*all photos courtesy of Bar Boulud website
Many times I can predict how good a meal will be based on the bread and butter served. You can tell a lot about a restaurant based on how they treat their bread. In fact many times I can predict how good a meal will be based solely on the bread and butter served. I knew as soon as I took my first bite of the bread that I was in for some dissapointment. It was a bland sourdough bread, nothing spectacular or tasty about it, it's perhaps only redeeming quality was that it was fluffy, but it lacked any real flavor. At this point I was hoping I was wrong about the bread indicating how good the meal would be...really I did, so I trudged on!
We started out with soup and salad: (The hubs was with me, it was date night!)
Mushroom Soup
velouté de champignons
mushroom velouté, porcini confit
chive crème fraîche
The mushroom soup was by far the most memorable part of the meal. I could have eaten a whole pot of this, it was just THAT GOOD! It had the perfect amount of mushroomness (I make up words, so get used to it!) and it was velvety smooth and creamy. No little bits of mushroom or anything! Then I had a little of my husbands'
Frisee Salad
frisée lyonnaise
chicory, chicken liver, poached egg
lardons, sourdough croutons
The poached egg really meshed all of the flavors together, the gooey yolk running over the frisee and coating everything was simply perfection! Why use salad dressing when a creamy yolk would suffice! I know many people would be put off by the chicken liver but honestly once you get over the fact that it's chicken liver you really can't even tell its chicken liver, only little bites of perfectly seasoned chicken. The saltiness of the lardons (a small strip or cube of pork fat, mmm pork fat..) and the richness of the yolk created a wonderful medley of flavors and the sourdough croutons give it just the right amount of crunch to make the salad feel hearty and substantial enough as a light main dish.
After we'd had the soup and salad things were looking up. I figured I had been wrong in judging them too harshly based on the bland bread, so I was looking forward to my:
Scallops
coquilles saint-jacques meunière
dayboat scallops, brussels sprouts
serrano ham, concord grapes
The scallops were placed atop a bed of shredded brussel sprouts and drizzled with saint-jacques meunière, basically a sauce of paprika, milk, flour, butter, and lemon juice. A sprinkling of serrano ham on top of the scallops and two dollops of concord grape jelly reduction. While all the flavors complemented each other I found the scallops a little lacking in flavor, the brussel sprouts too mushy and the concord grape jelly almost an afterthought. I'd figured with such a rich sauce I'd get a flavorful, filling, meal. Unfortunately, it was none of the above. It fell flat...very flat, not even the serrano ham was enough to make me happy, and I believe anything that has ham or bacon is good in my book!
Needless to say I left Bar Boulud disappointed. While some items were a hit others left much to be desired. I wouldn't write the restaurant off and I'm sure there are other stand outs on the menu but I guess I'll have to go back and see what else they have to offer. I'd rate it a solid 3 out of 5 stars, so if you're in NY I would suggest trying it out. Let me know what you had and maybe you can convince me to make a return trip!
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