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| - Ok, so after getting two "compliments" from Aaron R. (who hasn't reviewed anything) calling me a "jerk" for not liking what's apparently his favorite place, I gave it another try. Just kidding - although he really did feel the need to insult me twice about my original review, the only thing that got me to try it again was a Groupon for $20 off. So we made our reservation, and off we went on a Saturday night in January. Now, the atmosphere was a lot more fitting - it was cold and dark outside, so being warm and dark inside seemed fine. We were seated in nearly the same seats as our previous visit, squeezed between a table for 4 and a table of 2. I ordered one of their specialty martinis, and it was very good. Things seemed to be looking up. We were already having a more favorable impression. But... the menu, which supposed changes often? Looked about the same as it was when we last went in August 2009. And service was friendly, but sloooow - we are normal-paced eaters, but our meal here took nearly 2 hours.
As for food...We shared a Pear & Hazelnut salad to start... which came with cubes of apple, not pear. (Shouldn't they have told us they were making substitutions? It didn't really go with the rest of the salad.) I ordered an entree special, local lamb T-bones which were absolutely delicious. Seriously delicious. They were served with potatoes gratin, and green beans. Sounds good, right? Well, each thing on its own was fine - but together it was one big grease bomb. The green beans were coated in oil, and sauteed or roasted until soft. The gratin was tasty but very greasy, the gratin dish had about 1/4 inch of oil in the bottom, no joke. Portions were generous, overly so - I ate about half of everything. My husband had the pork tenderloin, which was fine, but not outstanding - and came with the same green beans, and yams instead of gratin.
We ordered dessert too, a small chocolate pot-de-creme (fine) and one of the specials, a white cake with strawberry something-or-other (too cold and not the birthday-cake-type thing we envisioned from the description.) The coffee and espresso were terrible, but that's not unusual around here.
But here's the thing about this place: if you're going to pay that kind of money for dinner for 2 (over $100) you want to feel like you're getting a certain level of service and quality of meal. This place just doesn't meet those standards. Sure, the food is fine, the staff are nice... but I've had better food at Cajun Dave's, for a lot less. (Albeit in a bar setting!) I've had better food and better atmosphere and service at Crave or Vegiterranean in Akron, or at Moe's in Cuyahoga Falls, for the same price. The Bistro might want to take a closer look at some of its competitors and learn a thing or two. I'd love having a world-class restaurant in Kent, but this is not it.
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