Rosebud Prime lunch: quick report

First time there, nor am I very familiar with the whole chain. One or two meals at one of the other outlets. Once northside and once on Taylor.

This was in many ways a typical downtown business lunch experience. The atmosphere, service, prices, etc. Very pleasant, very competent. Overall, the food was very good and a decent value if you take into account location, ambience, etc.

Seated promptly. Bread came almost immediately. Slightly odd by omission: no classic crusty Italian loaf or roll. There was a nice raisin-studded roll, chewy and not too sweet even with the raisins. Then thin oblong toasts, also with raisins, and a roll that looked like a pretzel roll but was almost brioche-like inside.

Our server was named Dana but sounded very Russian or east European to my ears. Very proficient, but also pushing the higher priced items a bit harder than I would have preferred. Specials were described without price being mentioned nor was there any card to refer to--something that always bugs me just a bit.

Nice wine list, but $15/glass for Sonoma Cutrer chard. seems rather high to me. Maybe I just don't get out enough.

We shared mussels to start. There was a choice of a spicy red sauce and a shallot/chard. sauce. We chose the latter. The fact that even this sauce came with a noticable little kick was a nice surprise. A very generous portion of beautifully tender mussels came in a pretty blue lidded pot. There was also plenty of sauce for dunking, and a separate supply of buttered, herbed toasts was provided for doing so. All in all, a palpable hit.
This was around $13. Good value, I thought.

Mrs. B. had the special fish combo which was bit of salmon, halibut, and 1 large scallop. She pronounced it perfectly done and was very happy with it. I think the portion would not have been enough for me, and I don't recall the price. It came with a side of very nice, crunchy roasted potatos; reds cut into wedges with lots of surface to crisp up.

I had the skirt steak, med. rare. I'd guess this was about 6 oz. Came done exactly right and was very tender for my experience of skirt, which I expect to be a bit chewy (in a good way). Very flavorful jus. $16 or $17. (Completely a la carte.) Ordered a side of mushrooms/onions to go with. Their sides seem a bit overpriced to me. (Sauteed spinach $7 or a bit more?) But can't argue with portion size or flavor.

Service was very attentive and efficient throughout. We shared a choc. bread pudding for dessert, and that was entirely unremarkable. (Dana strongly recommended the key lime pie, but that's not Mrs. B's thing.)

In the end, 1 app, 2 entrees, 1 gl. wine, 1 dessert, 1 coffee + tax and 18% tip came to $102 and change.

I would certainly go back.

Rosebud Prime
1 S. Dearborn