Bistro Bordeaux is now open for Sunday brunch, too.

These two posts demonstrate clearly the value of the board. Ken and I were at BB the same night, and ordered some of the same items, and had different impressions. Each is a data point, and each one should help the restaurant improve. The nice thing is that we were both right - for us as individuals.

Sorry we didn't recognize each other; we could have had one merry LTH table.

I took refuge at Bistro Bordeaux this evening during a torrential downpour in downtown Evanston. I was making my way back to the EL and decided to cut my losses and sit and eat and boy, am I glad I did.

The restaurant was empty of most customers -- it was 5:00 p.m -- so I pretty much had the services of my waiter to myself for the duration of my meal. He was excellent. And French! That always heartens me and prompts me to pronounce the names of my menu items with a French accent -- a little fun for my dinner. <grin> At any rate...i decided to go full on traditional bistro meal. I had a Kir Royale for sipping and I ordered the onion soup and the steak frites.

The onion soup wasn't as brothy as I prefer but it what was there was tasty. The bread was a bit thick for me but the cheese mixture was delish -- a mix of gruyere and comte. Very stringy and melty. I've had much worse renditions at more well known restaurants in town -- sometimes they are very sweet and that was not the case at all with this soup. Definitely above average.

The steak frites were really very well done. My steak was perfectly rare -- the herb butter on it was yummy and very supportive of the meat, which was seasoned very well. I love getting a steak that doesn't require additional salt or pepper. But the star, as far as I'm concerned were the incredibly addictive frites -- fried in beef tallow. They give you an incredibly generous pile and in my view were perfectly crispy yet had that lovely starchy center that a good fry has. Too often all you get are like crispy potato sticks with no middle -- these were just perfect. They were exactly as salty as they needed to be and I requested a nice little side of aioli to go with them -- I was in garlic heaven. Honestly -- so often fries are just so mediocre that when you get the good ones -- it's like a new food. I had to stop myself from eating all of them -- because I probably would have exploded.

All in all, it was one of the better bistros I've visited in town. I really enjoyed myself and it proved to be an excellent place to grab some shelter from the storm. I wouldn't hesitate to suggest it to someone else.

Spent about $50 plus tip. The Kir kicked it up a notch...but it was worth it.

I went last night, we enjoyed it very much. we both had the onion soup, I think that the broth and the cheese were both very good, I can see the critisism of the toast, but it was still very enjoyable. I had the appatizer confit of pork and some fries, my wife had the panko encrusted tuna. both were fantastic. my wife's fish came with fava beans and new potatos. I chose a wine which wasn't that great, but the wine list was very nice.

we had the lemon pie with a pine nut crust, which was excellent.

all in all, the food was excellent, and the service was truly excellent. and, the whole think is within walking distance of our home. so we are very happy with it.

Celebrated my mom's b-day at Bistro Bordeaux the other night and there was a lot of positives to report.

My mom is a sucker for the classic French bistro, so I figured this place would be a hit with her. And it was.

Apps were quite good; a beautifully-done big wedge of quiche was incredibly tender and loaded with mushrooms, leeks, and comte. served with a nice little salad. brandade "beneighs" were like little fish doughnuts (in a good way), the classic french onion soup didn't disappoint.

entrees were good but not outstanding. moules/frites were fine (frites were perfect), croque madame was tasty but could've used a bit more browning, imo. very high quality ham, bread, and cheese, though. my arctic char dish was somewhat insipid--pale fish, somewhat underseasoned, fairly lame old-school veg accompaniment added nothing, sauce was bland. I should've had a steak. also tried the gnocchi, which I thought was quite delicious.

Desserts were outstanding. perfect creme brulee, profiteroles were just what you'd expect, pistachio/dark chocolate bread pudding with rum creme anglaise was incredibly rich but somehow also delicate.

all in all, very good. worth checking out. stick to the established bistro classics, which are executed perfectly and made with very high quality ingredients. wish they had a salade lyonnaise on the menu!

I'll be back.

I went to Bistro Bordeaux, I am sorry to say for the price and being a fine dining establishment it was dissapointing, to a point where we had to return our apple tart because it was just not edible.
I am confused why so many such places are not able serve an excellent meal from the begining to the end, it is not that hard.
I fear that the chef is missing in action and so is the passion to cook well.
Undoubtly they may have a "bad night" another concept I don't get, or too many of us have accepted mediocracy in the name of having a pleasant night at a fine dining restaurant regardless of quality, in order not to rock the boat.
You know for $120 dinner for two a restaurant shouldn't fail you, I go to ones that are $40 for two and many times they don't fail me, and believe you me all I am looking is for a good meal.
However I am glad others did enjoy their meals.

sorry you had a negative experience, foodmex.

what made the apple tart "inedible"?

and what else did you eat besides that?

foodmex wrote:Undoubtly they may have a "bad night" another concept I don't get, or too many of us have accepted mediocracy in the name of having a pleasant night at a fine dining restaurant regardless of quality, in order not to rock the boat.

You are welcome to your opinion. However, just because you did not enjoy your dinner, does not mean there is any need for you to denigrate the opinions of those of us who have enjoyed the food at Bistro Bordeaux by accusing us of accepting mediocrity. I can assure you that I don't accept mediocrity (let alone "mediocracy", whatever that is). And while I often eat meals that range from mediocre to just okay to pretty darn good, I don't usually post about those. I only post about those that I consider standouts - in your words, "an excellent meal from beginning to end" - which include my dinners at Bistro Bordeaux, or meals that are in some way noteworthy enough to merit passing along information and recommendations (either positive or negative) to others here.

elakin wrote:sorry you had a negative experience, foodmex.

what made the apple tart "inedible"?

and what else did you eat besides that?

You said others accept poor quality in order not to rock the boat. So, how did you "rock the boat"? Or did you not do that either?

Yes, I'd like to know where you got the notion.
Said I'd like to know where you got the notion.
To rock the boat.

I did mention that " I am glad that others have enjoyed their meals" that would include you nsxtasy and definately not in any way I would imply you have mediocre taste if you in fact eat at Bistro Bordeaux, did I spell that right , being a tricky hindu word and all.
Regardless, the apple tart was very soggy, stale and microwaved, this was not the description I wanted to tell the waiter, except that I felt the quality was lacking, however the waiter insisted over and over what was wrong with it, which then I blurted the words out, OK, it is one soggy mush of an aplle tart, and gee you would think they must have some practiced response to an unsatisfied customer, instead he was flabbergasted, whisked the apple tart away and brought our check, It was Valentines Day, because of the trauma we couldn't even have sex that night.
The other two failures were the french onion soup, which was basically beef broth and my ham and cheese sandwich which was partly burned, mind you these are $8 and $16 items.
But I was out there to have a pleasant night with my date, not to be dissapointed with my meal, so a little disapointment is okay but when the whole event becomes disapointing it is hard to hold back. ( there was some good parts of the meal too)
so does one keep their mouth shut because you are in a fine dining restaurant and a simple complaint can ruin the experience both for you and even the restaurant which often assumes everything they do is excellent and at times not ready to respond properly and even assume that the customer is simply ignorant and are we?
Mr. Kennyz, nobody likes to rock the boat, they just don't go back or they do, I don't know, how often do you complain about something you have eaten at a fine dining establishment, or is the food served to you is consistantly excellent which then makes all fine dining restaurants excellent by nature.
and yes I do hold fine dining establishment to higher standard, their prices dictate me to.
Believe you me this is my opinion, Mr Elakin and Nsxtasy both evidently had excellent meals and I am sure they will continue to do so, I will go to Burger KIng perhaps, or to Edzo's Burgers which I heard was pretty good too...just kiddin'

foodmex wrote:It was Valentines Day

Is your post above about a meal you had eight months ago? If so, it would be helpful to note that in your post. Bistro Bordeaux was still quite new at that point, and while it's still reasonable to expect a good meal even when a restaurant is new, it's also possible that any problems you experienced have been corrected in the eight months since then.

Ooh, that reminds me of the bad meal I had at Sun Wah! The fried rice was too oily and bland. Of course this was in 1994 and they didn't even have plates; you got your food in styrofoam and by god you liked it!

C'mon these are all datapoints. Take the comments together and then decide where to dine.

It was Valentines Day, because of the trauma we couldn't even have sex that night.

ah, ok....now I get it. you're just screwing with us. good one. you really had me going.


anyway, I just ate the onion soup and the croque the other night and both were very good versions of classic dishes that I've had dozens of times. if you're inclined, perhaps a follow-up visit is in order.

I had a great birthday dinner at Bistro Bordeaux recently. My escargot appetizer, served in a classic escargot plate, with garlicky butter sauce and topped with little puff pastry rounds, was as good a version of escargot as I can remember. The scallop entree was perfectly cooked, and I really appreciated the quality of the cheese plate I had for dessert.

Count me a fan.

Well, yes it was a restaurant somewhat new, few months, so some mistakes are allowed, and of course I tend to give restaurants a second time around, especially when it is a pleasant place, which Bistro Bordeaux is...and when I see constantly that how everyone enjoyed it, however having said that, and the $ 120 I dropped and the nasty response I got when " I rocked the boat", would you go back? I think not, if they had only acknowledged my complaint by giving me credit for my complaint I would have probably returned, after all a bad apple tart is a bad apple pie, ain't it.
My point was, can't a "fine dining" establishment master this as say Edzo's does with its burgers, and my sense is that many of these middle of the road "fine dining' establishments are charging the prices but have problems delivering the product.
That I being a clueless diner of establishments that are truly beyond me, the only one, or is there somewhat pacified diners out there who are more than happy to spend their money regardless of the product because they are dining at a
fine dining establishment and nobody is implied here.
Do all the fine dining establishments serve excellent food or only LTH favorites do ?
I am going to try next...

thanks for the kind words, food mex. but I will admit that we also do have our bad days and bad moments and there are customers who walk away with a less-than-satisfactory Edzo's experience. I'm glad you haven't had a negative experience at my restaurant, but if you did, I'd hope you'd give us another shot. I understand that it's a lot easier to do that with a $10/person burger joint than it is a $50/person bistro, but I honestly think that if you gave them another opportunity, you'd come away pleased.

(ftr, I don't have any affiliation to BB, just enjoyed the meal I had there and understand how difficult it is to please all customers all the time)

I had eaten at Bistro Bordeaux several times under previous Chef Frank Mnuk and, as noted in earlier posts above, thought it was thoroughly excellent. He moved on (to Pensiero albeit briefly) and Tim Vidrio is now in charge. I ate there again last night and it seems to have gone downhill a bit. I started with the seared foie gras and although it had a nice crisp to the outside, it was cold in the middle - and not just a little cold in one spot, but mostly cold throughout. I had braised short ribs for my entree and it came as a solid block (which some other places do, some better than others). It was somewhat dry and firm, even though this is a dish that is great when it is moist and tender. Floating island is a favorite dessert of mine, and theirs was pretty good. Service was excellent. All in all, it was just okay, not dreadful but not up to the high standards set in previous visits.

Incidentally, I had been wondering about the status of their Wednesday special, in which they had been offering almost any three courses for $28.95. (It was formerly on their website, but I hadn't seen it there lately.) On the blackboard over the bar it did note the "Prix Fixe Special Wednesday" although it didn't mention a price. So apparently Wednesday is still a "deal night".

Went to brunch here for the first time and was quite disappointed. We tried two types of eggs benedict as well as their caramelized apple French toast. I had the Oeuf Meurette, or red wine poached eggs served on brioche. Although the eggs were a pretty purple color, they had no trace of red wine flavor. The brioche was way too dry and the eggs were overcooked, so the center was not liquid enough to soften the brioche. Plus, there was bacon mixed in underneath, which was not mentioned on the menu and could be a problem for a vegetarian. The menu only listed shallots, swiss chard and crimini mushrooms.


Oeuf Meurette / Bistro Bordeaux by TrackBelle, on Flickr

My mother's Bistro Bordeaux Eggs Benedict had the same problem of too-dry brioche (I'm wondering if it was leftover from a couple days before...) and overcooked poached eggs. She didn't care for the ham with hers either.


Bistro Bordeaux's Eggs Benedict by TrackBelle, on Flickr

The guys of the family ordered the Pain Perdu aux Pommes, or caramelized apple French toast, which they said was pretty good, especially the Thorpes Farm's maple syrup. We also had a side order of crispy potatoes, which were quite good, an herb roasted potato, very different from the fries served with the eggs benedict.


Pain Perdu aux Pommes / Bistro Bordeaux by TrackBelle, on Flickr

There was no baguette served with brunch, which I wasn't too surprised about. But then I noticed that a couple of tables that came in after us did receive baguettes with butter. Considering how disappointing the brioche was, I would have enjoyed some baguette myself. I'm wondering if you now need to ask for baguette? I didn't see anything on the menu indicating that, but maybe it's a cost-saving measure?

Had an enjoyable dinner with some co-workers last Friday. Used a Blackboard Eats deal for a 4 course meal picked out with Chef Besh. After enthusiastically going over our options, Besh returned to the kitchen to discuss our courses with our waiter, who also served as the sommelier.

Salade de Betterave au Fromage de Chevre
roased baby beet salad, toasted Cabecou Feuille, mache, Champagne vinaigrette

Though not a huge fan of beets, the goat cheese paired well and I actually enjoyed my salad.

Riz de Veau Roti et son Jus Naturel
Braised veal sweetbreads, roasted chipolini onion, Grilled hen of the hood mushroom, Natural jus


Lotte Rotie et ses Escargots de Bourgogne, Soupe de Celery et d' Artichaut
Pan seared monk fish, sunchokes, Burgandy snails, celery root soup


Very good. Snails were good, and the monkfish melted in my mouth.

Tarte aux Pommes Caramelisée, Glace aux Epices
Caramelized gala apple tart, spiced ice cream


Mr. Berthoumieux went from table to table asking diners how they were enjoying their meal, and that really made an impression on me. Though no dish really blew my socks off, I will return again with friends and family because I felt welcomed.

Thanks for the beautiful photos, incite. Your meal looks much yummier than any of the meals I've had at Bistro Bordeaux. I'm entertaining the thought of giving the restaurant another chance.

Hurdler4eva wrote:Thanks for the beautiful photos, incite. Your meal looks much yummier than any of the meals I've had at Bistro Bordeaux. I'm entertaining the thought of giving the restaurant another chance.

Had the same exact thought. I've been to BB three times and never had anything (or even seen anything on the menu) that looked as good or as interesting as those photos! I'm either doing something wrong, or they're doing something right they weren't doing before.

From this week's ChiMag 'Dish' newsletter:

Bistro Bordeaux (618 Church St., 847-424-1483) in Evanston is the setting of tonight’s episode of Food Network’s Mystery Diners. The reality-style show taped at the French restaurant for three days, and only a few of the employees knew about the filming. The episode, titled “Too Many Cooks”, airs at 9 p.m.

Oh, dear LORD!

The title "Too Many Cooks" doesn't bode well.

That was quite a show. Hope they come out better for it in the end.

bw77 wrote:That was quite a show. Hope they come out better for it in the end.

I am more curious if these 'cooks' were actors... The thing about reality TV is they have to create drama or no one will watch. Maybe the objective of the restaurant owner was to get exposure to his restaurant and because the ending of these reality programs like this one shows some kinda improvement in what was started might drive more foot traffic to ones establishment. Call me cynical but I am pretty sure most of the so called reality TV shows are faked or there would be no drama!

polster wrote:

bw77 wrote:That was quite a show. Hope they come out better for it in the end.

I am more curious if these 'cooks' were actors... The thing about reality TV is they have to create drama or no one will watch. Maybe the objective of the restaurant owner was to get exposure to his restaurant and because the ending of these reality programs like this one shows some kinda improvement in what was started might drive more foot traffic to ones establishment. Call me cynical but I am pretty sure most of the so called reality TV shows are faked or there would be no drama!

Bingo! They ARE actors, brought in by the production staff. Personally, Mystery Diners is hard for me to watch, it is scripted and often the owners are not such great actors. Why do restaurants do it? In hopes of getting more business. How do i know? They came to us hoping to use our restaurant, but the Food Network ultimately went with Bistro Bordeaux and a few other Chicago spots. I've got to say, I was relieved!

Wow, first post in three years. Summary: Food great, service spotty.
Took my younger son and his bride of two months out for his birthday.
Their wines were all wonderful -- although we're pretty sure they swapped the Pinot and the Cote du Rhone, both diners enjoyed what they got. I was disappointed that they stocked Stella Artois but not their Cidre -- it would have been a nice accompaniment to the mussels I ordered, and I have no taste for beer.

The charcuterie plate was all house-made items: pork pate, rabbit rillette, a salami, and a grilled sausage (the best item there) with two mustards and some pickled veg and cornichons. Only down note was that the toast rounds they provided were so crisp they'd shatter as soon as you put food on them, let alone bit them.

For mains, I had the moule frites which were just right (well, I'd have put more garlic in, but that would have overwhelmed the herbs), great liquor in the bottom of the bowl, and their long thin fries are still terrific. Thing2 had steak frites rare, and spot-on. His bride had the coq a vin -- she enjoyed but I didn't get a review or a taste. SueF had the parisienne gnocchi which were much lighter and brighter than a similar Italian dish.

Desserts of pain perdu (vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce over donut-like fried slices of brioche) and creme brulee were very good. Portion sizes were good, but not overwhelming.

Our server was a little inattentive, though, which was a bit of a problem. While the water glasses kept getting filled, getting any attention was difficult in the back corner. The room also had some problems: it was rather noisy, and the light above us was obviously a non-dimmable CFL bulb being dimmed, as it would go into spastic flickers every few minutes which required adjustment of the dimmer (hence the need for the server's attention).

Classic french fare at a reasonable price point (entrees in the 20s and a couple in the 30s), excellently prepared, with a bit of a service/room problem, I'd definitely go back.