After six wedding cakes last weekend I treated hubby (who carries the cakes for delivery) to dinner at Bourbon's Bistro. In a word the food was fab-u-lous. Service, not so much.
For apps we had the fried green tomatoes with tomato chive aioli. Very good execution, although the tomatoes could have been "greener" with more of that sour twang. Hubby however thought they were the best FGT he had ever had. For some reason I wanted the cornmeal encrusted oysters with lemon horseradish sauce. This is probably the second time I've eaten oysters in the last 20 years. Just generally don't care for the little buggers. However, I will return to Bistor's just for the oysters. Crispy on the outside, and just enough oyster to tease your tastebuds. But the sauce was excellent. Creamy with just a little lemon for freshness and a tiny horseradish bite. I would have liked more horseradish, but I think there's enough when my eyelids sweat. For a pairing withthe delicate flavor of the oysters, this was perfect.
Entrees included the chunck potato and asparagus tart with creme fraiche for me. It was a delightful melange of spring veggies in I believe a puff pastry crust, served with additional perfectly crisp asparagus on the side. Hubby had the grouper on a bed of toasted almond and apricot rice pilaf. The fish was nearly two inches thick, quite a slab, but cooked perfectly. The pilaf was also quite flavorful, although I didn't get much . . .
For dessert we split a chocolate mousse. Chocolate mousse is one of hubby's favorite desserts and we have a fair amount of trouble finding it around town. A simple dessert really, but etheral when executed well. This was quite dense and deeply chocolately, served with fresh raspberries.
Now about the service. Things did not start well for me when the matire'd greeted us with "Just two for dinner?" Real emphasis on the "Just?"
I wanted to respond with, yes there are just two of us, but we're hungry, I have cash and I tip well. But I restrained myself.
Somehow we must have been marked because our server barely stopped when delivering drinks and food to our table, we got a hurried presentation of the evening's specials, we thought we'd never get a bread basket as the tables all around us were munching on theirs and she never once came back to check on us or ask how everything was. To compound this, she was chatting with other tables around us, not like they were old friends that she knew, just "server chat", making people feel comfortable in the restaurant. It was weird.
Anyway, dinner came to right about $73 + a $15 tip.
And let me point out that restaurant.com is currently running a 60% off deal so you can get a $25 gift cert to Bourbons for $4.
