Tournesol 50-12 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11101 seems to be the restaurant that is most recommended in Long Island City and it certainly was full the night we went. Unfortunately, my party of eight had such a bad experience–it is certain that none of us will go back.
First, we were unimpressed with the food. Some things were so salty that my friend commented, “my tongue is burning.” Other things became the butt of jokes as some dared others to eat it, for instance the “toothpaste-like pea pods”. Joking aside, it was just mediocre food, but I can see that the prices are low, particularly their $25 three-course price-fixed dinner. The portions are also generous so I could pass it on as right amount for the price.
The worst parts are not the food. Midway through our meal a baby roach crawled up the wall, about 6″ from my friend’s head. Later when dessert spoons were set, most of them were absolutely disgusting with visible gook all over them. It’s a miracle only 3 out of the 8 of us had stomach-aches afterwards, with one person leaving the activities early that evening.
I also want to point out how upset I am about how they treated my brother’s girlfriend, who is vegetarian. Seeing that they don’t have vegetarian entrees on their menu, I called in advance to ask if they would be able to make her a real main course. They assured me they could and would, even saying their chef could do something great. When we were there, they only made available to her side dishes. There was no choice–there were three possibilities so she just had a plate of each: cous cous with raisins, purple cabbage, and ratatouille.
If you’re not equipped to serve vegetarians, that is fine with me; I have no problem with that if the restaurant tells me. I can go another time without vegetarian friends. Pretending to care about customers when you don’t, being a disgustingly dirty restaurant, and having sad food, makes me deeply upset and concerned about the people eating there.
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That’s disgusting. In this day and age, any restaurant(excluding Steak Houses) that doesn’t cater to vegetarians won’t be around too long. Deceiving you just to get business on a Friday night is horrible. Definitely not worth a second chance.
Jai, it’s posted on Fri but we went on a Wed….still no way I’m going back.
I’m trying to imagine what toothpaste-like pea pods tastes like! haha Even when you didn’t like something, I’m still on the other end trying to experience it all. Except the cockroach part. I’ll leave that visual alone 🙂
I noticed on their online menu that they only take “American Express”….geez….that seemed rather odd to me!
Cheryl, it was Lon who said it and I think he was referring to the texture that was pasty and mushy. I didn’t taste it after touching it and feeling it.
Rhonda, we noticed that too. A little odd but I wouldn’t discount a restaurant just because of it, but they gave us enough other reasons.
Hi Jessica ! Love the blog.
Tournesol is disgusting – I went there once and didn’t get the hype.
Try Cafe Henri instead. They have great brunches.
Thanks Olivia, Cafe Henri is on my list!
Also there is supposed to be some amazing cuban place on the same block as Ethereal if you get to try it. I heard great things from many people but didn’t get to try yet.