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| - After attending a special tasting event here I HAD to come back and explore more of the menu. So I grabbed a family member and made reservations for us. I was surprised by how empty the place was on a Friday night (when we ended up coming in), and after the meal I had here I really hope they're more hopping in the summer when Pittsburgh winter weather isn't striking in full force. They 100% deserve to be.
Firstly, I love the place itself. It's cozy, as any business in a true older Pittsburgh building is. And between its choice of eye-catching artwork and the way the dim lighting makes the place look like its painted with pastel colors, it's super cute and charming and endearing. While it admittedly has the awful heating or lack thereof you'd also expect from an older Pittsburgh building, as long as you bring some layers you'll be perfectly comfortable while eating here in the winter. (I can't comment on its summer temperatures as of yet.)
And not only do I love Lola's layout, but man, the menu! Lola Bistro's known for changing up its menu to match what's available by season, as it makes its food from scratch, often with local if not homegrown ingredients. When I went my dining partner and I explored a decent chunk of the menu, as we ordered and split 3 appetizers - their lime caesar salad, homemade bread with bacon and fig jam, beef and lamb sausage - and 1 entrée, their noodle bowl. We also took dessert home. And we 100% loved what we got! Well, ok, more like 99% loved what we got. Let me explain.
The caesar salad - complete with a homemade dressing that had its own dash of lime flavor - was honestly just fantastic; it was crisp, fresh, and savory, and made for a perfect starter. I wish I could say the bread was as amazing. Well, that's not quite right; the bread itself was amazing - the jam tasted, well, interesting. Certainly not bad and admittedly a little hard to describe, but I can say that it was heavy on the fig flavor and not so much on the bacon flavor. I'd been excited to enjoy that blend and while what I got tasted just fine, I admittedly was a little disappointed. Fortunately, the jam was the only "letdown" (and I use that word loosely here since I did enjoy it), as the seasoned blend of beef and lamb in their sausage (and in the soup's meatballs) was to die for. And the soup's overall mix of mushrooms, and coconut noodles along with those delicious meatballs was just all kinds of tasty, and perfect for a Pittsburgh winter. Honestly, after all of that we were too full to eat any more. I had, however, to order a piece of Russian honey cake to go. It's Lola Bistro's prize-worthy dessert and you'll find nothing quite like it in Pittsburgh. "Delicious" doesn't even begin to describe this light, fluffy, creamy, delectable dessert.
My final verdict is that Lola Bistro is a must-eat place in Pittsburgh. At the very least you need to come in and try their excellent dessert, but the rest of their menu is SO worth exploring; a lot of the flavors and recipes here are unique to Lola in this city and are so worth experiencing. My only caution for fellow diners was that even in an empty house service seemed a little slow. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally willing to sit a little longer and wait for my food, especially in a place that makes so much from scratch and tries to keep their meals as fresh as possible. But with that in mind I don't recommend Lola Bistro to a diner who's got to leave on a deadline. I do, however, recommend them for a wonderful and relaxing evening out with a friend, family member, or a date - they won't disappoint!
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