Trois Canards

Great food… try the duck… yum…obviously…
How can a place with this name serve bad duck…
They also have an Italian rest next door and share the kitchen… so if your partner is not feeling french ask if you can try their bolognese too…

It was my boyfriends birthday. We wanted French and the food was amazing the service could have been better so the tip came accordingly. Apparently it was not enough and the waiter ran out screaming is something wrong is something wrong … Really yes… Our glasses were empty most of the night. You have 3 tables … I felt bad and gave him another 10 so he would shut up. Excellent food service is ok…

2.5 stars. This place is just ok.
The décor is probably the best part of the experience. Very parisian ambiance with outdoor seating.
The service is mediocre. I went on a sunday evening and there were 2 – 3 other tables also being served. Our server was slow and we had to wait too long for the check.
My steak was overcooked and dry and my frites were bland. The wine was so-​so., which is disappointing for a french restaurant.
Not much to tell about this place. There are better french restaurants in the city.

Like many others I found the ambience nice. it had that french bistro vibe and it wasn’t noisy. 3 of us came for the Pre-​fix dinner. I had a broccoli or asparagus soup which sounded good but had no flavor whatsoever. the texture was rich but and I kept hoping for some flavor, but not to be. My entrée was the hanger steak and it was good, but not terrific. Very generic. The sauce also lacked a distinctive flavor that so many other hanger steaks I’ve eaten have. The after dinner coffee was undrinkable.
It tasted like sewer water. I mean, come on, how hard is it to get a decent cup of coffee. In the end I enjoyed the meal more for my company than the food, not a good indicator. Not encouraged to return.

My God. This might be the best mussels I’ve had in New York. It’s so unassuming and quiet. But it’s adorable and very we’ll-staffed. Very we’ll-lot by candles and perfect for a date. (I mean. I had a lady-​date with my roomie but still would e a great real date.)

It’s a real shame when the food doesn’t meet the ambiance of a place. Trois Canards has such a cute, perfect French Bistro look, and has a dark, intimate setting for a dinner date or an an afternoon lunch with the light coming into the generous windows. It’s a tiny place with a lot of character.
I came in for an early dinner, and started with the soup special, an overly salty celery and spinach purée which was essentially not creamy enough, or lacked something. My appetizer was a standard country style duck pâté. I liked the garnish of cornichons and carmelized onions.
My dinner, the Canard Rôti, came with wild rice and Grand Marnier sauce. I asked them to substitute the rice for vegetables, which came as broccoli, carrots and green beans cooked perfectly al dente, delicious and sweet. The sauce was right; sweet but not overly so, however it’s main purpose was, unfortunately, to keep the overcooked meat from drying out. I did like the crispy skin, but duck breast should always be cooked medium rare by default.
The service was really good (and attentive), up until the end when the server knew I wanted to leave, yet manipulatively pushed a desert menu in front of me. So I caved, and ordered a desert with the check. He then questioned my choice of not getting coffee (c’mon, a soup, appetizer, main course AND desert wasn’t enough?), and later argued with me about the reason why the cake was inside the mousse au chocolat when it was never listed as a cake, and when I’d told him throughout my whole meal that I was allergic to bread and flour. I don’t really care WHY it’s in there. I can’t digest the stuff. DUH. Whatever, it was on the bottom and I hesitantly decided to eat just the mousse part, which of course, was not a real mousse, and was far too dense and plasticky. It was clearly made with cheaper gelatin instead of whipped stiff with real eggs as chocolate mousse should be. I didn’t even finish it, which is unheard of for me. It just wasn’t worth the calories.
Unfortunately, I found Trois Canards to be inauthentic and only French in the décor, with no real substance in the kitchen.

Food was really good, service was about average. The waiter was very good, but the hostess seemed ok. The coupon that Unilocal gives you caused some slight confusion with the staff. In short order two of the same drink. I was not particularly impressed with the prix fix menu, but my family rather enjoyed the selection. I had the onion soup, veal citron, tried the salmon, and a couple of mojito’s. all of the food and drinks were very good. I particularly enjoyed the onion soup; very cheesy.

The atmosphere of this restaurant is fun and relaxing. There are lots of interesting pictures and knick knacks on the walls. However, there was some confusion about a special drink offer from Unilocal,where the waiter was not very clear about the terms of the offer and seemed to not really understand it. The food was very good though. I had the grilled salmon, which was deliciously seasoned and had a great mushroom sauce. There is a fixed price menu available, and there are also some nice drink options. I had a passion fruit mojito that was very good. This place would be nice for a date or with family.

I was between 3 and 4 starts for this place but I would lean towards more 4 stars for a few reasons.
1. Really cute, french atmosphere. Cozy, dim lighting, could have a nice conversation with my friends and it was not over crowded.
2. One waiter but the service was good! He made sure to serve us wine whenever we needed it to be served and the food came out on time.
3. All of our meals were great. I had the steak frites which I loved and would highly recommend. My friend had the duck and he didn’t leave anything on his plate. My other friend had escargot and french onion soup — nothing was left on her plate either!
We just had a nice time and I would definitely take a friend back here for some nice french food in a quiet french bistro!

A great simple place for simple french food. While Trois Carards is definately not fine dining it has a simplicity that is hard to fathom and a subtle ambiance that few in the city can capture well. The portions are ample and the french onion soup is done properly which is a hard quality to find among the more reasonably priced french establishments in NYC. On the whole I found that the genuine service more than made up for any minor lacking in the kitchen or presentation of the food.

I’m conflicted in writing this review, because I so badly want to like Trois Canards. It’s one of the very few non-​sceney restaurants in the neighborhood, where you can feel like you’re getting away from everything for just a little while. For that reason alone, I give it two stars, rather than one.
I’m inclined to give it only one star because the food is awful. If you’re going to be a cozy French restaurant in an upscale Manhattan neighborhood, you need to be able to make basic French dishes well. During my most recent visit, I ordered the mesclun salad and roast chicken, which is (inexplicably) stuffed with wild rice and served with mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots (strangely, the menu doesn’t note what vegetables accompany the entrees).
The salad is lifeless — the dressing was fine, but you’re paying $ 8 for a small mound of limp leaves. Making a basic green salad is French Cuisine 101. Trois Canards’ chef wouldn’t pass his first test.
The bigger problem was the roast chicken. The wild rice stuffing, by itself, is dry, bitter, and literally nausea-​inducing. The chicken itself was well cooked, but like the potatoes and vegetables, was absolutely drenched in butter. Every bite of my entrée screamed BUTTER. And not in the good sense. The food is swimming in a pool of buttery chicken gravy, the chicken is roasted with butter under the skin, and the mashed potatoes are more butter than potato. I have never before complained of French food being too rich, but Trois Canards is just killing its food with butter. There is no subtlety here.
The potatoes are otherwise bearable; the vegetables are wildly overcooked. Any home chef could prepare green beans and carrots with a lot more finesse than Trois Canards.
These culinary transgressions are far less forgivable because the restaurant was half empty while I dined. It takes so little care (and skill) to properly make chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I sincerely hope Trois Canards wakes up and starts making French food the way it should be made.

I ate at Trois Canards in its earlier incarnation and came again tonight with friends. This version is a small neighborhood French bistro, suitably decorated. It was fairly busy when we arrived on a Friday night around 9:00 but we had no trouble being seated immediately.
For starters we ordered the escargots, the pâté maison, and the flan à l’ail. They were all generous and nicely served, but we agreed the flan was the standout — really flavorful and delicious. The pâté was nice but with a slightly dry texture and the escargots seemed to have some cheese on them, which was a bit unexpected.
For main courses we had the crevettes provençale, some kind of fish meunière, and a steak au poivre. Everything was good — my shrimp came with fettucine and was deliciously garlicky but it was such a large portion I couldn’t finish it, and I’m not the «eats like a bird» type! The other two guys cleaned their plates and could be heard mooing contentedly when they were finished.
For dessert we split a soufflé Grand Marnier, which was just the right size and which we also managed to make disappear!
Service was friendly and competent, drinks were very reasonably priced, and our entire repast for three came to $ 165 (including drinks and coffee) which seemed very fair for so much good food and such a pleasant evening!
I noticed that they have a multi-​course brunch on weekends for $ 14.95, so that may be something to check out, too!

Poor service, dull food.

I guess this place closed years ago, so happy it reopened by the same owner. The three ducks is the spot for dinner and brunch in a small relaxed setting.
Tried the chicken liver mousse and sole, both excellent. This is French Bistro at it’s best, looking forward to the brunch, I still remember the taste of the crab cakes Benedict.

I have lived and was raised in New York City and have experienced all kinds of service, but never as rude and insulting as my experience at Trois Canard on 20^th street off 8^th avenue. I also never write such long diatribes but this was really a horrible night.
We arrive on time for our 6:45 reservations with conformation we were in time for the price fixe dinner menu. The manager told us they thought we were 4 people in our party not 5, but either way, since all the tables were full, it would only take 5 – 10 minutes to seat us. Pushed over to the bar where there were only 2 seats, we were served 2 iced teas on the house — the cokes we ordered never came. Well, 45 minutes later I ask what’s happening and was rudely told to wait by the bar, they will come to us when ready.
We finally get comfortably seated, get our menus and water, then we were asked if we could get up and move to another table — a 4-​seater where they shoved a chair at the end to make 5 seats — it was very cramped. We moved though disappointed. We ask for the price fixe menu and were told NO, it’s after 7:00. I had to ask three times until they finally brought it over. No one ordered from it, but 10 minutes later the waitress/​manager tells me my dish is sold out and I got the lamb on that menu.
This was the first time meeting my daughter’s boyfriend so we were really trying to keep the night upbeat, friendly and free from conflict and did not push or complain. We tried to be understanding and waited a long to be seated then didn’t make a fuss or refuse when moved to cramped seating only because we just wanted to relax and finally eat.
The food came and was good. We were ignored the rest of the night, though the water was always replenished quickly (highlight of the night). The dessert soufflé came without us being offered any other dessert options (we had ordered it earlier). We waited another 15 minutes trying to get the check and decided to leave 10% (never have done this before). The waitress/​manager gives me my receipt, stares me down and asks us to leave. She then comes back and asks why we have punished our waitress with 10%. We said our treatment should be reason enough and by the way, who was our waitress – you were the only one serving us.
She then has the gall to say: we gave you 2 iced teas and allowed you to have the price fixed menu! I feel we treated you more than well. I didn’t mention the 2 sodas we returned because they were flat and were charged for on our bill. She then asks us to leave again. Keep in mind we had to waive down the check, were waiting for someone to come back from the restroom before we left, so we weren’t lingering unnecessarily, and there was no one waiting for a table at that point. I asked for a manger and was told she was it — please leave.
She then once again proceeds to say it was our fault we waited 45 minutes because we told then 4 not 5 people (not true) and I pointed out there were NO tables open for 45 minutes. She then LIED again & said there was a 4-​top when we came in. I pointed out since she stuck us at a 4-​top with a chair at the end, why did we have to wait 45 minutes for the same tight table configuration (let me stress no one left the restaurant for 45 minutes while we were there).
Long, sad story short, we have never seen anything like this. How dare we experience the service we did then be insulted by being attacked over the tip we left reflecting that poor treatment — and then being kicked out! I did not mention to them that I write restaurant reviews for travel books. I feel that whether I have influence in the industry shouldn’t influence anyone’s treatment of a customer — they should be judged on their actions. I will tell anyone and everyone about the shocking rudeness and unprofessionalism experienced.

Despite the slew of bad-​mediocre reviews on Unilocal,I took a date to Trois Canard tonight, and we both loved it.
Our waitress walked by our table often, but only stopped and spoke to us when we were ordering and paying, which. is absolutely appropriate. She didn’t interrupt us every ten minutes to ask if we’re enjoying ourselves, but the busboys did fill our water every time the glasses neared empty, cleared the plates when the silverware was on them, etc. We asked a bus boy for more bread, it was out in 30 seconds. This is how a proper restaurant should function. The waitress did, when ordering, offer food suggestions at our request, and was very knswledgable about the wines on the list. She even smiled and put up with my date as he took about five minutes to go off on a tangent about San Cipriano.
The food was excellent. I ordered the roasted duck with vegetables and wild rice, and my date ordered the salmon with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Both the entrees were delicious. The duck was cooked as duck should be cooked, and the sauce was wonderful. We shared the charcuterie plate as an hors d’œuvre, and we found all the selections to be very tasty. We also ordered a bottle of San Cipriano Merlot and shared the apple tart with caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream, and a dash of cinnamon.
Overall, it was an excellent meal. A bottle of wine, two entrees, a large hors d’oeuvres, and dessert all came out to about $ 120, including a 20% or so tip. Not bad, considering. If you came with $ 30, you could certainly grab yourself an entrée and glass of wine.

I read alot of the reviews here on Unilocal,and some gave some negative opinions. but I had a $ 25
coupon for only $ 1. food is food in the end of the day.
First off, I didn’t think it was THAT bad at all, in fact it was quiet good. The place is charming, definitely a good date dinner spot if both of you fancy European styled restaurants. Which brings me to the next point, the food isn’t american styled, and won’t taste american styled. so if you are used to going to let say, an italian restaurant where theres’ alot of pasta and meatballs type of person, this restaurant isn’t for you. I’m not judging if you like those restaurants, nothing wrong with liking italian-​american styled restaurants. but this is a french restaurants, you are here to eat escargot and foie gras and ducks and whatnot.
the food was tasty, get the escargot, save the bread and get escargot. then dip the bread with the garlic butter, YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
the waitresses didn’t give us crap about using the coupons at all, and although there were only two of them. i thought i was good. the place was small, if you ask for something, they always see u n never ignore you.
we got an escargot dish, i got a half roasted duck (the wild rice was delicious), and the bf got a burger w/​brie, which also tasted amazing.
we spent abou 50 somehting, –25 dollars, w/​a generous tip we spent like 30 something dollars.

We stumbled into this place after a show and was hungry for food. Late on a weekday night there was only one other table being served at this restaurant.
The dishes weren’t particularly fresh tasting but were lovingly prepared. The food was okay but could be better.
I noticed that this spot has gift certificates available on
. If you live in this area and crave old-​style french bistro food. Then you might want to pick up a certificate when they are 80% off (2 bucks for 25 dollars) and it might be worth it. Other than that I wouldn’t visit this place again.

After my friend, her mom and I finished our lackluster entrees we grew at little restless waiting for our coffee as we were, at this point, seated for two hours. The waitress brings out my friend’s fancy coffee cocktail and seemed to have forgotten my regular cup o’ joe, so I glanced after her while she hurried off and reminded her that I was still waiting for mine-​when she snickered and shouted– «it’s coming! It has to Breeew (read w/​French accent) first» –probably making my top five of rudest waiter encounters ever. I was mortified.
To make matters worse, the coffee was tasteless hot water; which is unacceptable for a French restaurant. Then again, what decent French restaurant serves lobster on top of spaghetti and soggy frites with overcooked «medium» steak? Needless to say, I won’t be back.

Well, this is the phoenix of restaurants, Trois Canards to Belle Vie and back to Trois Canards, at a different location. I have known the owner and his restaurants for 20 or so years now and was never really disappointed.
Tello, the chef since the original Trois Canards, prepares one of the best roast ducks that I have ever tasted with a delightfully tart orange Grand Marnier sauce. Duck on the bone is usually well done with the exception of the breast portion, which was sliced and done medium well. The entire fowl was meaty and moist and served with wild rice. If someone knows their French duck dishes, they would know that only magret de canard (duck breast) is done rare or medium rare. Duck on the bone is always done this way but is not usually as moist as this is. Also, Tello seems to understand that the sauce needs to be sweet/​tart to counteract the oily duck. The duck has been this way for years out of Tello’s kitchen and is still one of the best. Half duck on the bone is not too available these days, even in Paris.
My dinner partner had veal scallopini wrapped around goat cheese and mushrooms, propped up on rich mashed potatoes with a hint of garlic. The gravy served with it was delicious. This used to be called Veal Tello at the original Trois Canards and was the chef’s signature dish. I’m glad it is still on the menu, even if they called it stugotz. It will always be veal Tello to us.
I welcome back Trois Canards and will be back many times.
Just FYI, the dining room is weelchair accessible if you enter through Tello’s Restaurant next door. But the restrooms are down a steep flight of stairs. I therefore said that I wasn’t sure of weelchair accessibility.