| rev:text
| - We've been wow'd by a few restaurants, especially during Restaurant Week/ Queens Feast. Yet none have offered a meal such as Bistro La Bon. We chose it because the menu was very tempting, and we were pleased to find that the food did live up to the expectations. Wait, scratch that...it exceeded expectation!!! Bistro La Bon may not be in the nicest area, and the atmosphere is not the best, but the food itself makes up for all that a cajillion times over.
Bistro La Bon is located in a run down strip mall area, across the street from Lunchbox Records and next to Family Dollar. The strip mall looks very rundown and is definitely not appealing, but the little restaurant on the corner of the strip mall makes the trip worth it. Bistro's dining area is pretty large, yet the tables are crammed together too close for my own personal comfort. I was not liking the fact that the server's posterior was right in my face when taking orders or delivering food to the table next to us. The close quarters also made the restaurant a bit too loud and I had difficulty hearing the miss' as she talked across from me at times. But enough about the mediocre ambiance...on to the food!!!
They had a decent wine selection but I felt the prices per glass were a bit much. Most of the wines ranged between $8-10, with the majority being $9...that's a bit much for a glass of Reisling. We ordered from the Restaurant Week menu, which came with four courses. For the first course I had the Roasted Beet and Apple Salad and loved it. It was small and simple, and perfect as a first course. The beets and apples were chilled and tasted quite fresh. They were served on a bed of mixed greens, and the passion fruit dressing that accompanied it was fantastic. The miss' had the Arugula Salad that came with pear, bleu cheese and walnuts. The walnuts were candied and that sticky sweetness was great when combined with the other salad flavors.
For the second course I had the calamari, which was NOT fried and was stuffed with shrimp and currants. The calamari was so delicate, it was almost like eating pasta. The shrimp were fresh and they kicked it up by topping the calamari with a diavlo-type sauce, and dumped it all on top of a crispy slice of bread. It soaked up all that sauce and seafood flavor and it was great. I really enjoyed that spicy sauce! The miss' ordered the Prince Edward Island Mussels, and she devoured them. They were a really good-size portion, and the mussels all sat atop a bowl of this rich, creamy sauce. The mussels were cooked perfectly, and there was not a speck of sand to be found. I even enjoyed the mussels, and I'm generally not a shellfish fan. After finishing off the mussels she took the two pieces of bread that came with it and used them to sop up as much of that creamy sauce as possible. It was a really, really good dish.
For the third (and main) course I went with the special of the day, which was rack of lamb. Though the chef recommended it medium I went over his head and ordered it medium rare, and it came out wonderfully. The lamb was cooked perfectly and wasn't too gamey. It came with a bed of chive mashed potatoes which were the bees knees, and I even enjoyed the freaking spinach, something I usually avoid at all costs. The big surprise on the dish was this lone slice of poached (I think), spiced pear that knocked my socks off. I didn't expect this piece of fruit on my dish, and I definitely didn't expect it to be so amazing. The miss' ordered the Wild Fresh Catch, which happened to be some North Carolina Triggerfish. The fish was quite tasty and wasn't too overly fishy. It was roasted to perfection and served with some fingerling potatoes that were also great.
Then came dessert, and this is what really sealed the deal for me. Since moving down here I've become addicted to bread pudding, and will almost always order it if we happen to get dessert with our meal, so of course I ordered the Bourbon Brioche Bread Pudding. This bread pudding was a huge chuck of bread that had a nice, firm consistency. The top of the bread pudding was burned so it got this wonderful crunchiness, and it was served with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream (truly decadent and rich) and this crazy good burned caramel sauce. All in all, this is my official Favorite Dessert in Charlotte!!! This miss' had the Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake, and if you are a chocoholic this is the dessert for you. Since it didn't have the flour it's pretty much like eating a giant truffle. The chocolatey taste blew me away and the richness was almost too powerful. The chocolate decadence is mellowed out a bit by the scoop of mango sorbet. This place definitely knows dessert!
Bistro La Bon is more than a normal restaurant. The chefs work magic back in the kitchen to produce such high-quality food, and every bite was tastetacular. We may not be willing to pay to go on a regular ol' day, but I think it's a safe bet that we will be back next Restaurant Week.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)