Fine Dinning

[droidicus]

I have had the unfortunate experience of having two mediocre to down right disappointing meals at quite expensive restaurants recently, so I thought that I might as well write about them for all to see and laugh at my misfortune!

Bamba Bistro, Rochester, NY
This French influenced "fine dinning" restaurant in the nice part of Rochester is housed in an

Comments

[bistromath]

Well, Meg had her birthday dinner at Ruth's Chris in Beverly Hills this year, and I went in with a pretty bad attitude toward steakhouses in general, being dens of fat men in business suits eating overpriced, monotonous beef. I was at least partially surprised, however, by the quality of the steak: the rare filet Meg got just melted in my mouth. I'm not a huge steak connoisseur, but hot damn was that ever good, well-marbled and super tender. I agree with you in principle about the necessity of resting the meat before serving but the herbed butter does make up for a lot of that. The sides were good but not amazing, but let's be honest, you don't go to a steakhouse for the side dishes, no matter how much they cost. Our service was prompt and the 20-year-old server was hysterical, puncturing the seriousness of the dim, formal dining room with quick wit and the occasional raunchy joke. I mean, we were out with Meg. How serious could we have looked? =) He was attentive (we were there pretty late, and the dining room was almost empty) and amusing, impeccable manners as a waiter and a sommelier, and he got a hell of a tip as a result.

The preparation on your strip seems pretty inexcusable in a steakhouse, especially one of that price range. Ordinarily, even though the steak was good there, I don't consider steak to be enough of a delicacy to demand the sort of price a good steak does. I usually stick to the sushi.

[droidicus]

I totally agree... hell, for the same price I could get the 4-course prix fixe menu at L'espalierin Boston that comes with an amuse bouche, "grand fromage" cheese platter, sorbet, and desert in ADDITION to the 4-courses!

I don't understand why they don't just call it an 8-course meal, but it is only $94 and it is one of the best restaurants in town.

~Droid