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| - Came here for my birthday this year and was excited to try Spanish-culinary king Jose Andres' creations. We came on a Friday night, but must've gotten there early, since the place only started to fill up as we were finishing up with the meal.
The dining room is definitely hunting lodge meets gourmet restaurant. There's no pretentiousness at Bazaar, and even though you're getting the 5-star treatment, the waitstaff isn't at all stuffy. They have just the right amount of attentiveness, complete thorough knowledge and understanding of the menu, and even a touch of humor.
I was sure to study the menu in-depth after making the reservation, but our waiter was trained well and was sure to explain how it works anyway. Other than the main meat dishes, every dish is tapas-style, featuring perfect-sized tasting portions so you get to try a selection of what Bazaar offers, without being too overwhelmed.
We ordered the: gazpacho shots, which reminded me of a slightly too salty liquid salad (a good thing, minus the salty part); croquetas de pollo, which were 'sold' to us as fried balls of chicken pot pie. Sadly, they were seriously lacking in seasoning and my fellow diner found chicken cartilage in hers ... needless to say, that ruined the experience. The waiter did take it and show it to the chef, but she did nothing about it on our end and we did still pay for it on the final bill; that was a bit disappointing. My dining companion was excited to try the sloppy joe mini sandwich, but it was really nothing special and the ratio of meat to bread was way off (too much of the latter).
The thing I was really excited about was the wagyu beef cheeks ... and then I was disappointed by it in the end. I was expecting a melt-in-your-mouth experience, but found that not to be the case. It required a knife to cut through, but while the meat itself was less-than-stellar, the accompanying mojo rojo sauce and mandarin slices were divine and helped bump it up a bit.
My fellow diner ordered the veal chop, which was cooked well. The mojo verde sauce was pretty much a chimichurri, but very doable.
One thing we made sure to get was the Joel Robuchon potatoes - er, butter with potatoes. Those were very creamy and made to perfection, although - and apologies to Chef Robuchon on this - I don't think it needs so much butter.
The brussels sprout petals were lovely. The addition of lemon air to the vegetable really sexified it up, I just wish the whole thing was served a bit warmer.
Certainly the star of the dinner was - perhaps oddly enough - the baby carrots. They're heirloom/colored carrots served whole with a side of greek yogurt, and I can undoubtedly say they were extremely scrumptious. So, of all the things one can get at Bazaar Meat by Jose Andres, yes, the carrots provide a good enough reason to possibly return. And the waitstaff. But that may be just about it.
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