La Boniche Restaurant

Very good. I grew up in a European household with parents who love to cook. It reminds me of home.

We took a chance and came for dinner without reservations — we were already in Lowell and knew there’d be plenty of other choices for dining. It was crowded and noisy inside, but not quite full. We saw a table opening up in the small fenced off sidewalk area and asked if we could sit there. They obliged but needed a few minutes to get it ready; understandable. I’m very glad we got that seat; the night air was pleasantly comfortable and it was fun to watch the street activity in spite of the traffic noise.
The wine list was small, with a limited selection of bottles and by-​the-​glass. But that’s ok; we both decided on cocktails. We both ordered some sort of bourbon concoction with thyme and I-​forget. My wife was skeptical and asked if it was sweet. The waitress replied with an ambiguous «not too sweet». I knew I wanted it so I suggested I order mine and my wife would try it and decide. When it came she liked it and decided to order one too.
At the same time we ordered an appetizer: chicken liver pâté with toasted french bread and onion jam. That was mostly for me — my wife isn’t much of a fan of liver but was curious.
But when her drink came it was of a different color, and when comparing them it was obvious that they were different drinks entirely. The waitress was as confused about this as we were. It turns out hers was the correct one, while mine was something else. We deduced was the bourbon-​mango concoction. Oh well; no matter. I was considering that one anyway.
After a long time with our drinks the appetizer still hadn’t arrived so we called our waitress and asked. She promised to «see what’s taking them so long.» It arrived soon after that. I suspect that she in fact forgot to place the order.
It was quite good, and the onion jam was an excellent accompaniment for the liver pâté. It was served in a ramekin-​like dish, with the jam on the top like frosting. A surprisingly generous portion for $ 7. My only complaint is there was not enough bread for the pâté and I had to ask for more. My wife liked it ok for liver pâté but in the end I ended up finishing most of it.
For entrée I had the Duck With Honey and Thyme: duck breast and confit, crispy risotto cake, honey roasted carrots and spinach, honey thyme jus. It was very good, not quite «excellent». Duck breast perfect, confit just slightly stringy or chewy. Great honey-​thyme flavor. The carrots and spinach were of ample quantity and perfectly cooked. The risotto cake was not actually a cake — just loose risotto — which was really ok but they shouldn’t call it a cake. Maybe it broke up in the jus.
My wife had the Tomato & Mushroom Braised Lamb Shank with roasted zucchini, roasted garlic mashed potato. I didn’t try it but she said it was very good.
For dessert we shared a flourless chocolate cake — one of my favorite things to order for dessert. It was above average but not outstanding. (See my «Red Inn» review for the best-​anywhere flourless chocolate cake.)
Our waitress was friendly, cheerful (but not annoyingly so), and available when we needed her. Which was often, in light of the several minor flaws that I mentioned with the service. It was apparent that she was trying really hard. She told us towards the end that it was her first day. If that’s indeed the case, then it’s understandable and I am sure she will rapidly improve. I would have no problem having her as my waitress on out next visit.
Overall, a nice upscale bistro-​style restaurant. Menu is fairly small but everything we ordered was very good. Prices are not out-​of-​line. We were glad to sit outside. Inside, though very attractive, was loud.

This place was absolutely awful both food and service. I came in on a Saturday afternoon and there was no host to greet me at the door. I had to walk around to the bar in order to get help. I ordered the black bean and when it was brought to me it looked like canned black beans mashed up with a dollop of sour cream. I tasted it and they tasted exactly the way they looked. It took my waiter 20 mins to come back and see if I was ok and upon his return I told him I did not like the soup and would like to exchange it for a different soup on the menu. He proceeded to tell me that I had eaten half of it and if I didn’t like it how could I have eaten half. When in reality the bowl was so small one spoon full of the mush would make it look as though half the bowl was half eaten. He brought me the other soup which was supposed to be a bacon corn chowder… it tasted like dish water it was thin and runny. I got to my entrée which was the salmon special. It was bland and I had to go inside to get my own salt and pepper. To top it off the salmon was raw in the center. If you can, avoid this place at all cost it’s such a waste of money!

I went here for lunch. Big mistake.
If you’re a bored old housewife who thinks going to a restaurant will make you more cultured, this is the place for you. If you’re a self-​enthused school employee, this is the place for you. That’s pretty much the clientele which means lots of talking.
I could not imagine the place with a full load– the acoustics were horrible. Even though it was half full at best, it was LOUD. Not just conversational humming, but loud. How can a french restaurant be loud at lunchtime? And the bread– the bread was horrible and seemed store bought and the butter was half frozen. How can a french restaurant have horrible bread? The service was good enough but seemed frantic– all the servers were running and every time they run past your table the old floor rocks and shakes your table and chair.
It was lunchtime, meaning a limited lunch menu. I wasn’t looking for a huge meal but I had to miss breakfast so I ordered an 8 ounce burger and a Caesar salad. Big mistake, again. Because they fancy themselves to be fancy they couldn’t just do a simple easy burger, they had to fruit it up to the point of being inedible. The bun was store bought, stiff, tasted like plastic, and too tall to eat without smashing. How can a french restaurant use a store bought bun? The lettuce was served on the side and the ketchup was in a cup. ??? Because the cheese was melted on the burger it stuck to the Cysco bun, meaning I had to dissect it all to insert the lettuce. The burger itself was actually good– they don’t smash it when it’s cooking so it’s still juicy and hot. But by the time I got my way around the Cysco bun the burger was all over the place and my hands were covered in juice. The only napkin they give you is a single 4″ x 4″ Cysco paper napkin. What kind of a french restaurant doesn’t serve food with cloth napkins? On the plus side the Caesar salad dressing was very good– they do not scrimp on the anchovies and the cheese.
The prices were exactly what you would expect for a restaurant that fancies itself too much. $ 12 for a burger on a plastic bun and $ 2.50 for 2 cups of burnt coffee. Never again.

We slipped in here at about 9pm on Valentine’s Day. No reservation, just hope that we’d be able to score a table for some dessert. Despite being PACKED they were able to find us a cozy little table within about 15 minutes. The hostess and wait staff were very friendly, upbeat and welcoming. We ordered the crème Brule (meh.) and the triple chocolate mousse cake (YUM!). The crème Brule had waaaaaayyyy too much whipped cream on it, but once you got to the actual dessert it was quite decent. The triple chocolate mousse cake was absolutely scrumptious and rich.
I’d love to give this place a try for dinner. A great place for a romantic rendezvous.

We have been going for years. LOVE IT !!! Today we went for lunch. We had the pan seared shrimp wrapped in thin pasta with fresh tomato sauce… soooo good! And, salmon with sweet potato, spinach, and roast potato in a sherry sauce — so savory and flavorful! Coffee with light cinnamon; and the desserts: layered chocolate mouse and bread pudding — we ate off each other’s plates. Country, down home, neighborhood French food at its best. The owner is on premise and does the actual cooking! Yes, she is the chef and cooks from the heart with love. GO! Enjoy… be relaxed, chat, take in the calm atmosphere — local art work, French yellows and blues… just delightful. LOVING it in Lowell !!!

I went to LaBoniche for a business luncheon. While the food was well made, the portions were somewhat small and the prices a bit high, and teh lighting was a bit dimmer that what I would expect from a restaurant. Good for a night out with that special someone, but I would not recommend it for day to day dining.

We had a very nice dinner here before heading to the Music Hall with friends. Soup, salads and bread were all delish, for main courses the lamb shank was splendid, haddock was cooked just right and our waitress delightful. Returned after the show for coffee and in house made mousse and crème brûlée, wonderful. All and all high recommendation.

I have to be honest: I have gone to La Boniche on four separate occasions, and although the food LOOKS impeccable and well cooked, it’s so unbelievably salty, it was practically inedible. I generally don’t mind a bit of salt, so it’s not that I’m overly sensitive, either. McDonald’s is less salty, people. McDonald’s!
The one thing that I did find delicious was the bread pudding. It was very well made, tasted amazing, and was not salty. Unlike everything else.

Maybe I suck at Unilocaling, but i would rate this 3.5 stars — how do you do half star ratings?
After many years of avoiding this place, I dropped by it the other week.
Food was good and portions were generous. Not a fan of the layout or the décor of the place. Not sure if this place is aiming to be upscale or not, but the atmosphere seems to be a strange mix of «elegant» and family-​oriented casualness (is that a word?)
The menu is not too exciting, but I must applaud them for not serving up basic salmon like many other places. The richness of the spicy coconut sauce over it is a fresh delicious take.

Quality, Price, Service… pick any two!
A good friend of mine used to have a sign hanging up in his sub shop with the above slogan, as a joke, but too many of his customers had no sense of humor, so he removed it. It’s funny though, how accurate that slogan is when it comes to restaurants.
I used to be a regular at La Boniche a couple years ago, and LOVED it there! I’ve only been there twice in the last 2 years… mostly becasue I don’t get to Lowell as much, but partly because of my experience the last time I was there.
I always used to go with just my wife, and my favorite entrée they serve was the pork tenderloin. The second-​to-​last time we went, I ordered the pork tenderloin. They had run out of tenderloin and substituted pork chop instead without asking me if I wanted to change my selection. The good thing was that the server told me as she was serving it to me, apologized and gave us free desserts… they also gave me a huge portion, so it all made up for running out of tenderloin.
The next time that I went there (about a year later), I brought 2 teenage daughters with me. I also brought a discount certificate from
, which I notified our server of right away. Our server’s attitude towards us changed immediately when I told her we had the discount card. She started letting us know the limitations of the certificate, which i was already aware of, in a rude manner, and pretty much ignored our table as much as possible for most of the meal. She treated us as if she were under the assumption we were going to stiff her on the tip, since we were cheapskates using the discount cert, so why bother trying. The fact is, I am a very generous tipper.
My mouth had been watering for their pork tenderloin (as well as a ton of delicious appetizers), since I hadn’t had it in so long. I discovered that once again, they had run out of it, and replaced it with a pork chop. This time, however, they did not inform me in advance. They just sent it out of the kitchen that way. When I finally got the server’s attention to ask her about it, she told me that WAS pork tenderloin, and I must not know the difference. A few minutes later, the chef came out to our table and apologized for running out of tenderloin, but no apology from the server.
I most likely WILL go back to La Boniche. I really like the food there. It has SO much potential. The chef is amazing, and prepares such delcious food. Like everyone else that has reviewed this restaurant, I just want the owner to read these reviews and make some minor adjustments that are necessary, and she will have many loyal customers. Train the wait staff to treat ALL customers the same way. I ate there about 15 times, and was always treated well until the ONE TIME I walked in with a discount certificate, I was treated like crap… and PLEASE, order enough pork tenderloin, so I am never forced to eat pork chop when I want tenderloin… thank you!

We stumbled upon this restaurant while walking around in Lowell. Waitstaff was very courteous and helpful. I had the grilled salmon with a sweet pepper glaze, risotto and wilted spinach. Everything was delicious. Our waiter was attentive but not annoyingly so. I would definitely come back or recommend this restaurant highly.

My wife suggested we go here when visiting downtown Lowell. Although it was Saturday night and crowded we got in without a reservation and waited on almost immediately. She had the Mesculun Salad and loved it. For dinner I had the Caribbean Flavor Pork Loin which was tasty but chewy, but the roasted mashed sweet potato and winter squash was delicious. My wife had the Veal with Shrimp, portobello mushroom, spinach, rosemary white wine butter sauce with roasted potato. She said the veal was very tender and everything on her plate was delectable. We finished with the crème brûlée and it was perfect.
We plan to go back and if the lamb shank is as good as her veal I’ll change the rating to five stars.

After reading all of the reviews, I agree with a lot of them. I’ve eaten here a few times and this place is amazing for food however it falls very short on service. Lucky for them, I am happy to wait for the food however there have been a few times where I’ve wanted to leave because the service was so slow…
I really must compliment the chef here because the salmon is wonderful and usually cooked to perfection. My husband likes to order lamb or steak and whichever he decides on it always melts in your mouth. We usually order the hummus to start and it’s topped with a beautifully sweet balsamic and feta cheese. This is something that I dream about!
If the service wasn’t so terrible, we’d probably be back there more often. Half of the time they’re out of sight. This place would thrive if they addressed this issue. Rubyritaenjoysthefoodonly LaBoniche.

I DREAM about the lamb shank entrée. Seriously. It is fall-​off-​the-​bone, melt-​in-​your-​mouth, flavors that sparkle like fireworks like in the Pixar movie Ratatouille.
Been here twice for dinner and both times, spectacular. The ambience has like an upscale, vintage French bistro feel. The tables closest to the entrance are the best, next to windows that extend from floor to high ceilings. Wait service was attentive and engaging.
Complementary bread is thick slices of some sort of wheat-​y bread, served with hummus! So first you fill up on those because you ask for more, which of course the waiters are happy to fulfill your request.
The menu isn’t long but changes every so often. They also have prix fixe menus Tues-​Thurs dinner, which is a great deal. I’m not going to talk about all of the amazing dishes I’ve had here (look at my photos), but I will just say that every single dish was amazing. And flavorful. And not for someone on a diet haha.

I’ve had some average meals at La Boniche in the past, but gave it a try recently with some company. I think the menu was a little smaller, but everything we ordered was quite good. Two of our group got the fixed menu, which was a good value. I had the beet salad, which was delicious and the burger, also great. My husband had the duck and said it was good. The fixed menu came with an unimpressive bread pudding, but my husband and I split the triple chocolate mousse cake, which was very good. The wait staff could have checking in a little more often.
Overall, we were happy with our meal and will keep La Boniche on our list.

Five Star Dining in Lowell:
— good French bread and butter before the meal
— absolutely delicious food
— stellar service (cripes, I was treated like I was a food critic)
— much cheaper than I thought it was going to be
— very up-​scale, trendy, warm atmosphere with side walk dining
This really is a must when in Lowell.

I’ve been hitting up La Boniche every so often as I have been spending a lot of weekends up in Lowell over the past 2 years. Its one of my favorite places to eat in a small city that doesn’t really have a lot of non-​chain options, so that’s not saying much, I guess. But for me, its solid and consistent.
The place has a cozy atmosphere, and I noticed patrons randomly running into each other and getting caught up. The locals with a bit of a palate seem to gravitate here, and maybe some UML professors and the like.
The waitstaff are usually really attentive at first, but the level of attention you receive definitely starts to nose dive the further into your meal you get. Some of the waitstaff have REALLY heavy MA accents, and listening to them butcher French pronunciations is quite funny. They are usually pretty friendly.
But don’t expect a quick dinner — we are usually here no fewer than 2 hours. That can be nice though, if its a «nite out» (its a good «date nite» place) and you are in no rush… its sometimes nice to linger over your wine or coffee. This is a good place for that; they never seem to rush anyone out, even when busy (not sure how the people waiting feel about that!)
Reservations definitely recommended on weekend evenings.
Nice extensive wine list; we usually order a bottle. Menu is pretty well fleshed out, for what it is. Seems a bit more American bistro-​ish, than French, but that’s just my opinion. Prices seem fair to slightly overpriced.
The escargot here is a hit for me, and they sometimes have a curry chicken soup special that knocks my socks off. To be honest, I can’t really remember ever being displeased with an entrée, but… I also can’t really remember 1 stand out entrée in 2 years.
All in all, its not a GREAT place, and I didn’t necessarily give it a glowing review, but… I just like it here, I don’t know why. You ever just have places that you just… like? Despite knowing there are better places and definite room for improvement? La Boniche is one of those places for me, maybe because there is such a shortage of good non-​chain places up here.

Leaving a meeting in Lowell and finding this place was wonderful.
Beautiful interior, delightful menu! (loved the three-​door divider-​so creative)
A quick lunch for two was Mussels and a ceaser salad with portabello mushrooms. One coffee and one soda.
first, I was suprised my soda came in a small glass (when the room had these enormous tall ones) Refills were non existent (and I know I could have asked but decided that since we had a nice waitress, she was obviously busy with the place —I like to see if they do in fact make service first)
Food was really good. Menu looked amazing for dinner and I was considering the benefits of driving out to Lowell for what could be an awesome dinner.
Dessert, we split a mouse cake that was great, took a large (stale) cookie to go. And that cookie was expensive!
issue I have is a service thing. Our waitress was nice and helpful –but she was busy, too busy. Why have so few waiters. waitresses when the economy is dipping? Sure I can pay 10 dollars anywhere and get a decent meal, but for me to have a really nice lunch I want my drinks refilled and when I ask for something (which we did) don’t give me that pained look like you are soooooo busy.
Owners: Hire someone to refill waters and get more help. Did you see all the vacancy in your town? Well those places didn’t give value. Its not the price, not even the food, its the feeling we get when we eat out. Look at Unilocal… mostly we complain about service, and that is what brings us back — -feeling like we ate out. If I have to ask for a refill I might as well be at home and get it myself.
Not sure I will make the trip back – on purpose.

The food was delicious. I had Autumn Chicken with mashed sweet potatoes, cooked spinach and roasted pears. One of the best meals I’ve ever had. Jen had a grilled chicken salad, which unfortunately had goat cheese. Neither of us like it, but my portion combined with the delicious butternut squash appetizer was plenty for both of us.
Steve the barkeep was generous with the alcohol, so we were in good spirits (no pun intended) throughout and went to his bar for coffee afterwards. It’s so rare that we get real espresso that was hand-​tamped, we couldn’t pass it up. (He’s also a great realtor if you’re looking for a loft or condo in Lowell.)
One of the few high-​end dining establishments in Lowell proper. Worth a visit. Watch out for the goat cheese. :)