Report on Kiki's Bistro

My husband and I went out for a rare date night (without our toddler) on Saturday. We both love bistro food and are mourning the loss of Tournesol, so we thought we'd give Kiki's a try. It was nice, but not super-special. We arrived for our 8 pm reservation and were told apologetically (and in French -- thank you to the charming host who let me trot out my formally fluent French) that we had to wait a few minutes for our table. We were so happy to be out, we didn't mind in the least and sat at the cozy but smoky bar (blech! when is the City Council actually going to ban smoking in restaurants?) and had a nice Kir. After maybe ten minutes we were taken to a corner table on the banquette quite close to the kitchen. It was a bit noisy, but since neither me nor my husband actually had to look at the kitchen, it was okay.

I ordered the escargots and the foie de veau. Husband had a special heirloom tomato salad and steak au poivre. Everything was prepared in classic bistro fashion and it was very tasty and satisfying. My escargots with their garlicky sauce were a real treat. The service was friendly but the timing was a little off. It took the waiter a little too long to take our orders and then the wait between the appetizers and the entrees was just long enough that we were starting to look around the room in mild irritation. For dessert, husband had the blueberry bread pudding, which he quite liked, and I had the disappointing chocolate mousse. Frankly, I make a better version myself. But that was the only real disappointment of the evening. I'm not sure that in this city of wonderful restaurants, I would hurry back, but next time I am in the mood for a classic French bistro, I would absolutely consider Kiki's.