Aquarelle

Hands down the best meal I’ve had in Austin.
Too bad they closed not long after I ate there in 2011.

I soooooo miss this place… please come back… or open the promised replacement restaurant…

Didn’t go to the actual restaurant. I had the steak frite sandwich from the booth set up at the ACL Festival. So my score is based just on the food (and to a certain extent, the price).
The bread was good and the steak was great. Some steak sandwiches have tough steak and require you to pull the steak from your mouth, lest you want to eat the entire steak in one bite.
The sauce they used in the sandwich was also tasty and complimented the sandwich vs. overpowering it. It also served as a great dipping sauce to the fries that were in the sandwich. I found myself picking off some of the fries and dipping it into the sauce as if they were a side.
This sandwich was like an entire meal in a container! Perfect.

The plan was to see «Midnight in Paris» at the Violet Crown Cinema followed by dinner somewhere downtown. To be honest, my first choice was Chez Nous. Unfortunately, we were a party of 2, my wife and I wanted to eat at 8pm on Saturday night, and Chez Nous doesn’t take reservations for parties smaller than 6. No hard feelings, but our dinner dates don’t happen that often, and I didn’t want to spoil this one with an hour wait for a table. Aquarelle takes reservations for smaller parties, so they moved to the top of the list.
I like the atmosphere at Aquarelle. It’s in an old house in an old part of Austin. The house has wood floors and tall ceilings. The interior walls in our room were painted dark green. There was nine-​inch, wood moulding painted white, and what appear to be the original 1930’s wood windows, also white.
I wanted to get up early in the morning so I didn’t want to order an entire bottle of wine. There weren’t many wines by the glass. We ended up ordering some champagne by the glass, and it was quite good.
You can order a la carte but we opted for prix fixe. The whole menu is on their website so I won’t bother reciting ingredients. We both had the Terrine of Pressed Salmon for the first course. I thought it was good but the split pea sauce was a little bland. My wife thought the sauce was good.
I had the Pan-​Seared Day Boat Scallops for the second course. It was wonderful. I would never have thought to pair scallops with sauteed pear, but it was great.
My dessert, the brule du jour, was crispy on top and sweet on the inside.
We ended up spending $ 140 before the tip. This seems like a great place to go on your wedding anniversary or to impress someone special. If you’re looking for an elegant meal, this could be it. If you’re looking for French atmosphere and maybe a smaller check, I’d still opt for Chez Nous.

I think I’ve been to maybe one French restaurant before Aquarelle, so I’m by no means an authority on the cuisine, but I enjoyed the heck out of Aquarelle. It’s pricey but you can get a pair of three-​course meals and some wine for under $ 100, so it’s good for a date night.
My date and I made a reservation online, hunted down a parking spot, approached the charming old cottage, were greeted by a hostess, were seated immediately and tended to by a friendly, helpful server. We opted for the three course tastings (one priced at $ 35 and the other at $ 45). Mine included escargot, caramelized scallops, a bite of strawberry sorbet and the brulle of the day. My date’s was an asparagus bisque of some type, red snapper and a pastry covered in chocolate sauce for dessert. All of it was fantastic. Small-​ish portions but more than enough to leave one satisfied.
Here’s where I get to my one gripe with Aquarelle: the clientele.
This isn’t Aquarelle’s fault. They’re a fine-​dining establishment that tends to attract the semi-​wealthy d-​bag crowd. Some round– and red-​faced jerk in a $ 100 polo shirt behind me asked the waiter, «Where is this lamb from?» /​The waiter said, «I believe it’s from New Zealand, but I’m not certain. I can ask the che…» /​«I thought so,» the man said. «I tastes like it was from New Zealand.»
Stifling my laughter here was difficult, but I managed. Then, as I went to eat the mint with my dessert (I’m a fan of eating the garnish and even referred to etiquette peeps via Google to confirm this is acceptable) my date noticed that the fat man’s wife stared at me in disgust as I ingested the tiny leaf.
That’s probably enough to keep me from going back — I don’t need to get judged by some ostentatious housewife who wants to play tea party for the night — but I’d recommend everyone experience it at least once.
Make sure you eat that mint.

I’ve been sitting on this review for a while, awaiting an attitude adjustment that will allow me to justify the ridiculous amount of money that was spent on my meal and not fill my entire review with a rant on bang for your buck. Well, it seems I didn’t wait long enough. Ah hell, here goes nothing.
The house itself that Aquarelle inhabits is truly amazing. Its historic beauty has been retained, though the interior and exterior have been upgraded and repainted. You almost wouldn’t recognize the place as a restaurant when stumbling past after a rowdy night on West Sixth, I know I never did. What drew us to this place initially were the Unilocal reviews and the delicious steak frites served up at ACL.
Walking through the front door of the place is weird. You see a hostess table with a phone and a list of reservations (and you may even see your name on said list), but you won’t see the hostess. If you’re like me, you’ll awkwardly stare at the beautiful artwork hanging on the walls, talk a little louder than normal (to hopefully get the attention of the elusive hostess), and then give up and sit on the very inviting antique bench in the entry way. The hostess will eventually come, and without apologies of any kind, she will seat your party in the intimate, dimly-​lit (mood lighting, of course) dining room.
French food is pretentious. Let’s be real. The French are notorious for taking themselves, and their food, entirely too seriously. Aquarelle is no exception. The waiters are kind, but not friendly. Your water glass will be refilled about 80 times while you’re there. And my personal favorite: On any given night, there are 3 different menu options: A La Carte, Menu Rapide (appetizer and fish, quick), and Menu Marche (3-​course tasting menu). I’m not sure that it’s necessary, but whatever. Who’s going to change their minds?
The gf and I decided to treat ourselves to a 3-​course A La Carte meal. We each started with the Smoked Duck Salad. I had the Gulf Red Snapper with a Chorizo Romesco Sauce, and she had the Roast Lamb with Lamb Jus. Then we finished with the Chocolate Soufflé Cake and Almond and Plum Clafoutis.
Overall, the food was delicious. I can’t complain about any of it. The meats were cooked perfectly, and the sauces were amazing (as you would expect). I’m not a dessert person, so I can’t offer much there except to say that I really need to find a good soufflé in Austin. The «soufflé cake» didn’t quite do it for me.
This may sound silly, but I feel the need to say it. The bread and butter that was regulargly replenished throughout the meal was outstanding! I’ve read mixed reviews about it because the bread arrives to the table at room temp, but I think cold bread is another French quirk. It’s delightfully crusty on the outside with a soft, chewy center. Umm… and I could bathe in that European butter!
If you really want to spoil your sweetie or show your bank account who’s boss, go to Aquarelle. It’s expensive, and the experience may not be entirely worth it, but it’s some of the best French food that Austin’s got to offer (after Chez Nous, of course).

I’ll start with the food, because if the rating was for food alone it would be five stars. I started with the French Onion Soup. This version is what all French Onion Soup should aspire to be — a hearty topping of cheese, perfectly flavored broth, and plenty of croutons. Husband had the duck breast salad, which he enjoyed. My entrée was beef tenderloin with some sort of almond and date paste, accompanied by mashed potatoes. The sweetness of the almonds and dates was a perfect complement to the savory beef. It was fantastic. Husband took a gamble on the Gulf Snapper. I was worried a stream of hot BP oil would gush out, but it was all good. After a palate-​cleansing apple sorbet we enjoyed the chocolate soufflé cake with homemade ice cream. It is even better than it sounds. So the food is top-​notch and well worth the somewhat hefty price tag.
But there were a few minor inconveniences. We showed up for our reservation right on time but the hostess informed us that our reservation was for half an hour earlier and they had given away our table. The reservation was made online and I don’t know if it was a quirk of the system, but we had double checked the confirmation email numerous times and we were definitely on time. Thankfully, another hostess on the scene apparently decided it wasn’t worth arguing about and seated us. I was a little peeved to see that the restaurant was pretty empty at that time (it was an early dinner), so I didn’t understand why the first hostess gave us a hard time.
The service was good, but one person took our app order, someone else took our entrée order, yet another person took our dessert order, and our various courses were all brought out by someone different. So we didn’t develop any kind of «rapport» with our waiter, if that makes any sense.
Then there was the wait. Now I know that fine dining often moves at a slower pace than more casual restaurants. This isn’t the Chilli’s 30 minute lunch special — I get that. But the time between courses was excessive. I think the kitchen may have been backed up or something, because they had people circulating with bread baskets and no one around us seemed to be eating either. I would have appreciated an update from our server or some sort of reassurance that they hadn’t forgotten to put in our order. But the lack of server continuity probably contributed to that. Of course all was forgiven once the food arrived, but be sure to set a good chunk of time aside for your Aquarelle experience.
Weird aside: someone came around to refill our water glasses probably about every five minutes during the interval when we were waiting for our entrees. At one point, I really didn’t need any more water so I politely said «No, thank you» when the server came by. In a low voice she said, «Sorry, but I have to refill this. If they see me not filling your glass I’ll get in trouble.» So it seems like they run a tight ship!

My fiancée and I went to Aquarelle on a Saturday night for happy hour. Yes, happy hour on a Saturday night (it’s from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.). The hh special is half-​off appetizers. We tried four of the seven offerings: the fromage plate ($ 7.50); beef carpaccio ($ 5); pan-​seared scallop ($ 4.50); and croque monsieur ($ 2.50). I know, 2 freakin’ dollars and fifty cents for a very tasty ham and cheese sandwich. You can’t get a cheaper deal at McDonald’s. Everything was very good, especially the scallop. It was huge and flavorful, and was seared perfectly. We had four glasses of wine between us and the four appetizers, and our total came out to $ 50. You can’t do much better than that.
Although we found the food to be very good and the specials outrageous, what I really want to mention is the service. We were the only ones in the bar area for the majority of our stay, so we sat near the bartender, Ashton. His service was outstanding; he was very friendly; and we enjoyed talking with him. He really made our experience memorable.
We can’t wait to go back again.

How do you say «This is effing delicious» in French?
My boyfriend treated me to a nice dinner at Aquarelle Tuesday night, and both of us really enjoyed what Aquarelle had to offer. We started off with the fois gras trio (he had totally been looking forward to trying fois gras), and it was quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever tasted. I could try to describe it, but I don’t think my words could do it justice. The apple chutney complemented it very well. I ordered the red snapper for my entrée, and he ordered the lamb. The waiter brought us some bread and butter, and the bread was cold and hard. I’m not sure if that’s how the French eat their bread or if it had been sitting out for a while, but seeing as how that wasn’t an integral part of the meal, I’m not going to take off stars for it.
The snapper was cooked nicely, and the saffron sauce it was sitting in imparted a sophisticated flavor to the fish. The bf’s lamb was more rare than medium-​rare, but still tasty. Both portions were very generous. We had the brulee of the day for dessert (lime) and it was superb.
Service was consistent. Our waiter (s) were not intrusive at all, but were there at all the right times. Our water glasses never got below half empty, which is always a good indicator of quality service.
The décor was quaint, lots of floral patterns. Something your hip grandma would have at her house. French food isn’t for everybody, but if you’re a Francophile, you might give Aquarelle a shot.
Only cons I can think of besides the cold bread is parking. They don’t have a private lot or valet so you’re on your own. Street or paid parking.

This past weekend, my special someone, treated me to a beautiful dinner at Aquarelle. Perfect for a date night, Aquarelle offers tasty French cuisine in a cute, Victorian style home, complete with hard wood floors, mosaic art work, large windows, romantic lighting.
We were first served a tiny tasting of couscous in grape seed oil. It was delicious, we both wished we could have had more. The grape seed oil had a very unique and slightly strong taste, but when combined with the toast points, it was fabulous. Next, appetizers. He went with the Sauteed Escargot — I was impressed. It featured perfectly sautéed escargot, with a buttery herb cream sauce. The sauce truly tied it all together for me. I had the Onion Custard, a risky choice for me as I generally do not like large amounts of onions. My appetizer include mushrooms, that seemed to have been battered and fried. Whatever the case, they were extremely tasty and went well with a touch of the herb cream sauce from the other appetizer. The onion custard featured gently soften onion slices in a creamy custard like sauce.
For my main course — Beef Tenderloin, complete with mashed potatoes, a savory, sweet sauce, and sprinkle of blue cheese. The beef was cooked perfectly, melted in my mouth. The sweetness of the sauce added a tiny explosion of taste. My mashed potatoes were creamy, but pretty basic. I truly enjoyed my entrée, although I would have preferred it sans blue cheese.
Before dessert, we were served a mini scoop of mango sorbet. I could have eaten an entire bowl, it was very refreshing and a nice way to cleanse my palate. My chocolate soufflé was fabulous! A nice moist cake on the outside, with deliciously melted, and warm chocolate inside. A fresh strawberry and a few scoops of vanilla ice cream, pulled it all together. Just thinking about it right now, is making me hungry!
Overall, it was a fantastic evening, and a great place to go on a romantic date!

I use to frequent this restaurant over the years. Despite rumors of the quality diminishing I brought my girlfriend here for her birthday. The food was okay at best, certainly not the quality I would expect from Aquarelle.
I’d suggest looking elsewhere, the quality isn’t there and portions are ridiculous.

Recently dined outside for dinner and was fortunate enough to experience the Tour De France Provencal menu. I chose the Ensalado De Roquette, Capoun de cabro. The goat cheese was amazing with a spicy hint of cumin and pepper. For the main entrée my husband had the rabbit which he had never had before but loved. I picked the quail with a honey glaze and was so happy I did. The staff is very attentive but they do not hover.
The finale for me was the lemon custard with fresh fruit which was the perfect finish to an excellent meal. I will be back for sure.

This is the type of restaurant to wear your fancy shoes and manners and have a nice classy evening using phrases such as «exquisite darling», «scrumptious dish», and «faint notes of citrus in this beauduex». Everything from the wood floors in this old house, to the white linens and black-​vested waiters screams classy.
My boyfriend and I came here, and enjoyed the prix fixe menu with wine pairings. The food was rich without being too filling, and the textures seemed to blend well together on the plate. I loved the arugula salad to start and the palette cleansing sorbet (ah yesh, classy).
Dining here is a nice fancy experience, and feels like the type of place people with butlers would go. Oh you don’t have a butler? you lose.

The little house this is in and the nice clean décor is very comforting. Their menu is quality, and the staff is knowledgeable and friendly. I love their escargo, fois gras, the lamb was divine, their scallops are tasty. I have never been disappointed when going here. EVEN after my first visit when I was enjoying my salmon tartar and I found a rubber band in it. NORMALLY this means one star, if they had 0 stars it would be that but alas, not an option. I let my waiter know, quietly, his face said it all. I did not want to be the chef in the kitchen that let that happen. They were absolutely mortified, after that the waiter comped the bill without telling us (we did not ask for it) and when I have gone back I have still received excellent service and food, minus rubber bands in my tartar.
I feel that if you can put a rubber band in my delicious salmon tartar and I still give you five stars, says they are doing something very right.

Austin Restaurant Week, and this was my pick …
I’m not disappointed as it was rather affordable during ARW.
They took our entire order at the beginning, leaving us a slave to the kitchens timing, though they did an excellent job, we weren’t overly rushed, but they could have let us sit a little longer between main course and dessert.
The waitstaff was pretty good, they left us alone, but that also meant that we were passed three times by three different people without a fillup of wine, they my water never hit ¹⁄₃ a glass so I’m in-​between on this.
The wine was excellent (we picked a french wine, it seemed fitting for the occasion.) and the food was interesting, the rabbit and venison were prepared very well, though the sauce on the deer was a little vinegary for my taste. My wife’s tuna was really heavy on the avocado as well, they could have backed off on that a little. As for portion sizes, while you don’t have to wear stretchy pants it will fill you up (if you aren’t a really big eater)
Overall it is an alright place, but seriously for this price, if I want a wine bar I’m going to Paggi House, the overall experience is SO much better.

The restaurant is set in a cute old house, which I’m a sucker for this type of setting. However, they do have the tendency to lead to bad acoustics with all of the wooden floors and walls.
Met up with one of my Meet Up groups for HH on a Saturday in the wine bar. Charming little section of the house as you take three steps down to the left when you first enter the front door of the restaurant.
It’s difficult to give an accurate assessment on the service when you have reservations for a party of 30 as two servers were strictly designated to our group. Our servers were very attentive but take it for what it’s worth when you bring 30 people which demand a lot of attention.
Apps were really cheap ranging from $ 2.50– $ 5.00. I’m not going to feel pressured to tout the food just because it’s a fine dining French restaurant, because there was honestly nothing orgasmic to scream over.
Soft shell crab was a joke as it tasted like deep fried flaky croissant. The deep fried pork sausage tasted like a ball of deep fried Italian sausage with bread crumbs. The only two items that are worthy ordering are the mussels and warm roasted new potato. Just make sure you don’t come with an appetite as it won’t be satisfied here. Our party was given complementary banana and chocolate moose parfaits which was a nice touch. The banana had a funky taste but the chocolate was a silky cream that left you begging for more.
To top of the mediocre appetizers, my Sauvignon Blanc wasn’t very good, and came upon recommendation by the server. Glad that my sparkling rosette made up for it though.
It wasn’t quite the experience I was expecting but for only spending $ 22, I wasn’t super disappointed and at least tried a new place.

This place is worth a try.
We used to live in New Orleans so we still enjoy restaurants in old houses where the hardwood floor creaks as you walk to your table and the French cuisines are divine.
We dined here three times this year (not during restaurant week).
We enjoyed our experience, our ambiance, our dinner and service.
We would return here with out of town guests.
I appreciate a small plate the chef suggest you start off with–
to cleanse your palette. I think that is important because there are lots of flavors going on in each plate.
I think you can’t go wrong on what you order, they have a little of everything. (Skate, halibut, chicken, beef…) It depends on your mood.
Don’t forget to pair your dish with wine otherwise you won’t enjoy it as much.

I had the pleasure of dining here during Austin’s Restaurant Week. We came for an early dinner so it was relatively empty. They sat us at a nice corner table in front of a lovely fireplace.
The service was superb, even though we were obviously college students, they treated us very well, which really surprised me because usually service quality decreases after they size you up.
The quality of food was very good, although the portions rather small. My first course was called Veloute of Zuccini, made up of corn compote, crème fraiche, pinenuts, cilantro. It was a very unique tasting soup. It had a tangy yet still strong zucchini flavor. The main course I chose was the Lamb Chops with Mint Gnocchi. The Lamb had so much flavor, I was begging for more. The Mint Gnocchi was pretty good although not my favorite. The mint was a little bit overpowering for me. My friend ordered the quail breast which nice and moist. We finished with Crème Brulee topped with Sable cookies, a superb finish to an excellent meal.
All in all, a very good stop at a place we wouldn’t usually get to eat. Definitely recommended to try if you enjoy French cuisine

Things I really liked about Aquarelle: the name, the veloute of zucchini (this magical, lemony soup with corn compote that blew my mind), escargot, cauliflower mousse, coffee rum profiterole & the overall ambiance and elegance of the place.
Things that were meh: hard, cold bread (is this typical in France? I could break my teeth on this bread), lamb chops that were WAY too rare (had to be sent back), my boyfriend’s tiny crème brûlée and the fact that they wouldn’t take our
coupon (sigh).
I’m not well-​versed in French cuisine, and it was my first time trying escargot. They were good! I was very impressed by the appetizers but discovering that a third of lamb chops were super super rare (even the waitress was shocked) was a bit of a downer. I liked Aquarelle a lot but it had its flaws, so I have to hold back a star.
It’s a good place to take someone you want to impress. The ladies will probably love it. Just FYI.

This was a very lovely meal, beginning to end. Aquarelle is actually in a converted house, with tables in each room. You feel like you are eating in someone’s home, with granny’s tableware. Service is knowledgeble and attentive.
I had the small prix fixe meal which is a very good deal for the quality of the food. I had a nice arugula salad with toasted walnuts, an entrée of grilled artic char which was served on a bed of very lemony and delicious couscous with a large chocolate profiterolle for dessert. This was all for $ 30. I loved my entrée. The smells of lemon that came wafting off that dish were just ethereal.
We were surprised with an amuse bouche of a little tomato/​cheesy quenelle to start and some intensely flavored lemon sorbet/​ice between the entrée and dessert. A steady stream of home made french rolls and soft butter that tasted somehow «better than butter» came with the meal.
Great meal. Sweet surroundings, right off 6^th street. Other members of our dining group had a hard time parking but I found a little $ 3 lot right around the corner.
Oh, by the way, I loved having Arctic char as an entrée not only because it is a tasty fish, but The Monterey Bay Aquarium «Seafood Watch» program has recently added farmed Arctic char as an environmentally sustainable Best Choice for consumers, stating: «Arctic char use only a moderate amount of marine resources for feed. In addition, Arctic char are farmed in land-​based, closed systems that minimize the risk of escape into the wild.»
I liked that a traditional restaurant uses a sustainable product. Hopefully they will do more of this.