Bistro Monet - Glen Ellyn

My wife and I finally got an opportunity to try Bistro Monet in Glen Ellyn tonight. This restaurant has been open about a year in the space that was Le Deux Autres and Le Deux Gros before that. While I was never at "Gros", the interior is the same as it was when it was "Autres".

The menu was quite nice for bistro fare. Pricing was pretty average, appetizers around $10 and main courses in the low-to-mid 20s. Portions are pretty generous.

The wine list is small but the selections are pretty good for pairing with the menu. Pricing is about normal, meaning a markup of 2X - 3X of retail. My only complaint on the wine was that the bottle of white wine we ordered came out room temp (not even cellar temp). It took some time for the wine to chill down to proper service temperature.

Soup:

I ordered the lobster bisque, while my wife had the onion soup au gratin. The lobster bisque had a great aroma when it arrived. However, it was incredibly salty. The flavor was decent, but it was really masked by the salt. I should have sent it back, but I generally don't do that (my bad). By the time the server came back to check on us, I had already finished it. When I advised them that the bisque was very salty, he acknowledged that they knew and it usually is! The server noted that it was a reduction and the chef didn't add any salt to it. While I wasn't going to debate him, the first thing that came to mind was "if you know it's salty, and you didn't add any salt yourself, then find new ingredients instead of continuing to serve it as is.".

The onion soup was very good. It was not at all salty, as this soup tends to be.

Salad:

We shared their special salad, whcih was a goat cheese souffle salad. It's mixed greens with a mild mustard vinaigrette, with a 6-inch diameter souffle in the middle. The salad was very tasty. The salt of the cheese worked very well with the dressing.

Main Course:

I ordered the special lamb shank, which was served over mashed potatoes and covered with sliced root vegetables and a red wine sauce. The lamb shank was very tender from slow cooking. The vegetables were cooked to a perfect texture and weren't mushy at all. However, the dish was served very hot and needed to stand about 10 minutes before it could be eaten.

My wife ordered the N.Y. Strip Steak coated with roquefort and served with pommes frites. The steak was huge and cooked perfectly medium rare. The frites were very thick and hand-cut-looking, much different than the very thin frites that you typically encounter. However they were very crispy, as they should be. The flavor of the meat was pretty plain however, like it needed some seasoning.

The service was very good to start, but trailed off as the room got crowded. We arrived about 30 minutes early for our original 7pm reservation and there were only 5 or 6 tables filled. by the time we were on our salad, there were about 12 tables going and our guy was working most of them. He was very helpful and pleasant however.

Overall, my impression was that the place is ok, but nothing to write home about. The price tag for our order, with two bottles of wine, was $180 plus tip. I think I can do much better for that price at a lot of different places. However, I would encourage others to try it, as my expectations might be too high for "bistro" fare. I look forward to other impressions.

All the best,
John Danza

Thanks for the report John.

I have been to Bistro Monet multiple times and have always had an amazing culinary experience not to mention the friendly knowledgeable staff.

Michelle is a 5-star chef in this hidden gem in Glen Ellyn (without the 5-star prices!). He has been head chef at some of the top restaurants around the world but wanted to open his own place for fun.

If you appreciate fine French food, do yourself a favor and go. You will not be disappointed!

I have been to Bistro Monet a couple of times now, when I had a special bottle of French wine that I wanted to enjoy with some very traditional French cooking. I have found the food to be reliably good, though on one or two dishes I seem to recall getting the impression they cut corners on the ingredients and so the result was not quite as good as it should be.

Technically the cooking was fine, and the recipes respect French tradition.

Service is a bit lackadaisical at times, but pleasant and responsive when asked for something.

The two rooms are pretty much unchanged from the days when Les Deux Gros were here, and the decor is a little tired ad a wee bit musty at times, if nice.

Sum total, I agree with John that the value is not quite there for the price, unless you take advantage of some of their specials. I will definitely go back one of these days when I once again want some very traditional French cuisine with the right bottle of wine, but only because it is the most convenient place for me, and not because it is special.