Restaurants such as Bouquet can be tough to write about. At this price point you expect the food is going to be high-quality and properly prepared. At a Nice Restaurant where you know the chef's name we tend to take those things for granted. It would be easy to fill this review with meaningless superlatives, hit submit, and be done.
The criteria, then, is not the normal checklist we might use for the new fast-casual chicken joint in the trendy part of town. We need be a little more sophisticated in how we pass judgement--if I can say that without sounding snooty. We almost have to nitpick a restaurant like this, which may come off as overly negative.
Before I continue let me reiterate one point: Bouquet is a Nice Restaurant. This is the place to take your significant other for Date Night when you want to do something a little more special than your normal evening out. So, please, leave the jeans at home.
That I am dolling out fashion advice is causing those that know me to snicker more than a little, but wear something that isn't made of denim to Bouquet. Rediscover what's in the back of your closet.
The atmosphere at Bouquet is that of a cozy little row house throwing a dinner party. It's too strong to call it "intimate," but it is a pleasant place to be. You don't feel herded into a crowded space arranged to maximize occupancy, to be sure.
Once seated, I ordered a Kentucky Mule to drink, which arrived shortly after in the proper copper mug. Although it was certainly prepared at the bar in the vicinity of the Maker's Mark 45 the recipe called for, it didn't taste as though much of the bourbon actually made it into the drink itself. It was also served poured over crushed ice. Nice Restaurant or not, that is pretty much unforgivable.
Never make a drink with crushed ice. Ever. The only thing crushed ice does is melt quickly and dilute the drink. Yes, even margaritas. If you order your margarita "frozen" you are Doing It Wrong. Rocks. Always.
I started with a cup of the vegetable barley soup. While good, it was a bit thinner than I would have liked. The rainy weather may have played a part in this, but something a bit heartier would have been welcome. It was also cabbage-heavy with a just a few carrots, and I had to dredge the bottom of the bowl to get any barley on my spoon.
My main course was the Joyce Farm Chicken. To properly review this entrée requires me to dip into those superlatives I swore to avoid at the beginning of this review. Ready-access to a thesaurus masquerading as sophistication has its place, but for this I need to be straightforward.
The Joyce Farm Chicken was, without a doubt, the most perfectly done piece of chicken I've ever had. The seasoning was just the right amount of salty, and the meat itself was tender and cooked to perfection. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and only my own sense of public manners and the possibility of embarrassing my wife (I'll let you guess which was more prevalent in my mind) kept me from gnawing the bones down to the marrow to make sure I ate every last shred of meat I could get my teeth into.
Based on this piece of poultry alone I would return to Bouquet, but the accompaniments were excellent as well. The squash and other flavorings matched very well with the meat--except for the white sauce. It reminded me of a subdued sour cream, and it washed out the other flavors of the dish when added in. Luckily it was pooled to the side and could be easily avoided.
My wife had the Marksbury Pork Chop, which I sampled. It was likewise excellent, and even she finished off a rather large chop. It also seemed to be the the popular dish of the night as several of those around us ordered it. I doubt any of them left disappointed.
Dessert was the Peanut Butter Blondie. Like the chicken, the verdict for this can depend largely on how your bite is structured. A dish in three parts, you have the gentle caress of peanut butter in the blondie, the subtle kiss of the chocolate ice cream...and then the massive right hook of the blackberry jam.
The jam is so powerfully tart it tips over the perfectly balanced scale created with the subtle flavors of the peanut butter and chocolate. Don't get me wrong, the jam itself is excellent. On a biscuit it would be wonderful. In this dessert however, it can be too much. The other flavors succumb to the dark purple jam. Get the ratio of your bite correct--go easy on the blackberry concoction--and it's an excellent desert.
Despite a few missed steps, Bouquet is a good choice to spend a nice evening with your significant other. Skip the mixed drinks, adjust the bites on your fork to get the proper ratio of each dish's components, and it's an excellent meal with some truly standout entrees. Just remember to duck and weave around that jam. read more