Rue Cler

Nice little French Restaurant in the heart of Durham. Reservations are recommended for this restaurant as it can be fairly busy. There is a parking garage across the street and street parking if you can find an available spot. My husband and I used to go to Rue Cler more frequently before Covid and loved the food and the atmosphere. In our first post Covid trip we were a bit disappointed with the food. They seemed to be doing a more Southern take on French cuisine as opposed to traditional French cuisine. We questioned the use of some controversial ingredients in otherwise nice dishes- like anchovies on a tomato salad. Still a nice /romantic/ evening out. Would recommend as a date location. Is a bit on the loud side for people with noise sensitivity.

Wow, this place sucks! Go to Jolie in Raleigh for better French cuisine instead. Food took forever to come out and the table next to us that got sat 45 minutes after us got their food (ordered the same exact things) less than 2 minutes after us (1 min 46 seconds exactly. I timed it because I'm petty). Every dish was just okay. The flavor wasn't there for any of the dishes ordered. Also, the braised beef you would expect to be tender was very chewy. When we got seated, we got sat directly between two other couples despite the rest of the restaurant being empty. Nothing against the hostess, but the manager needs to work on seating. I asked if we could sit somewhere else because it felt kinda cramped, but she said she would have to ask her manager, so I told her not to worry about it. The only upside was the servers. Everyone was very kind. Would have rather gone to waffle house than eat $150 for two extremely mediocre meals.

Was very happy I decided to treat myself to a quick meal at this bistro. I was very happy with my choice of small plates, but here are some quick thoughts: 1. Escargot -- delicious but the garlic sauce was a bit muddied (?) I prefer just pure garlic and butter with fresh lemon. Would even love a little capped mushroom to make it more substantial , but overall was happy with it! 2. The radicchio salad (which was suggested by great waiter) was TO DIE FOR! Very delicious, unique salad with outrageously delicious dressing and soft feta and olives. 3. Surprised to see Foie gras on the menu. This is a controversial item and banned in different areas. I would suggest dropping this one. 4. liked the auto added 18% gratuity and appreciated that the waiter kindly points it out to you, no surprises. The staff is very attentive and knowledgeable and I look forward to having a bigger meal soon.

Excellent French bistro in the heart of downtown Durham. I started with an amazing melon salad that was just bursting with flavor and color. I then had a peach gratin, which was covered with a pistachio Parmesan reggiano Duckfat ham crust. Try saying that fast three times. It was surrounded by a sauce Vierge and blueberries, and white corn. Amazing. My dining neighbor at the bar had an amazing chicken pate with fresh farm bread and flavorful spreads like whole-grain mustard and some fresh jam to balance the flavors. What is great about this price is that they let you order à la cart off a fixed price menu, which is what I did this evening because I wasn’t that hungry, but they also have charcuterie, cheese boards, small plates, lots of à la carte, vegetables and salads, fantastic specials – tonight was foie gras, which was almost what I got, and really inventive drink specials, as well as unique wines. You will need a reservation unless you’re willing to chance it to come in and sit at the bar. But if you do sit at the bar, make sure you get Tony as your bartender he will give you great service and mix a killer drink, or find a great wine for you.

Very sub-par experience. We had a reservation and there was only one other couple dining when we arrive yet they tried to seat us directly next to that couple instead of at any of the other tables. For a place that requires checking your covid vaccine cards, why wouldn’t you also social distance as much as possible? The service seemed like they were lost in the clouds and not very attentive at all despite there only being two tables dining in the restaurant. The bread for the table was terrible, it didn’t have a good flavor and was very hard textured making it difficult to eat. You’d think a french place would have a handle on how to make a good bread. The steak frites was kind of tough and didn’t have the most flavor, it was just okay. The salmon dish was not good flavor at all. The salmon was cooked well but the greens and potatoes were not and had a gross flavor. The best thing we had was the short rib gnocchi.

Rude customer service. We were forced to take a table by the doors to the kitchen, and when we asked to switch tables, we were not allowed to (we were one of three groups in the entire restaurant). We were there until closing time, and our requested table (by the window) was open until the very end. In fact, about 1/3 of the tables were still open, so no decent reason for us to be forced to that table. For $40 per person, I expected better. Small thing: I would expect an expensive French restaurant to serve bread. Very surprised they didn’t. POSITIVES: Excluding the customer service experience, the food was great and good ambience (though I wish there was music). This service single-handedly worsened an otherwise great experience. PHOTOS: 1. Mushrooms (side, pretty solid) 2. Salmon (cooked well and tasty, but slightly salty. Not the biggest fan of the hollandaise sauce, but that is personal preference) 3. Chicken (filling and tasty) 4. Risotto (tasty but small quantity. Better as an appetizer, not too filling) 5. Requested table, clearly unused and available (as it was throughout the night)