Wednesday, October 17th - Bistro de Paris, Part Deux
Where were we before I got knocked flat by a 2-day migraine and a unwelcome visit from the Crohn Goblin?
Ahhh, that's right ... the mysteries of French food. At least they were mysteries to me since I don't really know the language; and while Jay took French in high school and definitely has a gift for languages, he is no longer fluent so I guess it was a mystery for him, too.
Let's get back to it, then, shall we?
I mentioned this in a response to another poster, but I think it bears repeating here. The service at Bistro was quite good, but I felt it was rather slow between courses - I'd say it was about 20 minutes between the table being cleared for one course and our being presented with the next. I understand that the object is not to be rushed through dinner, but it just felt a little too long. Our ADR was for 7:30PM and by the time we left the restaurant it was close to 10:30PM - we did enjoy having the World Showcase to ourselves, however; talk about a lovely and romantic walk back to the Beach Club through the International Gateway.
Time for our second course!!
Atlantic Red Snapper with Vegetable Spaghetti & Saffron Sauce
Seared Scallop Skewer, Braised Green Cabbage w/Bacon, and Tomato Blinis
We forgot to take a picture of the wine for this course, but it was a Pinot Blanc, Willm 2004. This was my favorite wine of the evening - clean and very refreshing ... loved it with the scallops, especially!
Jay ordered the snapper while I chose the scallops. Both of these choices were excellent, but I thought the scallops were just a little bit better. They were light and smooth and flavorful - not a bit chewy or fishy tasting. I ignored the cabbage - I don't care who prepares it, that's one vegetable I just don't like. But the tomato blini, just peeking out from underneath the cabbage near the bottom of the plate, was divine and actually tasted good by itself, with the scallops, and with some of that sauce ... or all three. Yummy! Blini, by the way, are small buckwheat pancakes that originated in Russia. They're so cute and tasty! And just above the scallops you can see the bacon - a nice thick cut cooked to perfection. Bacon and scallops ... oh-so-good!!!
Jay's snapper dish looks a little bizarre, doesn't it? Apart from the arti-fartiness of the presentation, I was struck by the size of the fish, which I thought was quite generous for a tasting menu portion. That's a good hunk o'snapper sitting on his plate and it tasted quite good. Some of the noodles were actually crunchy - maybe they were baked? I didn't care for that so much, nor did I like the saffron sauce, which tasted bitter to me.
And of course, being the freak I am, I couldn't help singing a lyric from
Mellow Yellow just to annoy Jay while he was trying to eat.
I'm just mad about Saffron;
Saffron's mad about me.
I'm just mad about Saffron;
She's just mad about me
They call me mellow yellow
Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow
Quite rightly
They call me mellow yellow
I blame Grimace for this unfortunate tendency of mine to always have song lyrics bopping about in my brain - I grew up listening to the local Oldies station and while I can no longer seem to remember what I did three hours ago, I have no problem recalling lyrics from songs I first heard more than 30 years ago.
And now for the intermezzo to cleanse our palates, just in case they were gacky.
Strawberry & Basilic Granite, Key Lime Sorbet, and Pomegranate Liqueur
This was good, but it was too much if you ask me, which probably doesn't make much sense at all. I'm used to a single, light sorbet as a palate cleanser - the mouth should feel clean and refreshed during and after consumption and it shouldn't leave much, if any, of a taste behind. In this case, strawberry was fighting with key lime and then for good measure we were supposed to pour the Pomegranate liqueur over them both. I don't know about you, but that combination is not going to cleanse my palate ... it's just going to make my tastebuds think they're having an acid flashback.
I don't want anyone to misunderstand - it's not that this tasted bad because it was actually quite good. But it was heavy and there were a lot of warring flavors and I really felt like this should have been a dessert offering rather than a palate cleanser. I only ate about half of mine because it was starting to fill me up and I was worried that I wouldn't have room for the rest of the meal. Jay, on the other hand, had no such worry and finished every drop of his and the remainder of mine.
After what seemed like a very long wait, our main courses arrived at the table.
Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Morels, Potatoes, and Shallot Confite
Chicken Breast Stuffed w/Porcini Mushrooms & Prosciutto, Macaroni w/Black Truffle Au Gratin and Baby Onions
Ch. Tour de Segur, Lussac St. Emilion 2000
The tenderloin was the better choice in this instance and I ended up eating more of that than the chicken. I'm not crazy about mushrooms ... alright, I hate mushrooms, so both dishes were actually a little iffy in my book. My issue with the tenderloin was all the sauce and the fact that it was a bit more rare than either of us would normally order, but it was still very tasty. The chicken was a tad dry but it tasted very good wrapped in the prosciutto ...
pork, is there anything it can't do? The macaroni was not to my liking at all, which is strange because I normally love it, but I think I was just picking up too much mushroom and onion - a doubly bad, dare I say evil, combination.
Jay really liked both dishes and ended up eating most of them and he really liked the wine, too. He's a red wine guy, so if it's deep, dark, and red, he's sold. I have issues with red wines - they give me baaaaaad headaches - so this was the only wine I didn't finish during dinner.
The next course was an optional one, and it carried a $5 surcharge. How could I pass up the cheese plate? How could Jay pass up the cheese plate? The answer is that we didn't ... neither one of us passed it up because for some idiotic reason known only to our pleasantly buzzed brains we each ordered a cheese plate.
French Assortment of Cow and Goat Cheeses w/Mixed Salad, Toasted Bread, Pine Nuts, and Chives
Yes, we really ordered two of these...
I have no idea what these cheeses actually are, but I thought all three of them were outstanding. I was particularly pleased to note that there were no stinky bleu cheeses in our assortment. I have to keep my leafy green intake to a minimum, so I didn't each much of the "salad" and as far as the nuts are concerned ... just say no if you have any kind of intestinal disorder, trust me. Does anyone else here think that the "toasted bread" looks an awful lot like a Ritz cracker? Perhaps something got lost in translation between bread and cracker ...
Before our dessert course was presented, we were each given a glass of semi-bubbly. And then our waiter brought out a birthday dessert for Jay and I to share!
Marquis de Perlade, Blanc de Blanc
Look - an onamatapoetic device right there on the plate!
That's right ... Happy Birthday Benda ...
It's a good thing there were only a few other people in the restaurant by the time this showed up because we sat at the table and giggled like little kids for the longest time. The harder we tried not to laugh the more we ended up laughing ... we even gave it a go with the
Name Game: Benda, Benda, Bo-Benda, Banana-Fana-Fo-Fenda, Fe-Fi-Fo-Menda, Benda!
What? Oh, how did it taste? Umm... it was actually pretty good - something along the lines of a chocolate napoleon with sugar-glazed fruit on top. We tried not to eat all of it since we had the "real" dessert still to come, but when someone slaps a free French-made dessert on our table it's nearly impossible for us to stop eating.
Second Dessert ... the one we paid for, was actually a dessert assortment: Strawberry Millefeuille, Mint Ice Cream, Vanilla Creme Brulee, Pineapple & Coconut Summer Tart, and Warm Chocolate Cake with 70% Dark Chocolate.
It's Blissssssssss....
Your eyes do not deceive you - there are five desserts on that plate for Jay and I to share. And they were all incredible. I'm half tempted to tell you fine readers to make an ADR at Bistro and order the tasting menu just so that you can experience the joy of sharing five desserts with the one you love.
The French and dessert - does it get any better?
I think not.
Perhaps the most interesting item on the plate was the mint ice cream. This is not your Amercanized mint-chip ice cream that tastes more like spearmint with chocolate. Oh no, this tasted like a frozen mint leaf that the chef plucked out of his garden. Have you ever taken a fresh mint leaf and rubbed it between your fingers? That scent is actually how this ice cream tasted ... a little strong at first but incredibly good.
The other desserts were equally as tasty. The chocolate cake had a molten dark chocolate center - sinful; the creme brulee was sweet and creamy with just a hint of vanilla - drool-worthy; the strawberry thingee with the heavy cream around the outer edges and the crispy cookie was a refreshing mix of sweet and tart - decadent; and the pineapple / coconut tart was a creamy surprise that I still won't ever eat again - interesting but the least appetizing in my book. And that streak of chocolate down the side of the plate? Finger licking good!
So ended our meal at Bistro and let me tell you, even though there were items that I wasn't personally crazy about I thought the quality of the food was excellent. We weren't sure what to expect since there are so few reviews of Bistro here at the DIS, but we really felt like this was a terrific meal and a lovely experience overall, despite some slowness in service. We would definitely go back to Bistro again!
We waddled back to the room slowly, enjoying having the World Showcase to ourselves and stopping to take some pictures that just didn't turn out well and ended up being deleted. And then when we ended up back at the villa, look at what was waiting for us:
Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate dipped Strawberries with a Dark Chocolate Wave. I think we were supposed to eat these on our balcony with a bottle of Fairy Tale Cuvee, but that was before we knew that the French were trying to kill us with culinary kindness. Alas, these had to wait for another day, but it was worth it. These defy description, really; just order some for yourself if you happen to stay at Deluxe Resort that offers them and you'll understand what I mean.
Thus ends, finally, the day. Next up on the agenda will be breakfast at the Yacht Club Galley, Afternoon Tea at the Gardenview Lounge, and a spontaneous dinner of sorts at Spoodles.
Thanks as always for reading!
Actually, when I think of frog being served, it reminds me of the Far Side cartoon where the frogs in wheelchairs come rolling out of the kitchen. 
I happen to like chopped liver/paté, so I probably would have enjoyed it.
<---Playing the Britney 'Gimme More' song
<-----Kind of looks like Britney.
