Right before the new year, I had an outing with my dear friend Spencer - then he left me for Beverly Hills. Seriously, what's 90210 have that I don't? at least mine are real....
This (B)istro named for proprietor/chef (L)aurent (T)ourondel of NY fame, should be named BLTN (better late than never). Spencer had to wave down the manager to even get service started when the place was not even busy. Paid off in the end since the servers and managers were all over us the rest of the night. It was a nice relaxing evening reminiscing and laughing over our adventures the past three years (not meant for this blog!)
The menu is not over bearing but the best option is to select small bites/plates and share an entree; Not to sound like we were on the cheap cause we don't roll that way! Honestly, the steaks are HUMONGOUS, like 12-22 ounces! no man should consume that much beef at one sitting.
Once service commenced we were presented with the infamous popovers. after a 10 minute "debate" with my English friend, he acquiesced that the baked air, cheese, and egg, although reminiscent of what his mum makes in the roast beast jus, were indeed popovers and not YORKSHIRE PUDDING. He sometimes is of the belief "if its not British, its crap". The airy delights come to the table immediately from the oven, where once burst open, the steam could easily give you a mini facial.
The manager sailed over with a little amuse bouche - a miniature canning jar filled with the most delightfully rich chicken liver mousse, which we both devoured. Presentation is key, especially when you are talking about pureed chicken livers.
Our little plates all came at once, so we had a gourmet buffet. we each had shrimp cocktail, it is after all THE old school must when one is dining at a "steak house". The shrimp were beyond jumbo where we could have easily done with just the one order. They add capers and shallots to their cocktail sauce, so its a little decadent. We followed with the nights special salad of duck confit, which we simply had to have since we both love it's rich flavor and multiple levels of crispiness. it was actually more of a roasted duck leg on a bed of greens drizzled with vinaigrette. Spencer had to shred the duck off the bone; although presentation and preparation was not to norm, he said it was rather tasty.
I ordered the bleu cheese tater tots as 1) the crispy cookie cutter spuds were a staple along with fish sticks EVERY Friday night when I was a kid, and 2) anything with bleu cheese just had to rate. They were good, just not hot enough. worth trying if only for the good childhood memories they triggered.
I cannot really comment on the wine, since my olfactory was at its worst point. I did notice they had several choices by the glass, which were not the typical, boring, pedestrian CA chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons. the bottles range from $30 to $3k with not much in-between, and several French offerings - makes sense considering Laurent's heritage. I am a big fan of wines by the glass - gives you the opportunity to try several varietals.
Final review:
Overall - good
Atmosphere - great; lively, bit like a NY scene.
Food - better than Morton's (what isn't) but I've had better
Service - once kicked in the butt was good however not up to expectation considering the check (thanks, Spencer!)
If you have been to BLT, please share your comments!!! Spencer has since been to Wolfgang Pucks version of BLT at the Beverly Wilshire. His review is under comments in my NYE post.
Next modern steak house to patron is Jordan's 8! Let me know if you want to join me towards the end of January.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Tara. Told you we were going to Les Halles for Restaurant Week. Figured I'd post my review here.
Picked this place for two reasons:
1) Wanted to try French food
2) You always talk about Anthony Bourdain (it's his "home base" according to www.leshalles.net)
Atmostphere was definitely boisterous and loud. Kind of surprising given that we went on 1/17, which marked the first real snowstorm of the season. At least parking was easy. Between the 4 and 1/2 of us we tried each option on the fixed-price Restaurant Week menu, plus some "real" French food. The wine list was a little daunting (we're more 3 and 2/3 buck Chuck than $40 a bottle types), and our server was a little incomprehensible -- so we went with Stella on tap, in honor of our forthcoming visit to Cafe Belga this weekend (yeah, we're workin restaurant week this year).
All the rest week options were good. Both the pumpkin soup and goat cheese tarts were a hit to start. Also went w/ escargots from the usual menu. Very tasty, if just a bit salty. Used the french bread to soak up the left-over garlic butter, of course.
Entrees were Tilapia or Beef (american beef, french style). Both were good. Don't remember what they called the beef, but it seemed to be long-simmered and the sauce gave it an interesting taste. This was the part of the meal our "1/2" was most interested in (this and the non-alcoholic Kaliber beer one of our party was drinking out of a pint glass -- I'm sure someone in the bistro mis-understood and was horrified). The regular menu choice was Confit du canard, pommes salardaise (menu posted on the site). I had heard The Splendid Table on NPR for the first time this weekend, and the host was going into fits about duck confit, so I figured I'd go for that. It wasn't as crispy as I had imagined it would be, but was really, really tasty anyway, served on fried french bread. The side of spuds sauteed w/ truffles on frisee salad was absolutely killer, and had everyone else stealing bites off my plate.
Dessert was dark chocolate souffle topped with a solitary raspberry and spearmint sprig, surrounded by ultra-sweet chocolate sauce. The sweets-lover at the table ate two of them, the rest of us shared the other one.
All-in-all we'd give it a very good.
well done, Cuz! cannot wait to hear about cafe belga. if you end up liking Belga you will LOVE braisserie beck!
Post a Comment