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| - Given all the glowing reviews and Brandon Olsen's impressive portfolio, we were excited to try La Banane. Perhaps the expectations were a bit too much to live up to. The decor was very nice, although as another reviewer noted, there are two distinct sections of the restaurant, one of which is decidedly more trendy than the other.
We started with the scallops marinated in garlic buttermilk and drizzled with herb oil ($22). The texture was nice, but the sauce was a bit overpowering. We also ordered the infamous eurobass en croute, but were informed that the kitchen had run out of them and was in the process of making more. The waitress asked us if we wanted to wait so I asked if they had an approximate time. When she came back, she repeated that it would take a while and asked if we wanted to order something else. While the service was courteous, it was a bit off-putting to not get some sort of time estimate, and it felt as if we were being asked to kindly reconsider our menu choice. Instead, we opted for the crab back gratin ($35), a mix of crab meat, bomba rice, and comté cheese served in a crab back and baked. This was described as a sort of risotto, and came with a good amount of crab meat and a small side of frisée salad. The gratin was tasty, and the mixture of ingredients was very savoury. In contrast, the frisée tasted like it was doused in lemon juice or vinegar as it was far too sour. The last dish we had was the calf-brain ravioli ($22), which was good but unremarkable. The eurobass was indeed popular, as both tables beside ours ended up receiving theirs and mentioned that the beurre blanc was too salty.
Overall, La Banane was underwhelming. Seasoning was rather aggressive throughout. While the food quality was not bad, at this price point "not bad" is not good enough.
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