

The food is well prepared and delicious. The owners are very attentive even when the restaurant is packed which tends to be the case on the weekends. I think if the former employee who wrote a very damaging review would have been doing there job, the people waiting for bread, to place their order or receive a bill would not have any complaints either. I personally have not experienced a problem with the waitstaff but that seems to be the common denomiator of any review that is negative.

Give this place a try, you will not be sorry. Homestyle french food prepared to perfection, a great wine list, nice atmosphere and desserts to die for...what more could you ask for?!

Doesn't Recommend

barbedgourmet

Joined 5 years ago

Don't go if you want to stay healthy. I worked at this place as an intern and it was a huge disappointment to see what they do in a "professional" kitchen. Yes, the pastry is delicious but the kitchen is full with rodents, and all kinds of dirty insects. Nobody in the kitchen wears a hat or washes their hands. The vegetarian soup has chicken stock so it isn't really vegetarian and, the worst of all... they use food that has passed its expiration date. Don't go if you love your health.

I alreday saw a review (two reviews ago) of this place that said that they got sick after eating their fish... well, it is true, that fish was probably seating there for a week or something like that.

Doesn't Recommend

bkeater

Joined 6 years ago

Still Hungry!. I've never posted before by my experience at this place was really unbelievable--in a bad way. We couldn't get in to The Grocery, but this place looked good. It was full inside and out, save 2 tables out front. We snagged one--sat by the guy who would be our waiter. We waited 10 minutes for bread. And that was dropped on our table really abruptly. Then we waited another 10 minutes--finally had to flag down a waiter who said he would send our server over. People around us were talking about dining and dashing--they had waited for their bill so long! We waited another 5-7 minutes (over 25 minutes in total) and after no one even taking our drink order got up and left. We went two doors down to the Indian place because we were starving at that point--not the same atmosphere, but good food and good service. I won't be visiting Provence again.

Doesn't Recommend

mel_berg

Joined 6 years ago

Not Only Stomach Pains But Horrible Service. A friend just moved in the neighborhood so we decided to grab a bite. We stopped in a what we thought a charming place... oh boy what a HUGE deception it was!

I took the Portobello Mushroom and Goat Cheese and frankly was disappointed: not copious, dull and no real taste given the price...

For my friend it was worse he took the fish of the day who was probably not fresh and had stomach ache to say the least...

Not to mention that the waiters came twice to give us food which was not what we ordered... where is the reknown French service?

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brkln

Joined 6 years ago

dinner was wonderful. I just love eating here. The chef and his wife took the time to come out and conversate with the patrons. It was adorable. I had the price fix with the lamb and soup. I was so happy, it was cooked beautifully and the sauce was sweet and amazing. My friend had the veal and started with the cosi salad, it was out of this world and it make the most perfect starter. Neither of us are the best with wines, but the chefs wife was so plesent and helped us pick out the nicest wine to go with our meal, and she picked wines we could afford, not just the most expensive bottles. It was refreshing to go to a restuarant where they wernt pushing you to spend a fortune. Its good to note that they only take American Express or Cash. It can be a bit annoying to have to leave your friend to go to the ATM. Other than that this meal has been the best overall experience in over six months. I loved the wine, the food, the price, service and of course- my desert.