Bar Bouchee

Love, love Bar Bouchee. Honestly I haven’t reviewed it yet because it is hard enough to get a table — I don’t want to spread the word too much. We have eaten here many times and have never been disappointed. The food is always superb, the drinks excellent, the service flawless. A few of our favorites are the duck confit appetizer, the skate when it is on the menu (perfectly cooked which is not easy), charcuterie board, pistachio crème brûlée, profiteroles. We have had many different entrees from the seasonally crafted menus. Cannot say enough positive things about Bar Bouchee — just wish we could always get a table or seat at the bar!

This is an odd review to write, because it mostly does not concern either the food (which was overall good – though not as good as we’ve had in the past, ditto the wine), or the service, which was fine, as far as serving us our meal went. Our reservations were handled pleasantly and efficiently by the hostess, and our server, whom we have enjoyed being served by before, was her usual kind, attentive, professional self.
Rather, it concerns the deplorable conduct of one of the nearby diners, who, single-​handedly ruined our dinners last night, through his loud, crude language throughout the evening, and tedious, LOUD boasting about his opulent «lifestyle». This individual dropped dozens of «S» bombs and «F» bombs throughout the evening. He even regaled us with graphic imagery of handing his infant children in Brazil to their nanny, «when their diapers are full of s — «. It was absolutely unbelievable. The more this person drank, the louder and cruder he became, such that it quickly became impossible to have a conversation that his boorish behavior did not intrude itself upon
The couple in between us seemed to find him and his companion infinitely diverting, so the intermittent polite chatting that often happens between adjoining tables was, instead, replaced by a raucous party of 4, under the conversational sway of the profanity and vulgarity-​spouting diner.
The couple on the other side of us, however, seemed as uncomfortable as we were, commenting on it between themselves after several particularly crude outbursts.
I absolutely fault BB for letting this kind of vulgar, loud language continue. If there had been open seats in another room, we would have asked to be reseated, but, given the small size of the bistro, we would have continued to hear his loud, profanity-​rich remarks even at the far back. Our server undoubtedly overheard this language, and was treated to his graphic stories like the rest of us, so I think she failed miserably in her duties by not bringing this to the hostess’s attention immediately. Oddly enough, the crude person was seated directly next to the hostess’s station but she never once reacted. We suffered through the ordeal, rushed through our desserts. and escaped as soon as we could pay our check.
I called the hostess the following day, so that I did not embarrass my guest, by calling further attention to the circus our dining experience had become, as we left the restaurant. It was a special event we were celebrating that evening, and it had already been sadly ruined by the gross conduct. The hostess told me that she had not heard anything (other than the loudness) from the crude individual, but said she would speak directly to the owner about our experience. Given that he was spewing his gross comments and language a scant two feet from her all evening, I found that more than a bit surprising, as in VERY UNLIKELY.
Five days later, I have yet to receive a call from the owner, offering at least an apology, for his staff’s failure to maintain a pleasant and decent atmosphere in his establishment. We have never experienced such crude behavior from another diner in any kind of restaurant before.
It is the down side, perhaps, of bistro dining at such crazy close quarters (and the tables at Bar Bouchee are uncomfortably tightly jammed together), that behavior like this became both intolerable and inescapable, when the staff does not do its job to maintain minimum standards of decorum and courtesy for the benefit of its diners.
The food was definitely not worth paying for, once the nonstop, gross entertainment was added to our dining experience. I would have preferred sitting next to a chain smoker, rather than downwind of Sewer Mouth, for the entire evening.
We are now two displeased former customers, who have eaten there numerous times in the past, but are now not willing to risk another nasty experience like the one that we, and the couple on our left, experienced that evening. Shame on the restaurant for allowing such a circus in their bistro, with its seating crammed together like the inside of a WW II midget submarine.

My favorite place to go. Very small, intimate. Authentically French. Best bartender anywhere. Food is lovely, great service. Friendly staff. Daily specials board has intriguing offerings. Beautiful al fresco space for warm weather. I cannot recommend more highly.

The food, service and atmosphere were incredible. Had an amazing evening here! Great cocktail and wines by the glass. Ordered the special pumpkin soup, duck confit, and scallop and shrimp appetizers. They were quite good. The bread was hot from the oven. Don’t skip the desserts. We tried the pistachio crème brûlée and the lemon parfait. Nice coffee too!

We had dinner reservations here for 630 and we were seated promptly on a Tuesday evening– it’s a very authentic French bistro concept down to every detail. There’s an open kitchen and you can see the chefs at work.
There was one waitress an older woman and she seemed to handle the whole room well enough.
The menu consists of authentic French items such as foie gras, escargot, steak fritte, mussels moule, authentic French wines and profiterole’s for desert.
It’s reasonably priced considering.
We started off with muscles they were in a Dijon broth. Muscles were fresh and the sauce was okay but it could’ve been elevated how they added a splash of Pernod and a dash of crème fraîche.
The steak was a hanger steak it was slightly tough and under seasoned. The red one shallot sauce was lacking butter. The potato daffny that accompanied the steak was excellent, as was the béarnaise sauce spot on.
I actually ordered burger just because I wanted the foie gras. It was served on a brioche bun with to my surprise potato chips. It was mediocre at best but the foie gras on top of it was delectable.
It certainly is a authentic and cozy place to eat and I would recommend it if you were not overly picky as a purist.

Went there on a Saturday night with 2 other couples and it was just perfect! we had a reservation for 8:30 because everything was booked out, they called as they got an open table early without asking for it, super nice gesture. I love the atmosphere there still chic/​upscale but not too formal. the whole staff was great. For food: we had beef tartar and mussels as starters, both excellent. As main course I had pork with plum gravy and potato tart my husband had salmon with veggies both as well just awesome. Even though I can’t remember what our friends did everybody was happy with their choices. Only my dessert was only okay, I ordered profiteroles kind of tasted old.
Overall I really recommend to go there it is just great!

After a lovely reception from one of the ‘staff’, I was seated in a completely empty restaurant at the bar. [A beautiful day, people were still enjoying the out of doors, those last rays of summer sun]. The barkeep greeted me and then got very busy talking with restaurant staff, paying no attention to a happy hungry ‘paying’ me. After sitting ten minutes, I asked about specialty drinks; he gave me a ‘specials card’. I asked if there were other specials and he BRUSQUELY dismissed me by saying, ‘No’, indignantly insisting those drinks are special. But I’ve been there before and pursued my query. I pointed to the daily menu board and asked again. ‘Oh, he said, ‘there’s a special cocktail made of vodka, raspberry purée, a raspberry liqueur etc’. It was like pulling teeth and although no one else was present to witness his ill-​wind, I felt bruised. I asked for the special drink with gin instead of vodka. Oh dear, now there he goes again. He’s insulted and says raspberries would not work with gin. [Cosmos can be made with gin and are lovely. Gin is generally juniper & berried base]. His attitude was just too rude and disrespectful. He would never have spoken to a ‘couple’ like this. But now regular patrons are coming in. It’s as if he had been stuck in a traffic jam, and ebulliently arrived at his party place. He was laughing, beaming and oh so happy to see everyone. Why me?. Things are now better. I’ve ordered a braised rabbit special and am sipping a gorgeous good pour of pinot noir. A truly yummy well priced wine, considering many upscale bistros do not offer the same. I am no longer alone at the bar. The ladies I sit with are most congenial. Enter my piping hot plate of braised rabbit seems almost poached but it’s all good. How I love to see steam rise. A scrumptious entrée dished with veggies and creamy polenta. The rolls & butter are good plus the barkeep’s more on his game asking if I’d like more bread. Good. And then, temptation wins as I order the Bishops’s Orchard poached peach with vanilla ice cream, toasted almond slivers and schlag. Heaven. The food here is dependable and solidly pleasing. Its a beautiful French bistro as well. Still, as my meal was not inexpensive for me, $ 60 plus tip., I would never enter this or any other popular bistro to find I’m the only one in the restaurant. He was not ready to ‘receive’ and not ready to ‘serve. And I was not the one to fire up his engine!

Bad service. Dark haired French speaking man was our waiter, hugely unprofessional. What a disappointment because the food was superb.

this place is great. I did a review but somehow it ended up as a comment to my check-​in — which Unilocal won’t let me edit or copy. so, yeah, in short, go here and if you want, you can read my review by looking at my check-​in comment.

Oui! A real French bistro in Madison, CT. The drinks are great as is the food. Get the charcuterie for a real treat. Small place but has real ambience. Oh and really attentive waitstaff, too.

Love this place, as it is a traditional French bistro. What a great addition to Madison.
The atmosphere is fantastic as is the service and the food was really excellent. I suppose I have a few minor suggestions as the toppings for the scallops were a little heavy however this is a relatively minor remark as I’m looking forward to going back.
Short it is authentic, as a varied menu, and reasonable prices. Quite different from most run-​of-​the-​mill all the same type of restaurants. The owner is really personable too.

Went, spent 300 bucks for 4 people, food was good, not amazing. Really busy, really fun atmosphere.

One of the best French Restaurants I’ve ever been to. From start to finish, quality hospitality. Meats were cooked to perfection. Wine recommendation was spot on… And to top it off the cappuccino we had for dessert was outstanding. My friend who suggested BB said «it’s not going to be romantic»… However while we were close to our neighbors it still had an intimate feel. I will be back many many times and I’ll tell everyone about the place.

Amaza-​za-​zing. :) Thank you Tidewater Inn for recommending them!
So close to your neighbors invites for interesting conversation. Great atmosphere and service.

Awesome confit.
A jewel in Madison. Great wine great fries!
Go there eat and be happy.

We loved the atmosphere here. the décor is authentic, the bar– French zinc and beautiful.
The skate was quite good. The sauce on that was phenomenal. Cod with cockle special was superb. The chicken was dry and disappointing, although the sauce, again was delicious as well as were the mushrooms. We’ve had this before and it was good. Just too well this time.
Dessert was good, too. Pave and pot au crème. pot au crème was very different — lite and airy.
Something felt different from the times we had been there before — just a little lackluster.

You know me. I’m a big blabbermouth. Can’t keep a secret. So that’s why I’m telling you about Bar Bouchee when, really, I’d rather not. The food? Perfectly executed French bistro fare; a classic menu of trout meuniere in brown butter, roast chicken on a bed of pureed potatoes, steak frites, daube de boeuf; all stuff I’d happily chow every night of the week. The décor? Authentic bistro: bar tables and cracked leather banquettes squeezed along pressed tin walls; the sort of cozy spot where you gab with your neighbors and perhaps share frites while sipping the palest pink kir. Prices? Not what you’d expect from an outpost of Union League: entrees are $ 19 to $ 29 (most hover at $ 20), house wine at $ 5.50 with plenty of bottles are in the $ 20 — 30 range. You’ll want to go every night and this place will be packed to the gills. I won’t be able to get a table. So, please, save me a seat.

As others mentioned it’s hard to hear inside this restaurant, and you are seated closer to other tables than to the person who is with you. After we were seated the woman next to us threw a mini-​fit about being so close to us and the people on her other side, and she demanded to be moved to the bar (but even there the quarters are pretty close). So it started out pretty awkwardly.
You also can’t even get in and out of your seat without a waiter moving your part of the table for you. The acoustics are strange and we were able to hear the parties next to us better than each other. It feels like the restaurant would be better in even a minimally larger space.
We did enjoy the food and our drinks very much, but we would never return here unless we made reservations for the outdoor seating.

Bar Bouch-​YEAHHH!!! Wowza, what a fantastic dining experience we had here. You Madison locals are über lucky to have a little piece of France tucked away on an unassuming side street off Route 1. We were able to get a last minute reservation by calling at 3pm on a Saturday, and the friendly, polite man who answered the phone had a thick French accent. Did I dial the international code to directly connect to a bouchon in Lyon, France?! Talk about authenticity! Typically, the emphasis in a bouchon is not on haute cuisine but, rather, a convivial atmosphere and a personal relationship with the owner. (Thanks Wikipedia!) You won’t get the somewhat stuffy, white glove service that you find at it’s sister restaurant Union League. You will still get the same stellar service and high quality French cuisine that’s executed flawlessly in an unpretentious bistro setting.
Let’s get the limitations of this place out of the way first. It’s TINY. Like 20 total high-​top seats tiny. You can put your arm around the stranger sitting next to you and listen to every word of their conversation even if they’re whispering, which they won’t be because it’s pretty loud in here. If your wife’s pregnant and has to use the restroom every 7 minutes like mine, take the interior leather couch seat like me because it will be a big ordeal to slide your whole table out with each bathroom run. Yeah I was THAT guy! But the spectacular service by the host and staff make up for the physical limitations of this confined space. And it’s the quality of the food and affordable prices that keep this place packed day after day, night after night. The interior décor is clean, cozy, and all the finishes are have a high-​end feel to it. Give the textured wallpaper a feel and note the vintage light fixtures that provide a dimly lit dining setting, but is not conducive to my favorite of all hobbies, food pornography. I must return on a sunny afternoon to provide some natural light to highlight the beauty of each plate.
No joke, I want to try everything on this focused and limited menu. Every. Single. Item. The open kitchen here is equally as tiny as the dining room, and I can see why they focus on quality and consistency instead of a Cheesecake Factory style menu. We started with the P.E.I. mussels, which come in a rich white wine, shallots, parsley, and Dijon mustard broth. I especially appreciated the cast iron mussel shaped bowl this was served in, which has this cool metal mesh net at one end to catch the bowls if you care to tip the bowl to collect the savory broth. These were some of the freshest mussels we’ve had in a long, long time. They were big, plump, and juicy and retained a hint of ocean water flavor. Our server also pointed out how he often got feedback about how clean their mussels are, a tell tale sign of a quality seafood supplier. My wife got the scallops special, which were served in a mushroom sauce that had layer after layer of flavor like a well prepared French sauce should have. She also got the soup du jour, which was a potato and celery purée. So French and sooooo good. Keeping it strictly French, I went with the Duck cassoulet, which had this perfectly crisp duck leg, melt-​in-​your-​mouth braised pork belly, and thick slices of house made duck sasuage over a bed of Tarbais beans. The skin on the duck leg was true crispy, crunchy, poultry skin perfection. The sausage was really the star though, and it’s something that all sausage lovers need to experience. We capped off our meal with the profiterolles with warm chocolate sauce, which my wife didn’t care for because the pastry was try for her tastes, but that was the most forgettable part of of an otherwise excellent meal.
The host graciously thanked us as we left and our server was a delight throughout. If you’re checking out the Unilocal reviews to figure out if you should make the drive out to Madison to try this place, hesitate no longer and book your reservation. Or leave it to chance and try to sit at the bar. I promise you’ll leave completely satisfied and eager to come back to explore the rest of this menu just like me and the plethora of Unilocalers who rave about this place.

I went to Bar Bouchee last night for dinner. We were greeted by Claude at the door, who thanked us for coming and politely ushered us to our lovely seat on the outside terrace. For the customers that complained of the noise in their review, outside seating is an ideal and pleasant solution.
I shared the oyster special and ordered the asparagus salad and the salmon special as my meal, and the fromage blanc for dessert. The oysters were delicious, fresh and very clean tasting. The poached egg on the asparagus salad was PERFECTLY cooked (a sign of a fantastic chef). The skin on the Salmon was cooked to crispy perfection (and yes, I ate every bit of it). The fromage blanc was much lighter than a traditional piece of «cheesecake» and quite delicious.
The service at Bar Bouchee was impeccable as well. Our servers were very attentive and did an expeditious job of removing empty plates, refilling water glasses and refilling cocktails. Our food came out in a timely manner and unlike other reviewers mentioned we did not feel rushed at all.
I am delighted to have a delicious place to go eat right here in town.
Merci Claude, nous serons bientôt de retour.