Le Guignol Restaurant

T_​T Very sad to hear that this place is closing. Making sure I go before they close at the end of this month. I was very happy to find a place that served French food with no crazy fusion with it. I hope Chef Ala will open its doors again in the future.

Omg! Go to the Vintage Wine Cellar and have dinner here on a night when the Blaisdell does not have a show (romantic) and you will not be disappointed. Very intimate setting with lovely waitstaff. Mahalo Keanna! I had the Fois gras, sweetbreads, and the olive oil pepper cake thing with blue cheese ice cream. Damnit! That is good stuff! A big mahalo to Chef Travis for a job well done.

This place has a lot of potential! This is also a better place then Gerard’s in Maui.
First off food wise this is a 3 star place. But I had to lower it to two stars because the waiter made the same mistake twice with our group. First mistake — Order completed but after 15 — 20 min he returns to say there are only 3 vichyssoise soups and our party of 10 ordered 6. So he then forgets to bring a menu for those people to change their orders. Ok I can forgive this maybe but to not bring menu’s is rather ridiculous.
He then made the same mistake again at desert. First he comes to the table and says the chef makes fresh sorbet which flavors change weekly he also changes the flavor of the Crème Brûlée weekly and it is always very good. This week is coffee.
Well after the rave review he starts the orders and when he gets to 6 Crème Brûlée’s he immediately says oh no and runs into the kitchen. After 15 min away he returns to say we only have 3 Crème Brûlée — 1 Coffee and 2 Vanilla. What the hell? Did our waiter have amnesia and forget he made the same mistake on the first course?
Ok with that said the Crème Brûlée sucked! it was not worth it and I am so glad I passed on it.
Over all the food is ok but worth the price? That is hard to say…
Bread with blue cheese butter — not so good the bread was stale and likely made that morning.
The salad was very good — Tomato with Blue Cheese a nice choice
Several others in our party had the Onion Soup which was excellent
The Rack of lamb was good and better then Gerard’s on Maui.
There is one really great benefit it is BYOB with an affordable corkage!

I really, really, really wanted to like this place. A friend had recommended it as «the best traditional french food on the island.» I love french food and I love BYOBs. So before a show I went with my bf and a nice bottle of champagne and a nice bottle of pinot noir. The wine was amazing!
Everyone who works at this place is so sweet and I hate to write a bad review. But the food was not good.
The bread and butter was fine, I don’t think it was quite as bad as what some other people had made it out to be, but it definitely was not a warm baguette with to die for butter.
For apps we ordered the escargots over a broiled tomato, the french onion soup and the mesclun green salad. The house salad was pretty unimpressive; it seemed like it was costco box lettuce, a mediocre tomato and some salad dressing. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t unique/​special. The escargots were ok. Good, but the ones at Le Bistro or Formaggio are much better. In fairness, the bf and I like our escargots drowning in butter/​garlic sauce that you can soak bread in, and this was seasoned much less generously. The French Onion soup was bland, very bland. I’m pretty sensitive to things being over salted, but this needed salt and a better beef stock. Again, Formaggio’s French Onion is much better.
For main dishes we got the duck confit and the pork belly with fig. The duck was so-​so. Again, nothing bad, but nothing amazing. The pork was very smokey, and I agree with an earlier reviewer who said it sounded much better than it tasted. Additionally, of the the three medallions of pork, one was COMPLETELY undercooked. As in rare pork, still cold in the center. I just ate the other two but it was pretty shocking that the pieces were cooked so inconsistently. On top of that, the mashed potatoes were remarkably unimpressive. To the point where the bf was sure that they were boxed and was going to ask. (Never ended up asking).
Because of timing (on our side, not theirs) we didn’t have enough time to eat dessert which was a shame because we really wanted to try the black pepper olive oil cake. This is especially sad because a lot of people seem to highlight this! Unfortunately, the food was not good enough for us to even want to try again.

This restaurant needs a serious makeover/​facelift. How do I call Chef Ramsay or Robert Irvine to recommend this restaurant? There’s definite potential for greatness, but they’re in need of dire help. Let’s get rid of the table cloth and weird looking makeshift host stand.
Speaking of Robert Irvine… I came here for dinner before his show at the Blaisdell. It was a spontaneous decision and I didn’t do my research beforehand so I failed to know it was BYOB. Man, French food without wine is like peanut butter without the jelly.
The service:
Service was spotty. Waiter looked confused when we walked in and didn’t greet us at all. I had to say, «table for two please» before he lost the confused look. It took about 20 minutes for our orders to be taken and only because I waved them down. There was only one other table there at that time. Service became better as we started to receive our food. Maybe they had to warm up? I used to be a server and I couldn’t help but think: Damn, I’d rock this whole restaurant by myself and one busser!
The food:
Complimentary bread sucked. Small crusty bread sliced real thin and served with an olive butter. I like any kind of flavored butter so I still ate the bread.
Appetizers — Wild Mushroom Soup and escargots.
The soup sounded good on menu but was a total fail! It wasn’t hot, it was too gelatinous, and it tasted like canned soup.
The escargots were okay. Nothing special.
Entrees — Boeuf du jour and Sautéed Prawns
The Boeuf du jour was filet mignon and I got it with the blue cheese butter. It was served with a smidge of horseradish potato purée. This was the BEST dish of the night. The filet was cooked perfectly and the flavors worked well together.
The prawns were cooked perfectly but I didn’t care for the flavor. It lacked acidity and didn’t come together well. It also didn’t feel like a main dish but rather a larger appetizer. Maybe it was the presentation or the lack of starch holding it together. Three pieces of mini diced potatoes don’t count.
Dessert — Olive oil and cracked black pepper cake with blue cheese ice cream and drizzled honey
This was just delightful. Sounded questionable but I decided to take the risk and it paid off! The cake is served warm and it was almost like a pound cake with a light black pepper taste which complimented the blue cheese ice cream perfectly. The light honey drizzle was just the icing on top.
Like I said earlier, there’s potential. The prices are reasonable for French food, but the portions are smaller than Michel’s or Le Bistro. It’s the perfect dinner spot to come to before you walk across the street to your show at Blaisdell because you can leave your car parked there. Don’t forget it’s BYOB.

Eh. My bf & I had been curious about this place and went here one night before a show @ blaisdell. He ordered the salmon, which was alright but I’m not much of a salmon fan. After a glass of wine I decided to be adventurous and ordered the rabbit.
We laughed so freaking hard when they brought it out. It was so ugly — it looked like a dish straight out of a 1940’s betty crocker cookbook. It was a giant rectangular block of rabbit with some diced carrots on top (which also made me laugh.. .). I guess it tasted okay, but I was expecting something with a little better presentation and the taste, while not bad, wasn’t that great or sophisticated.
Overall, I thought everything from the food to the atmosphere was just so-​so. I was really excited to go here, but came away unimpressed.

Ok. I really want to like a restaurant’s food and service. The GF and I go to restaurants without any preconceived expectations, and we really want to appreciate what they have to offer.
And when an establishment isn’t quite top-​notch, it’s really difficult for me to point this out. It’s really hard for me to rate a family-​run business less than exemplary, because I know how much love and dedication the owner tries to pour into it to survive.
Ever had a date where you really tried to make it go well but a series of unfortunate events make it a rough night? For example, you show up to pick up your date but you realize that you forgot your wallet. Or your car refuses to start in the parking lot. And then it rains.
No matter how hard you try, the night doesn’t go well.
Tonight was nowhere near as bad as my example, but a number of little things added up to a night that wasn’t perfect. But I suppose there’s always another time to try this restaurant again.
3 stars out of 5.
The GF and I came here tonight with a bottle of Pinot Noir, and we were looking forward to the food here (since my chiropractor is upstairs and I pass by here often).
First, the food.
Complimentary Bread: Hmmm… when I think of bread and butter, I’m thinking of freshly baked bread that soft inside with a crisp crust.
What we got was something else. In a basket, there were oddly shaped and VERY small pieces of bread that were smaller than a Ritz cracker. Some were thin enough to blow air through, and some were a bit thicker. I can’t say that they were a day old, but they were nearly stale and quite hard. The butter was tasty, however.
Appetizers:
— GF had the Lyonnaise Salad while I had the Foie Gras Crème Brûlée.
Frisee lettuce has got to be the weirdest lettuce out there. Her salad WAS on the smaller side with a poached egg on top, but we were warned beforehand. The GF finished her salad, but was undecided on whether she liked it or not. She may have been put off by the poached egg, but I don’t know if she’ll order it again.
My Foie Gras Crème Brûlée was unusual in that the custard was infused with Foie Gras… but I couldn’t quite pick it out. I’m not a fan of Crème Brûlée so I have no idea what I was thinking by ordering this, but it wasn’t bad.
Entrees:
— GF had the Filet of Sole w/​Rice Pilaf. I enjoyed the flavor of the fish — brown butter, capers and lemon. She was disappointed that it wasn’t crispy as other Unilocalers mentioned, but I think she enjoyed it (she finished it). The Rice Pilaf was a little too Al Dente for her, but it wasn’t bad at all in my opinion. Regardless, she didn’t touch it.
— I had the Veal Sweetbreads on Potato Purée, and I’m actually a fan. For those out there that are turned off by the texture of thymus glands, let me suggest this: ** Slice them thinly and eat them quickly while they’re hot **
If I had to down a whole piece of veal sweetbread, I’d probably choke on it. But I found that slicing the breaded veal sweetbread thinly allowed the texture to be ignored. The flavor of the veal is actually nice and appetizing, and I’d definitely order this again. The server said with a smile that veal sweetbreads are the chef’s specialty, and I can see why.
But slice them thinly and you’ll be OK. Trust me.
Dessert:
— We both shared the French chocolate and espresso cake with rose ice cream and fleur de sel ganache. I have to say that we both dug this dessert a lot. The accompanying slices of strawberries were wonderfully sweet and the DENSE chocolate piece was a great way to end the meal.
One thing, however. Neither the GF and I knew what to make of the rose ice cream. It wasn’t vanilla, but I couldn’t make sense of the flavor. Was it made with Rose Water (a delicacy in certain cultures)? Not sure, but was pleasant to eat.
Second, the ambiance.
— The restaurant is on the warmer side with open doors facing Thomas Park. Although slower French music is playing in the background, it’s often interrupted by the sound of traffic coming from outside. Nothing like the «BRRAAAPPP» of moped exhausts driving by as you’re trying to eat.
— Near the end of our entrees, I heard a dripping sound coming from the back of my chair. The in-​wall air conditioner started to have a bit of water start to drip from its vent onto the carpet. And then it got to be a lot more water.
We had to flag down the waiter (even though we were the only table there) to show him what was happening. The carpet and baseboard of the wall were pretty saturated by the time he started to clean it up.
Summary:
Le Guignol could be a wonderful place to dine on French cuisine, and I think that the food was pretty good for what we got. The GF was less enthused about her meal but I thought that the sweetbreads as well as her sole filet were tasty.
Because of a number of things that happened, we didn’t quite get blown away but the food was pretty good. Could this restaurant be four stars instead of three? Perhaps.
I think I need to go back.

I love this place! My first time there, it was just me and my bf and we didn’t know what to expect cause we’ve never had French cuisine before. Before going, we did look at the menu they had on their website and reading everything made me drool!
We made reservations just in case, and when we got there, we were pleasantly surprised by the little, quaint restaurant. When you’re inside, it feels like you’re in someone’s home, which was nice. We didn’t know it was BYOB on wine, so we were unprepared but still enjoyed our meal.
We ordered:
— Scallops with a curry sauce in a puff pastry (can’t remember the name)
— Lobster & Tomato Bisque
(Both were really good! Especially the bisque!!)
BF ordered the special of the evening:
— Pork Belly Confit with white beans & grapes
OMG delicious! The pork belly was cooked perfectly and the skin on top was so crunchy and salty! Pair that with the beans for a subtle starch and the sweet grapes, AMAZING!
I ordered:
— Australian Rack of Lamb with a green peppercorn sauce, served with sauteed green beans and fingerling potatoes
ANOTHER AMAZING DISH! The peppercorn sauce made the «gamey» taste in the lamb dissapear and I was left with a delicious & tender lamb chop.
Desserts:
— Cinnamon Croissant Bread Pudding with maple syrup
— Olive oil & black pepper cake with blue cheese ice cream & honey
All the desserts on their menu sounded wonderful, but we chose the two to try first, and I’m so glad we did! So delicious that I wish I had the recipes and could make it at home all the time!
I can’t wait to go back here! Such an awesome little restaurant. The chef has a great place!

3.5 stars
Returned for a friends’ birthday dinner last night. We had a great experience previously and was excited to hana hou (duplicate). We had 5pm reservations and were the first ones to arrive. We had our choice of seating and always prefer outside where it was cool and breezy. The two female and one male wait staff were pleasant and welcoming.
We were brought bread and a delightful maple butter. However, the bread basket was quite frugal. We had way more butter than bread. I just felt that was a tad bit chincy. The bread itself was underwhelming: 2 stars.
We started with a couple appetizers: 1) The Curried Scallops (4.5 stars): Succlent medallions of scallop that were cooked perfectly and surprisingly tender in a flavorful curry sauce. Just divine. 2) Veal & Pork Pâté (3 stars): with stone mustard and pickled onions that was a bit dryish and didn’t pair well with the paper thin bread.
Entrees were: 1) Boeuf du jour (4.5 stars): Done medium rare and in a blue cheese butter sauce. The quality and preparation was excellent and near perfection! 2) Roasted Pork (3 stars): Prepared in a fig reduction sauce. The description sounded better than the actual thing. Surprisingly basic.
Desserts: 1) French chocolate and espresso cake with rose ice cream and
fleur de sel ganache (4 stars): Nice flavor, however the rose ice cream stole the show, just brilliant! 2) Olive oil and cracked black pepper cake served with blue cheese ice cream and local honey (4.75 stars): The best dessert of the night. Unbelievable pairing of olive oil soothing out the bite of black pepper and what could go wrong with the boldness of blue cheese (but in ice cream! Damn!)
Overall a pleasant night. However our male server was very off kilter and service was choppy and actually irritating. Very odd and distracting: 2 stars.
Tally:
Bread: 2 stars
Curried Scallops: 4.5 stars
Veal & Pork Pâté: 3 stars
Boeuf du jour (Beef of the day): 4.5 stars
Roasted Pork in fig sauce: 3 stars
Chocolate/​Espresso cake: 4 stars
Olive Oil & Black Pepper cake: 4.75 stars
Service: 2 stars
2+4.5+3+4.5+3+4+4.75+2= 3.46 stars.

This is a comfortable little neighborhood restaurant with good food and allows byob.
The foie gras custard was absolutely the best item on the menu, Loved it! I also enjoyed the lyonnais salad with a nice poached egg on top to make a nice rich dressing for the lettuce. The pork and duck main entrees are nice standards.

The cranberry butter that comes with the bread is yummy. Tomato salad interesting, blue cheese and walnuts nice combination. Bisque soup refreshingly chilled and creamy. The salmon is the closest I’ve had to my bf’s amazing delicious dill salmon. Service was great, and the ambiance cozy. Perfect place to dine before a concert or show right across the street, as parking is free all night.

Lunch review
Parking: Some parking is available on the street or at Blaisdell across King St during lunch hour and it should be free.
Ambiance: A rather small establishment but the furnishings look new and are comfortable. Even the outside seating has comfortable, large plastic chairs while still maintaining a table-​clothed /​glassware rather than diner/​plastic cup feel. The inside is decorated modestly with a few pictures.
Service: Polite, water levels checked multiple times but not the speediest service. I believe this is due to the relaxed nature of the business which is not necessarily a bad thing. Come to this restaurant for a long sit down meal, full of conversation rather than a eat-​and-​go experience.
Food: I heard good things about their french onion soup but I skipped the appetizers and went right for the croque monsieur which is pronounced something like «crok moh-​seu» according to this website
that Google found for me. They do goat cheese rather than egg on top and it has a generous helping of pork meat and the rectangular plate came with lettuce topped with a powerful vinaigrette and a small helping of garnished mini potato slices. It all came together to become quite a filling meal.
Despite the filling entrees, the dessert menu will tempt you as well. They’ve got a wide selection here but I can vouch for the chocolate mousse lightly topped with whip cream (no overdoing that stuff here) and mint leaves over sliced strawberries and raspberries in a tall V-​shaped glass. Their flourless chocolate expresso cake is also a choco-holic’s dream.
Verdict & Takeaway: 4 stars for the fair prices and flavorful food, especially the desserts that I don’t find just anywhere else. Though their lunch menu could be larger, their options are excellent.
Note that they’re a small establishment so call ahead to reserve seating. Don’t forget to check out their website for their hours, they don’t serve every meal of the day every day.

I decided to bring my mom and dad here for my mom’s birthday. My dad was very apprehensive at first. «Where are you taking us?» «What kinda place is this?» He bombarded me with questions. I knew it was going to hard to please him… even though it’s not HIS birthday.
Anyways, this place did not disappoint my dad. Well, he did say the food took long, but he really enjoyed the flavor of the onion soup and other dishes we had that it didn’t REALLY matter.
All in all, both my parents enjoyed their meal, which is more than I can ask for. Yes, it’s not Halekulani standard service or atmosphere, but the food sure surpasses theirs… said my dad. WoW!
Unilocal 365 Challenge #84/​365

With half of the reviews being rated 3 stars or less (11 being 1 & 2 star reviews), I should’ve set lower expectations for this place. Despite the reviews, l still wanted to see for myself. A couple of friends had raved about this restaurant & assured me that the food was amazing, that I would not be disappointed. My friend (he dines here regularly) was craving their veal hearts & sweetbreads, so we decided to have dinner here over the weekend with a couple friends.
Sadly, no veal hearts on the menu & they ran out of sweetbreads.
CREME BRULEE AU FOIE GRAS ($ 12.95):
Foie gras custard topped w/​fleur de sel. Fleur de sel is considered the purist and most prized sea salt, great as a finishing salt.
Sadly, all we got was a mouthful of salt. The rich, heavy custard’s saltiness masked the delicate flavors of the foie gras… actually none of us tasted foie. The top crust was sprinkled w/​sugar and even more salt before it was torched. This clever dish had a lot of potential but failed due to the overuse of salt and execution (the single piece of bread was hard as a rock, softer brioche would’ve been a better choice). Save your money.
SALAD LYONNAISE ($ 9.95):
Blanched (tasted pickled) pig ears, crispy bacon & comte cheese were tossed w/​chicory (bitter-​tasting relative of endives). The classic dijon vinaigrette & perfectly-​cooked egg yolk paired well w/​the spicy-​bitter chicory greens.
Had only 3 or 4 half-​inch strips of blanched pig ears (main reason why i ordered the dish). As you can see, the portion size was tiny. There was more egg than there was salad. Again, save your money and pass on this.
FOIE DE VEAU ($ 9.95):
2 pcs of sauteed calf’s liver w/​sweet caramelized onions, prunes and endive. Menu said prunes, but we got dried strawberries in ours? The madeira wine reduction was sweet & on the watery side. I was expecting a more rich, peppery AND thicker sauce.
The liver was tough & bitter. Had helluva time trying to cut into it w/​the butter knife supplied.
Calf’s liver is very delicate in flavor & is meant to be cooked until it’s just a light pink. It keeps the liver juicy.
A friend told me yrs ago, that lots of the old-​school chefs prefers overcooking/​serving calf’s liver «well done». This not only makes it tough & leathery, but it also increases the bitterness. Not soaking it long enough in milk can make the liver taste bitter as well, but ours was obviously overcooked.
CANARD A LA SAUCE AU PORTE ($ 24.95):
Maple Leaf Farm duck breast served w/​chorizo potato mash and port-​wine demi-​glacé.
Pefectly cooked, but the sauce was salty. A couple of us agreed that it tasted really similar to hoisin sauce.
The chorizo-​potato mash was tasty, but a bit salty as well. Portion was quite small & I wished there was rice, bread or veggies to help tame the salt attack.
My 2 friends got the special of the night: A whole quail w/​mashed potatoes & gravy. They liked their entrée. But one commented that his quail tasted like «huli huli chicken, nothing spectacular».
I had a taste of it. It was good, but it was like eating grilled chicken w/​brown gravy.
I would’ve gave it a 2.5÷3 stars but the service was terrible:
1) We were neglected for the most part. They kept checking on their inside guests and refilled their waters constantly, but our outside table (along with 2 other tables) were ignored.
Waited more than 30 mins to order. Only knew about the specials bc we overheard the waiter telling the inside tables about it. They didn’t even have enough menus for their diners (the place was only ½ filled)!
2) They didn’t give us change until we repeated asked for it.
Our bill was $ 124, we threw in $ 160 inside of the folder because 2 of us needed change. I threw an extra $ 20 on the outside of the folder bc I needed smaller bills myself.
My $ 20 was given back to me, but the $ 36 was unaccounted for. I asked the waitress about it (after repeatedly waving her down, she looked right at me and ignored me). She rudely snapped at me, saying that she’ll tell our waiter.
She told our waiter. But he continued to walk around filling water for the inside tables and never returned to ours. I had to go up to him at the kitchen and ask for our change. Again I was abruptly interrupted w/​a snappy «I know, I have your change ok?»
I’m generous when it comes to tipping. But to take 30% on your own is bs, esp when service was poor!
3) Ultimate/​final diss on our way out. The waitress was at the exit w/​a pissed-​off look on her face. We bid her farewell & thanked her, but in return we got the cold shoulder as she immaturely turned her head away. WTF?! I so regret leaving them the undeserved 20% tip!

The best french café in Hawaii (and it has been for many years).
The dining space is quaint, road noise serves as the music and people watching (especially when there are events at the NBC) is the entertainment de jour.
Now that its won the 2011 Honolulu Magazines Hale Aina Award, the secret is out, additions have been made to the dinner menu (to the chef’s credit) and reservations are a must.
Lunch offers delicious French café classics including a fantastic seafood crêpe, and the delicious escargot. Bring your own bottle of Rose or Chablis and you’re all good.
Dinner is a culinary showcase of true French café food fused with local influences. The foie gras served with langoutines, cauliflower pure, and toasted macadamia nuts is a perfect example. Flavors are bold with varied textures. Outstanding!
Top mains include the veal sweetbreads (don’t ask, just try them), the pan roasted rabbit in the perfect onion soup veloute sauce, and the fork tender duck confit accented by an incredible port reduction and served with a butternut squash pure. Finally, the boullibasse is to die for. All of the seafood is perfectly cooked and elevated by an amazing saffron lobster base.
Don’t forget its BYOB.
Highly recommended.

Before I begin, I bet you’re wondering how to pronounce the name of this restaurant. I never took French, so I always had to refer to this place as «The french restaurant by the Academy of Arts». So if you’re curious its lei-​geen-​yol. But don’t take my word for it. Listen for yourself:
I have mixed feelings about this place.
When we arrived, our host/​server said he didn’t have my reservation down, «but I guess we can accommodate you». It’s not my fault you didn’t write down my reservation. I’m also certain I talked to the same guy the previous day when I called to make the reservation. But after that incident, he was helpful and attentive. Maybe we just had a bad start.
Escargot — Decent. It’s not going to blow you away, but it had the normal garlic/​butter combo you would expect.
Salmon Filet — Your regular boring salmon filet. I wouldn’t get this. ever.
Ribeye w/​bordelaise sauce — Darn good. The cut of beef was a bit tougher than I would expect for a ribeye, but the bordelaise worked well with the steak.
It’s a little pricey for what you get, but it’s BYOB with a $ 5 corkage. That definitely offsets the cost of the meal if you bring a nice bottle of wine.
Le Guignol is a nice little date spot and should find it’s way into everyone’s «Favorite Date Spots» list. Le Guignol was good, but not great. I’ll be back, but I’m going to proceed with caution.

I live so close to Le Guignol and I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to eat there! We were headed to the Russell Peter’s comedy show at the Blaisdell and I thought that this would be an opportune time to have a wonderful date night at Le Guignol. Our friends Russ & Kar happened to be eating there that night as well so we just added ourselves to their 5:30 pm reservation. It put me at ease to know that we were eating with our foodie friends because now I didn’t have to worry about ordering the wrong thing off the menu.
We entered the restaurant and the server told us to sit wherever we liked. I saw there was a band setting up on the terrace so I decided to sit as far away from them as possible. I didn’t know what they were playing and although they were nice people I came here for the food, not the music. Plus I always think it’s odd to eat in front of people who are performing. Almost like there’s someone spying on you. It creeps me out. Our server was a tall Asian guy who wasn’t the friendliest of waiters and I wanted to tell him «Dude, we’re not in Paris and you’re not French, so you can smile at the rotten Americans.»
Our friends joined us and we ordered a few items to share. My BF and I decided to split the tomato salad and the Ribeye. My baby has grown so big inside my tummy that I just don’t have the ability to down food like I used to. The upside is I’m eating less, the downside is I’m eating less!!! Our tomato salad was a nice, light starter served in a martini glass but it was nothing compared to the lunch portion of the sweetbreads Karla had ordered for us to share as an appetizer. I have to be honest and say that I was really hesitant to eat them because this was really the reason why we had stayed away from Le Guignol in the first place. I’d never had sweetbreads but it sounded disgusting. To my pleasant surprise it was completely wonderful! The shared appetizer portion was perfect. I’m a sweetbread fan and if you haven’t tried it, you should get in your car, drive to Le Guignol and order up a plate!
Now onto the main attraction, the Ribeye! Normally I’m not a steak person but the Ribeye was so tasty that I couldn’t help but Mooooooo my heart out! My BF was so happy and this boy loves his meat! We split an entrée between the two of us and the ½ entrée portion was perfect. I actually ended up giving pieces to Russ and my BF. It was too much for me to finish! The Ribeye was served with lovely mash potatoes and baby pearl onions. Just the thought of this entrée is making my mouth water!
Karla was really excited about dessert and that made me even more ecstatic because that’s my favorite part of any meal! It’s actually my main reason for wanting to go out and eat!!! We ordered the Olive oil cracked pepper cake and the croissant bread pudding to share. I enjoyed both but the croissant bread pudding was by far my favorite! It was soft and not overly sweet so that you didn’t get tired of it. I couldn’t stop eating it and can’t wait to go back and have it again!
An easy 5 stars for Le Guignol because that’s how wonderful our meal was! If you love comfort food that makes your soul flutter then you’re going to enjoy how everything is prepared as this little French escape. Sure the waiter was a bit dull and the music was a little odd (Japanese guys singing Jazz = Meh) but who cares! We’re here for the food right?! Viva Le Guignol and we’ll be back for another date night very soon!

4 ½ stars
What a Experience!
The «specials» were great and the service was spot on.
Australian Lobster ($ 34.95) & also Ribeye ($ 24.95) (massive portions, not important but nice). Onion Soup was really good also.
I can’t believe we never tried this place until now. Chef came out and said hi. Added bonus BYOB.
Added Bonus we left our car in their parking lot while we watched Beauty & the Beast which was awesome!

The food is excellent here, and the fact you can BYOB makes it a natural place to take that special bottle of wine you’ve been saving for a special occasion. They’re very good about accommodating your reservation if you’re got tickets for events at the Blaisdell, but they can get super busy on those nights. If you prefer to have a quieter time and linger, try to plan for a night when there’s nothing scheduled across the street. Free parking in their lot when you dine with them is a plus, too!
Our favorites are the escargot, marrow bones, veal sweetbreads, and the Chef’s steak specials are always delicious!
You should definitely save room for dessert, but if you forget and didn’t leave room, you can always grab some of the delicious cookies to take for later. Nom Nom!

My friends and I visited this restaurant last night for the first time and I for one was sorely disappointed. We ordered the foie gras, escargot and a marrow appetizer. The foie gras too crunchy on the outside, which made the inside a little too mushy. The escargot hardly had any of the garlic butter sauce and we were only given three pieces of bread with this dish. I never had marrow before, but it was pretty disgusting, no taste…
For the main course we ordered four different entrees and my potatoes au gratin that came with my steak was burnt to a crisp on top — it looked very unappetizing. The rack of lamb was ordered medium, and it came out rare (we had to send it back), the sweetmeats were pretty gross looking but my boyfriend said it was ok… The sausage and beans were ok, at least they had some taste.
The desserts were very so-​so. The chocolate mousse could have been Jell-​o pudding with fruits on it, the peach dessert was ok, but nothing spectacular.
All in all, I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. Maybe the chef had a bad night, maybe the waiter was new (he didn’t know what was on the cheese plate and had to ask the chef), maybe because there were only four parties dining they thought they could relax a little. Our waters were hardly filled in a timely manner, if it wasn’t BYOB I think we would have been parched the whole night. Also, if the tasting menu is only by pre-​order, they should say that when taking the reservation.
It was a pretty disappointing meal, and the only good thing about it was the wine my friends and I brought and the friendship.