Garde De La Mer

This restaurant was recommended by our hotel after a long day of conference meetings. One colleague was looking for local seafood, but this is not the place for it. The menu is French-​based with several courses, if you care to eat that much food. However, the presentation is nice. After we got our food, our servers seemed to disappear. We had to request water and the dessert menu. Somewhat pricey.

I came here with my hubby and toddler daughter for Easter brunch and we were super impressed. The space is very cool and well done. The service was impeccable and the food was delicious. I had the white asparagus soup which blew me away and hubby started with the lamb tartare. Our main courses (steak and eggs and the burger) were equally tasty. The desserts were great. Overall, we felt like we had found our place.
Then we went back for brunch about a month later, again with our daughter and my stepmom in tow… Dum dum. It was TERRIBLE. Our waiter was awful. As soon as he came over, I knew he would be bad. He clearly had an attitude. He was inattentive and rude. He gave off a strong vibe that he had no desire to be working. The food was unimpressive and my steak was woefully undercooked. I could have overlooked the food given our prior experience, but the service was AWFUL. We had reservations to go before a show a few weeks later which I promptly cancelled. There are so many great restaurants in Providence. It will be a hard sell for me to ever go back.

Great addition to Providence. Fresh and outstanding plates. The atmosphere is spot on. Outdoor seating is key. Great brunch too.

Wow! This place is amazing! Fantastic food, super creative menu, great attentive informative but not intrusive waiter! We will definitely be back!

The atmosphere was casual elegance. The food and the service was excellent. We had 7 people and we ordered most of the appetizers to share and they were all delicious. My favorite was the beet gnocchi and the lamb. I had the duck which was amazing and tasted my friends cod which was also amazing. They have a great wine selection as well.

Cool spot with delicious desserts! Sat at the bar and husband enjoyed the lamb tartare, though a little spicy and I had their salad that was delicious. The lemon vinaigrette was perfect.

I have been to this restaurant 4 times in the past 6 months and it has been amazing every time. The food is perfectly prepared and presented. The last time that I was there I had beetroot gnocci with feta which was delicious.
Great waitstaff, beautiful setting as well. You will not be disappointed!

This will be a quick one. One visit to the bar deserved a followup dinner. We were, by my standards, a little underdressed, having walked over from a game at the Civic Center but nobody seemed to mind.
Beautiful restaurant. How could it have been Philip Wolfe? I digress!
Bar area is lovely. Suggest requesting there or small second floor area rather than the front room which has less character and seems more busy with less space.
Check out the wine list: multiple Château Neuf du Papes, Gigundas and Puelly Fuise (French is not my native language) I believe it is only bested by that of Flemings.
The descriptions of the entrees are a little ostentatious and difficult to envision but, after you get by that, what you get is incredible. We were all happy with our meals and with our after dinner special coffees, in lieu of desert.
Prices are a little steep but PVD standards but what you have in delicious food, attentive service, incredible wine list and all around classic ambiance will have you booking a return visit soon.
Adding my frequent comment on children, we usually found we could bring well behaved children most places but at an early seating, asking for bread ASAP and being constantly aware of our our impact. Nobody wants to pay serious money to listen to someone else’s children.

Garde De La Mer is an excellent addition to the Providence dining scene! I’ve been here twice, and both times opted to eat at the bar because the bar area is so nice. The food has been consistently phenomenal and the cocktails are delicious.
The first time we came here my bf and I both got the duck dish, which was incredible. The duck was very tender and flavorful. We branched out the second time, and I opted for the scallops. If you like scallops, you must get this dish! They were cooked perfectly and the accompanying polenta was great — crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
The dessert menu has a ton of great options, and we were not disappointed with the flourless chocolate torte. It’s served with an amazing brown butter ice cream, and the whole thing was gone in a matter of minutes.
If you’re looking for a nice dinner out, I definitely recommend this restaurant. You won’t be disappointed.

I went here after work a few weeks ago for some drinks and $ 1 oysters. They did not disappoint. The oysters were awesome, and the staff was really friendly and great. I also love the atmosphere, it’s cozy and comfortable, especially on a winter day. I will definitely be back!

Starts out with 5 stars for me for the free valet parking, beautiful space, and attentive service. It just got better as the night went on. I had the Champagne Cocktail to start and a fresh, hot, salted, buttery roll while I decided what to eat. Ordering from the restaurant week menu, I chose the calamari, pan roasted pollock, and the flourless chocolate torte. You definitely get your money’s worth here because the portions are not small. I’m not usually a person who eats a plate of calamari by herself, but this was really tasty. The smoked tomatoes were a delicious addition. The pan roasted pollock came with this amazing, rich, maple corn cream. I wanted to lick the dish. It was that good. By the time dessert came out, I was really too full to enjoy it, but the flourless chocolate torte was tasty and also way better than my friend’s lemon pavlova. All in all, a great night.

Well, this place has definitely improved from my first visit, when it had first opened. The scallops were fantastic as were the calamari. Worth coming in, although the bartending still seemed not so great. Stick with the wine list.

Everything about Garde de la Mer is of the highest quality from the cleanliness, the crisp table linens, the staff service and dress. The semi-​open kitchen allows one to peek over and see the chefs whipping up a storm. The kicker? The cost for a phenomenally fancy meal out is incredibly reasonable.
The scallop dish was a mere $ 28, and the cordon bleu, $ 25. Huge portions with trimmings and bread for an affordable price point. Everything was cooked to perfection and plated beautifully. With such large portions, it’s easy to walk away with leftovers for the next day.
We started with an adorable amuse bouche on a spoon, a crostini topped with a fishball and a pickled onion. The scallops were huge and seared well. The rolls were some of the best I’ve tasted. Pull-​apart, fluffy, and sweet – almost like Hawaiian sweet bread.
This is a place I would call a must-​return-​to if ever I swing by the Providence area again, and I would definitely always recommend it to friends and family. 5.5 stars – if that were possible.

I was here recently with a group of thirty for a wedding rehearsal dinner. We were seated at a very long table on the second floor. The design and décor are beautiful and I love the way the second floor looks down over the bar.
We had two servers assigned to us and service was very good for the entire evening. They introduced themselves to everyone upon arrival. We asked for additional appetizers long after the appetizers were brought out and right before the meal came. The were brought out quickly. The were quick to fill empty wine glasses as well.
I can not rave enough about the ginger-​lime fume. I’m a fan of mezcal drinks and this didn’t disappoint. The jalapeño added a nice spicy finish There are other creative cocktails to choose from and the wine and draft selections are also good.
We were given popovers with butter to start and appetizers quickly began to arrive. The table shared beef carpaccio, calamari and little necks. The littlenecks were great. I don’t normally eat calamari but I tried it and it was good. I don’t do beef carpaccio. Soup and salads then arrived and I went with the clam chowder. It is finished at the table with the creamy broth poured from a teapot over carrots, celery, etc. I enjoyed it, but a few at the table thought the vegetables should have been cooked a little longer.
For my main dish I had the seared diver scallops, which were served with spicy polenta, shaped to resemble a scallop, succotash and a butternut squash sauce. There was a bit too much salt on the scallops, but the rest was delicious and cooked well.
I would definitely recommend Garde de la Mer for a special occasion meal or for drinks at the bar.

This is a top notch restaurant to put among Providence’s best. Wonderfully decorated, live music, genuine not in your face service, just feels like the decadence that all 5 star restaurants should have.
We came here on restaurant week (I swear I didn’t even know!) and wow Garde did not disappoint. My GF had Pan Fried Squid and Scallops for a main dish. I had a green salad and Trout. Everything was done extremely well. Squid was well done and added a nice salt with squid ink. Scallops were done just right with a nice sear. My salad was one of the best I have had thanks to an interesting lemony salad dressing and the trout was the first trout I have ever eaten. I think I might be spoiled now since that fish was wonderful, had a nice smokey taste to it.
For dessert we shared the Chocolate Torte and a Buttermilk Panna Cotta. They were both great but the thing that really put us over was the brown butter ice cream with the torte. Wow it was like having a caramel in your mouth.
It is a wide open restaurant so I don’t see an issue getting reservations. Just a great place to have a special dinner.

Went there for Restaurant Week and we enjoyed ourselves.
Service was not great. The waitress did not check on our water glasses and we had to ask her to refill three different times… Not very attentive.
I had the pan fried squid for an app and it was very nicely done… a bit salty for my taste, but not bad. Then I had the Diver Scallops with the sauce on the side… They were good just like that… pan fried. I never tried the sauce. I believe good sweet moist scallops are just perfect pan fried. The Panna cotta was very tasty and good.
Overall a decent choice for dining. Both of my savory choices were salty for my taste buds, but not a bad place for a nice meal.

Just OK, we probably won’t return in light of all of the other options in town. Service was uninspired (we weren’t given the cocktail menu) and the food … It just seemed like the chef was trying too hard. Things sounded delicious on paper, but too disparate on the plate.
We started with apps — steamed mussels, and fried oysters. The oysters were delicious. The mussels threw me a bit with the paprika-​infused sauce; it was a bit too strong. And the bread slices were too toasted. But the mussels were huge and this dish would have been perfect as an entrée.
Entrees were swordfish in puff pastry, and roasted prawns. The puff pastry was soggy and the dish was not great. The sauce with the prawns was too similar to the mussels, and while the pea ravioli was delicious, the dish did not seem unified.
The Madeleines at the end, as others have mentioned, were cute but not delicious.
Overall, for the amount of our check, I think we can do better elsewhere.

Went to this restaurant on a Thursday at 6pm. They had a live jazz band, with a singer who delivered an unbelievable performance.
Oysters were clean and fresh. My girlfriend had the Delmonico steak, which was fantastic. I had salmon and kale. The kale was cooked perfectly, and the fish was fresh.
Service was outstanding. This is our new favorite restaurant in PVD. However, make sure you bring your checkbook. (But it’s worth it)

Maybe you have heard of Providence’s new French fine dining experience, the Garde De La Mer and wondered if you should bother. With so many wonderful (and somewhat pricey) restaurants already inhabiting Providence it might seem burdensome to venture out somewhere new with the intent of dropping big bucks on a nice meal you’re not certain about. I know I wasn’t, so me and my dining companions booked a reservation during the January 2015 Providence Restaurant Week and we don’t regret it a bit.
The food, service, and overall ambiance of the Garde De La Mer is exceptional. The restaurant is stunning inside. According to our lovely waitress, the building it’s situated in was gutted and the interior was totally redone and it shows. The architects who redid the space crafted a sophisticated, gorgeous place to eat some beautiful food. The nautical theme running through the decorations and architecture is lovely and far from tacky.
We ordered a variety of food but the stand out for me was the lobster bisque, which was served out of a teapot onto a bowl of seafood chunks and assorted herbs. The entire meal was great but that bisque stuck with me from both taste and presentation. The entrees were excellent and my three sea scallops had a perfect crust on them. A word of caution about desert though: the Meyer lemon semifreddo is extremely tart. My husband and I enjoyed it because he ordered the flourless chocolate torte and we were able to rotate between the two dishes to keep the lemon from becoming overpowering. Will definitely return to Garde De La Mer for a full price meal in the future, it’s absolutely worth it.

I am seriously impressed by this restaurant. I passed by three weeks ago on their «soft opening» and stopped in to check out the atmosphere and the menu. Needless to say, I returned to try a drink and an appetizer at the bar the next week.
This new place reminds me a lot of many New York City hot spots — whoever decorated is a genius. Be sure to check out the gold sink in the bathroom! The mezzanine upstairs is just as gorgeous as the dining room downstairs and has a great view of the bar.
The cocktail I had tasted great and definitely had a hidden kick to it… One drink and I was feeling good! Our bartender, Jessie, was highly attentive. I decided to try the squid appetizer and I really enjoyed it (although I’d recommend asking for some extra aioli on the side!).
I’m looking forward to returning for dinner and experiencing the rest of what Garde de la Mer has to offer.