Moules et Frites

I’ve been to this place several times and the food and service has always been hit or miss. Usually the waitstaff is lackluster or even cocky. Some of the food is really good but some is blah. The décor is nice enough except for the TGIF style crap up in the rafters. Really, wasn’t that played out in the 90’s?
To me the real draw is the impressive selection of Belgian style beers. While pricey, they have always had an fairly impressive selection.
Planning on going the other night I look up their beer selection on thier website so I can go with some idea of what to get. Getting to the restaurant the beer list bears little resemblance to the one online. Gone are a lot of the interesting Belgians replaced by more mudane German beers. OK, I can be flexible. The waitress then goes down the list of tap beers and lists what they are currently out of. They don’t have a good 1/3−½ of what’s on the menu and nothing that isn’t on the menu.
I find 4 beers I want and order a flight (4 2−½oz glasses). After that I want to try something in a bottle. After mulitple times being told they don’t have what I want, I finally find one they have in stock. 2 minutes later the waitress returns to say that one isn’t in stock either. Who does the purchasing in this place? I felt bad for the waitress who had to be put in this situation.
The next day I contacted the restaurant via their website to very politely let them know the situation. They didn’t even have the decency to reply.
There are planty of better restaurants around (Cassis in Huntington) and I will just have to buy my Belgian beers elsewhere. I won’t be back.

I think there’s a disconnect between the visual appearance of this place both inside and out and the pricing of their meals. At first glance it appears to be a casual pub, however the prices are significantly higher than the quantity or quality of the food would suggest.
I ordered the mussels in lobster sauce and while the mussels were tasty, the price did not justify the quantity of mussels provided.
Some good touches were the bread and the pâté as well as the service.

Big mussel pots, average skinny fries. Good caesar salad. Good burgers.
Drinks are very expensive.
Service is fair.

I do not write a ton of Unilocal reviews, but I feel compelled to write so others do not waste their money here.
First off, in short, if you want good mussels, and authentic Belgian, go to Waterzooi in Garden City. If you need something closer, go to Cassis in Huntington or Plainview (I heard this place was owned by the same people, but if so, their quality control has gone downhill).
Upon arriving, we were not greeted by a host. When we were finally greeted, they walked about 10 paces ahead of us, dropped the menus on the table and left. No «your waiter will be over,» nothing. Fine.
Our waiter finally arrived after about 10 minutes. Fine. At this point, I will give them the benefit of the doubt, although it was not crowded. Waiter was rude, at best. When I ordered a Trippel (and the only one on tap on the menu) he made me point out which one I wanted. I don’t know, if I’m running a Belgian place, I make sure my waiters know each and every beer on the menu. But that is just me.
By the way, that beer was never refilled, although I would have had a second, as I didn’t see our waiter again until dessert time. Also (and for a beer place, this is not nitpicking)…you have to serve beer in its appropriate glass. Much like wine, there are certain glasses for certain beers, and any self respecting beer place will have the appropriate and matching stemware. Get it right, its not hard.
I ordered whatever the house mussels are. I figured its my first time, let me get the house mussels. That is why I was there. My wife ordered the Mac and Cheese dinner (but minus the pork… I’ll get back to this). She asked if they could make it without the pork. The waiter said he would check, apparently the answer was yes b/​c its what she was served (again, he never came back).
The mussels were awful. I’m talking overcooked, chewy, and I counted, they gave me 24. 24 chewy overcooked mussels? Again, I want to stress this place is called Mussels and Fries… AND THEY OVERCOOKED THE MUSSELS. Have you ever had an overcooked mussel? Few things on this earth are more disgusting.
I did not eat more than about 10 of them. Did the waiter ask me how I liked it? Well, remember I never saw him again after the order. Did the bus boy ask if there was any problem? After all, I didn’t eat over half my dinner. Nope. Nothing. They just took it away.
So my wife gets mac and cheese without the pork. Apparently, any flavor that their mac and cheese has comes from the pork, because I’ve had rice cakes less bland. And you know what, thats cool, again, she asked them to make something that omits a major ingredient.
But then again… it is mac and cheese. If the only flavor from the dish comes from bacon… I think this shows that whomever the cook is, they have no business inside a kitchen.
Waiter came back for dessert, we tersely said we did not want any. We got the check lightning fast, and we were gone.
I’ll never go there again. There were countless other small details (how about a bread basket instead of a plate… cut the tags off your napkins, etc). Plenty of other good restaurants to spend your hard earned cash. Avoid, cause they aren’t taking running a restaurant seriously.

After touring the Oyster Bay Festival on a beautiful autumn Sunday, we were still a little hungry (the $ 8 crabcake I had didn’t cut it, and the boys were filling up on kettle corn). Driving through Syosset to beat the traffic leaving the festival, I see the awning of Moules et Frites. We pull into the parking lot and I’m a little annoyed right off the bat that I’ve got to tip a valet. I wasn’t looking for something this fancy.
Walking through the front door, I thought I was in a sports bar. The Jets game was on the TV and the horseshoe shaped bar is prominent. Pretty quiet though, definitely not a sports bar crowd.
We’re brought to our table by the attentive and polite host and are immediately supplied with water, a piece of a really good baguette, and a small dish of butter and one of pâté. So far, so good.
My two sons (age 15 and 17) were hungry, but after looking at the prices, I convinced them to skip an appetizer. Have pity on the old man, and such. So we all settled on pots of mussels for our main course. Nick added shrimp to his pot for $ 5 extra. Brendan added littlenecks to his pot. Also an additional $ 5 to the $ 16-​$ 18 pot of mussels.
I ordered a Belgian beer and was a very disappointed at the size of the pour for $ 10. I’m used to full pints of craft beer for quite a few dollars less per glass.
We were soon served our meal in very impressive looking copper bowls, cleverly hinged so the lid can hold our discarded shells. Extra bread was provided on request, as well as an offer of additional pâté. The mussels were tasty and the serving size was definitely ample. The added shrimp and clams ended up being an expensive extra, with five medium shrimp added to one bowl, and a few littlenecks in the other. However, a good third of the mussels in one bowl had not been de-​bearded. An occasional bearded mussel was found amongst the other two servings.
Water was a bit of an issue; a request for our glasses to be filled during the meal took until the middle of dessert to be taken care of. Dessert was interesting (a cinnamon pretzel with some sauces for dipping) but the pretzel shop at the mall does it just as well for ¹⁄₃ the price.
Overall, not worth the $ 100 dropped
Pluses: Ambiance, bread, food
Minuses: Care in preparation, prices, valet
Neutral: Service

I have had lunch here many times. I like the beer selections. The moules and sandwiches are delicious.
I wish two things would happen to make Moules et Frites a better place:
1. the music is inappropriate– techno. at lunch? really. Why not Jacques Brel? or anything other than techno. It’s disturbing
2. the manager wears a TON of perfume. He reeked. He was overly polite, but the smell was so strong I could taste it. No one in food service should wear a perfume that interferes or competes with the food.
But do go, your meal will be delicious. I will continue to go.

Rea yummy fries. Flavored teas.

When I heard a beer garden, or a bier garten was opening up in Syosset I was so happy. When I found out that it wasn’t a beer garden in the genuine sense, I was disappointed. When I ventured in and had dinner, my faith was restored!
Great Burgers, although a little pricey $ 15. But the reason to go here is for the Moules, or mussels. Mussels in copper pots with bacon and cheese and mushrooms, and what not stewed together is insatiable. Top it off with a good Belgian or German beer, and you have yourself an experience to talk about.
Every restaurant that has been in this location has failed after a few years, and I’m really knocking on wood that this one stays for a long time.

Everything sounds fancier described in French and they take advantage of that. It’s all waaaay overpriced. «Gruyère and bacon on pressed brioche» (in french) was $ 10 the cheapest sandwich they had no the lunch menu. It was grilled cheese. And the Gruyère was waxy. No good can come of that. Oh wait, but it came with fries– whimpy little McDonalds fries with ketchup and mayo. Good beer selection but even more expensive than many places in the city– i.e. one Stella glass of Delirium for $ 10 and nothing for less than $ 9. The cheesy we’re-trying-to-convince-you-didn’t-pay-too-much lounge music was super annoying and patently Long Island. Much like Mim’s down the street but substandrad fare for the price– at least Mim’s has a killer half price happy hour menu. Bottom line: Moulles will take you and your money for a ride on the gotcha wagon.

I’v been looking forward to dinner with our in laws tonight since last week– love going out on Friday nights!
We got table inside for 6 with no waiting an no problem. I had a glass of Malbec and a glass of Merlot– both were OK. I’m trying to be good after our trip to Charlesto earlier this week where we ate and drank everything in sight, so tonight I restrained myself and ordered the Vichyssoise and the Duck Salad– both were very good.
The rest of my family enjoyed their Mussels appetizer and Tuna Tartare, Steak and Salmon. We were happy with this place and will most likely be back, though I’ll order a Mojito or French martini next time, as their wine list was just so-​so.

I missed lunch and I was friggin starving! The menu here is very pretty unique. I noticed most were ordering mussels in the dining room but I wasn’t in the mood for it. I had the bratwurst instead and it was served with braised red cabbage, sautéed onions, potato salad, and a pretzel roll along with Tripel Karmeliet Belgian beer– a great combination. I didn’t care for the potato salad. It had raisins in it. Ew. The service was great and I would come here again.

I really liked this place. A friend and I went on Sunday afternoon for a late lunch but they were closed from 3−5pm. Apparently this is a common thing there so keep that in mind. We started off with the baked brie appetizer was some of the best brie I have ever had and a pretzel that was the size of a garbage can lid. It was warm, it was buttery, it was delicious.
For the main course i went with the traditional garlic and white wine muscles and fries. it’s the namesake of the restraunt so I had to try it, and i will be eating it again. 2 pounds of delicious muscles that were cooked to perfection arrived in front of me. I wish I had been more hungry when I sat down so that I could have finished them.
Remember that pretzel i had mentioned? well the Bratwurst that my friend ordered came in a bun that was made out of the arm of one. it was sweet and covered in red cabbage. both of us got fries but one order would have sufficed. The beer menu was diverse but a bit pricey. I guess that is to be expected since you cant really get good beers in Syosset.
As I over heard the waiter say to another table «you can come here with two people and eat for $ 40 or $ 200, it depends on what you drink.»
I will be back.

Belgianesque Offerings.
I’m a big fan of the whole Belgian thing– mussels, frites and a good, stiff Belgian beer. There is one other place out on Long Island where you had to go for these offerings but now that Moules et Frites is here, I can put down some Abbey Ales, a bucket of mussels and be home in 15 minutes.
Tracy K. beat me to reviewing this place by a few days — it has only been open two weeks and even though it has been open such a short time, they seem to have their act together.
Moules et Frites is owned by the same group that own the various Cassis restaurants and they do a really good job across the board.
The location is what it is — a notorious restaurant killer corner so maybe this place will stick.
Prices are a bit steep but not totally out of line with the area — and frankly, I felt like I got what I paid for. The beers are somewhat limited — maybe 8 good choices on tap and a variety of bottles. The menu is pretty broad and everyone should be able to find something.
The frites — well they were perfectly cooked and salted– this can be deadly because they are that good.
I’m looking forward to being there often.
Parking in front.

Moules et Frites has a cool upbeat atmosphere in a location that thus far has continually lost restaurant after restaurant…
The portions are small. The prices are a smidge higher than the area. example. Burger with cheese I think runs $ 16 and looked not too special or big… (I don’t know — I didn’t have it. the next table did). I think I saw an $ 8 beer at only 12oz… maybe I’m wrong. The mussels are good.
The steak sandwich with grilled steak, and melted brie with mushrooms and onions… that was good… a bit small.
The apple fritter, and ice cream. do not get… two small slices of apple fried… and two small slices of ice cream next to the battered fried apple slices. A drizzle of carmel… and hint of cinnamon was tasty. but there really wasnt much to it… Do not dine here with a family. This is a cool place for a very light bite.
My friend is 6’2 ex football player. this place did not work for him… despite his love of mussels… he felt the entrees were closer to appetizers.
I was underwhelmed but would go back. Thats because it was trendy, hip and music was lively…