Restaurant Le Reve

Completely Overrated. Our experience at Le Reve was sub-par. I am still unsure why most reviewers compare it to a great French restaurant. Great restaurants have exceptional food. They have career wait staff, who are efficient and who are not patronizing or simpering. Great restaurants do not treat their guests like they don't "know any better". Our evening at Le Reve:

Our table was in a terrible location, by the entrance to the kitchen, and it felt like Grand Central Station.

I appreciate candle light, but it was plain dark, at least at our table.

The courses were often served in enormous bowls that were very awkward to eat out of.

We were missing a key ingredient in our starter. When asked, our hostess explained the ingredient had not come in that day. Solution: don't offer it.

The food was not as stunning and creative as it should have been-we were disappointed.

The very kind and knowlegable sommelier was the bright spot in the evening. He very thoughtfully moved us to another table two courses in to our meal.

For the price we paid for the meal at Le Reve, we could've have eaten at a three Michelin star restaurant in France. We should've waited.…

Amazing Evening. I have been wanting to visit Le Reve because I have heard such great things about it. I was not disappointed. From the moment I walked in the door, everything was top-notch. The attention to detail in the service and dishes was stellar. We ordered the tasting menu (8 courses, plus an amuse bouche and intermezzo) with the chef's wine pairings. The sommelier poured and explained every wine himself. The pours were generous, but with the availabity of the fresh baked breads and the leisurely pace of the meal, none of felt we had too much to drink at the end of the night. None of us had ever such service from the sommelier and we were delighted to learn about each wine and why it was chosen for each dish. Fabian also gave us tips on where to buy wine locally and provided us with a list of the wines we had sampled upon request. I disagree with the previous reviewer that the food was not special. There were a few dishes whose flavors you might taste at other fine restaurants (beet salad), but many were very imaginative (such as the foie gras sandwich and the peanut butter and chocolate dessert). It was apparent much thought and care went into the preparation of each dish, which was only enhanced by the wine pairings. It does take a very long time to complete the tasting menu, so be prepared. If you do not have a lot of time to spend, it would be wise to skip this restaurant until you have an entire evening. We were there for 4 hours. 2 1/2 hours is probably an average and will depend on how many courses are ordered. In fact my only complaint was we waited about 40 minutes between the 3rd and 4th courses, which we felt was a bit too long. Otherwise, I thought the pace was good and gave us plenty of time to chat and digest. Will definitely return again and again!…

Apparently people don't know what fine dining is suppose to be. We had heard so many good things about Le Reve that we just had to try it. We had to make reservations 3 weeks in advance to be able to get a table. We looked at the menu online and the tasting menu was $105 per person (without wine pairings). So you would think it would have to be good, right? Wrong!! We were extremely disapointed. First, it took us a while to find the restaurant because they do not have any visible signs or anything that says "valet here". We got there and were seated and everything seemed to be just fine. Nothing spectacular, but good. I am not excited over the different color napkin based on what you are wearing like the person who wrote a review on here. Any good restaurant does this. They bring bread to your table several times before they start bringing out food. I guess that is to fill you up so that you won't notice that there is nothing special about the food. There are no spectacular tastes or anything. Most of the food that is served you think "I've had tastes like this before". Nothing special. Our bill was $254 (and we did not have any alcohol with our meal). We do not mind paying good money if the food is great . Our recommendation is...if you want great food in San Antonio with an awesome atmosphere go to Biga on the Banks. Bruce, the chef, is an awesome chef that actually knows how to prepare great food with an explosion of flavors. You will not be disapointed and will want to go back again and again. Plus the eight course tasting menu at Biga on the Banks is $85 per person. Much more reasonable and you get more and much better tasting food. Don't waste your time at Le Reve when you can experience Biga on the Banks. We learned our lesson.…