Vegas Eats - Bouchon

Since I haven't yet been able to score French Laundry reservations, Bouchon will have to do. If you don't already know, Bouchon is also owned by Thomas Keller.

Bouchon is at the Venetian (Hotel / Casino) and is tucked away in a rather obscure corner. Hard to find if you aren't staying at the hotel. The restaurant was only serving items from the Brunch Menu when we got there in the afternoon.



Here's what we ordered. Some of the Bouchon photos are from our Vegas trip last year. We were feeling rather uninspired this time and as you know searching for a good restaurant requires quite a bit of effort and trawling the web. Bouchon was a known quantity and so we decided to head there again. Boring I know!

Garlic Soup (L) Crab Salad (R)


Steak Frites


Tartine du Tuna


Oysters and Mussels (L) Croque Madame (R)


Chomp Meter:
Clearly, I don't mind going there again seeing that I've been twice! The food is consistently good and well executed, though it's not particularly spectacular. OK value for money however bearing in mind that things in Vegas are a tad overpriced. Oh yes, and not forgetting the yummy fries (as seen on No Reservations)!

Bouchon
(Venetian)
3355 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 414-6200

Dinner at Petit Robert Bistro - Fall Menu Review

I read on The Passionate Foodie about Petit Robert Bistro's new fall menu. The foie gras and frog legs really caught my eye so another visit was in order. We usually go to the Fenway location when the Red Sox aren't playing at home.

To start off, we shared the pan seared foie gras with grape appetizer. This dish was decadent, absolutely delicious, and went perfectly with the grapes! (The last time I had foie gras was at Clio which was frankly quite disappointing.)

For mains, I got the frog legs and P got the scallops. Both were good though I think they forgot to add salt to my frog legs. It wasn't a disaster for me however since the other flavors were good and it was easily fixed with some salt. I find that I am little more forgiving when the prices are reasonable and Petite Robert fits the bill ;) Mains run between $15 and $20.

Dessert was the Petite Robert Chocolate Gâteau with the cute Eiffel Tower. We've been here several times and for some reason have never gotten the cake. I had to this time, more for the novelty of a chocolate Eiffel Tower than anything!

Top: Foie Gras (L) Golden Brown Florida Frog’s Legs Provençale (R)
Bottom: U10 Scallops Parisienne in their Shell (L) Chocolate Gâteau Petit Robert (R)




Chomp Meter:
Good food, reasonable prices!

See an older review of Petite Robert Bistro.


Petit Robert Bistro (Fenway)
468 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA02215
617-375-0699

Petit Robert Bistro (South End)
480 Columbus Avenue
Boston MA 02118
617 867 0600

Saturday in Providence RI - Bravo Brasseire Review

Our friends recently moved to Providence so we headed down to visit them over the weekend. We were all starving and decided to go get some food. None of us were very familiar with the area and most of the restaurants seem to be closed in the afternoon.

We finally stumbled upon Bravo Brasseire. Doing a quick check on Yelp, we found that it was rated 4stars so we headed on in. The interior of the restaurant is brasserie style. We decided to start with the raw appetizers which included oysters, clams, and shrimp.



For lunch, I got a lobster club, and the friends got a pear salad, and croque madame. I thought the prices at Bravo were very reasonable! The lobster club was only $15 and chock full of delicious lobster. The bacon was a great accompaniment and the lobster did not have too much mayo. The croque monsieur ($10) was two times the size of what you would get in Boston. The pear salad was very large but sadly not particularly good.

Croque Madam


Lobster Club


Chomp Meter:
Three and a half chomps really because the quality to price ratio here is high. A nice option for a leisurely lunch at reasonable prices! We sat and chatted for a bit (restaurant wasn't full) and the wait staff were very patient. The menu at lunch is more limited however since many of the dishes are only available at dinner.

Bravo Brasserie
123 Empire Street
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 490-5112

Persephone Restaurant Review - Meh ...

The consensus among my group of friends is that the food at Lumiere is excellent but a tad salty. Thus when I told P that Persephone was owned by Lumiere's Michael Leviton, we joked that we'd have to put in a special request to go easy on the salt.

Persephone is located alongside a designer boutique. Since we headed there at night, the boutique looked like it was more decorative than for shopping. The bar was bustling while the restaurant was much quieter when we arrived.



Persephone's menu is centered around local ingredients which is nice. We started off with one of each kind of oyster they had (mostly from Maine and the Cape). No complaints about the oysters, they were very fresh and excellent.

None of the items on the menu were really calling out to me that night. For the dinner sized portions (large), there was blue fish, chicken and steak. We wanted to try the lamb shank but it was an extra large portion (for 2) and we didn't want to both have to eat the same thing.

I ended up getting the evening's special which was a gazpacho and the Maine crab cake. P ordered the steak frites. The gazpacho was nice and light, exactly what I was looking for. The crab cake was interesting because it was wrapped in a very thin pancake. I found it too salty however (ah hah!!). I wish some other vegetable could have be tossed in to accent the taste.

Gazpacho (L) Crab Cake with Chick Peas and Creme Fraiche(R)


P's steak frite is photographed below. Isn't he boring? He gets the steak all the time! The steak and fries were well done and tasted good. Service was friendly and prompt but it seemed to slow down significantly after the restaurant got busy.



Chomp Meter:
Persephone is highly rated so why the lukewarm rating? I found the meal to be unmemorable. Good food but not interesting enough to make me want to go back. Perhaps we went when the menu items weren't as interesting. I looked at the menu online and it shows duck egg (yum) and marrow (double yum) which I didn't see when we were there!

Sadly, the item that stood out the most was actually the truffles they brought us after the meal. I guess I'd give it a second shot if someone else requested to eat there.


Persephone Restaurant
The Achilles Project
South Boston
283 Summer St
Boston, MA 02210
(Fort Point Channel)

L'espalier - Worth the money?

Having run out of ideas for birthday surprises/gifts, I decided to treat P to dinner at L'espalier for his birthday. It's tucked away off Newbury street in a brownstone. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed it before!

We went with the Spring Degustation and wine pairing. A good choice for me since I can never make up my mind. The selection included 4 savory courses, a cheese course, sorbet and dessert. I thought that the price of the prix fixe at $95 was pretty reasonable with today's high food prices. The menu included lobster, lamb, and foie gras. We felt like the food would not stop coming ...

Sorry for the blurry image. Cars kept passing by...


This is the pate with muscat gelee. Then I got distracted with the food. :)


A jacket and tie is recommended for diners (though not compulsory). I thought the tie part was a bit stuffy so I got P to leave his tie at home :) I just feel bad for men having a tie around their throats while they chow down hehe.

Chomp Meter:
I would likely not go back. That said, I think this is a nice place for a special occasion and a good restaurant to try once. While the food is not the best I've had, it was a good solid meal, nice ambiance, impeccable service, so fair value for the price. Also the wine pairing was excellent.

I would also consider Wine Mondays ($60 for 4 course) or cheese Tuesdays ($68). The restaurant is also moving to the new Mandarin Oriental sometime this summer so visit the quaint Back Bay townhouse location before that happens!

L'Espalier
30 Gloucester Street
Boston, MA 02115
617 262 3023