L'Oursin - Seattle

Super cute!! Visited for a wine tasting recently but I'm also a big fan of the food. Go here for great french food!Food: 5/5

Personable and attentive service with a cozy atmosphere. The fish is always perfectly prepared. I really like that they use local and in-season ingredients (like fiddleheads and morel during spring). The salad with dijon vinaigrette is highly recommended, simple and delightful.

As a French bistro, L'Oursin is not what one would expect in terms of atmosphere and feeling. From its location to its accommodations it comes across more as an American upscale, jazzy brunch spot. The space is ample, comfortable and gives off a vibe of sumptuousness. They offer a list of classic cocktails with a creative twist of one or more added ingredients. They are resonant of their classic cousins, but not necessarily made better by the twists, at least to my taste. But that is where the differences end.The food, however, is spot on in its comparison to French bistro. We had a couple of the classics. I love the chewy earthiness of escargot in a garlicky butter sauce. L'Oursin did not disappoint. The cassoulet was an ample serving containing sweet Toulouse sausage, silky melt in your mouth pork belly and a crispy, tender duck confit hindquarter nestled in a base of buttery rancho gordo beans. As good if not better than any I have had here or in France. In addition we ordered Flatan Poche halibut with a seafood sauce of spot prawns, scallops, and muscles in a bath of seafood broth, flavors balanced to support the main ingredient. Excellent. We also had the bread basket, which was not inspiring, and the crab fritters which would have been made better with 1 tablespoon more of crab. But all in all it was a very tasty meal perfect for sharing with someone who has an appreciation for bistro food.

This is by far my favorite restaurant in Seattle! This is my 4th visit I can’t say enough that the chicken was the best roasted chicken I’ve ever had! The sherry sauce veggies complimented it so well. Of course, I’ll be back to try more new items!Food: 5/5

Two years ago, the food was better. The terrine de foie gras was the brightest of the items we ordered. The pate en croute was OK, but was nothing to write home about. The escargot was the most disappointing, almost no flavor at all. The menu states French snails broiled with parsley-spinach butter and that had to have been the extent of the ingredients used. No garlic, and I couldn 't even taste the fat solids of the butter. Did they use clarified butter? If so, that was a mistake. All three of us in our party had the Steak-frites. The steak was tender with good flavor, but the sauce au poivre was again bland. If this sauce had cognac in it, I certainly could not taste it, and I 'm a non-smoker that hardly ever drinks liquor. The frites were not done the way they do it in France, which is crispy on the outside fluffy on the inside. I can only think that they lost their chef since our previous visit. Don 't see us returning. A shame it used to be one of the better French restaurants in Seattle.