EXTREME Disappointment: Bouchon, Yountville

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

Last night Kristi and I went to Bouchon in Yountville for a hopefully good to excellent meal. Quite the contrary. We both ordered the French Onion Soup, and we were both VERY let down. Underseasoned, mono-dimensional and bland. Frankly, the version that Bowden makes blows the original away…by a long shot.

Unfortunately, that was not the only problem with dinner. I ordered the Steak Frites as that has been touted as a signature dish there as well. Again, absolutely ZERO salt on the steak. It came topped with roasted shallots, and honestly the concoction tasted like fried liver and onion. I couldn’t eat even a single bite of it…over cooked and had a very bad texture. The pomme frites were very good however, but I had to send the dish back. The walking boss offered something else off the menu, but I refused because I had no desire to get a sneazer or worse.

For a destination restaurant that is owned by one of the premier chefs in the world, signature dishes should be firing on all cylinders all the time without such horrible misteps like this.

2

At Bouchon, I like the Oysters, the Salmon Rillettes, the French Fries and the Bread… that is about it

3

Things that would have been good to know a couple of days ago…

4

That is what happens when I type too fast.

5

Kristi had the mussels, and they were very good.

6

Bummer! At least your wife was spared. I like Bistro Jeanty right next door to it.

7

What a bummer! We had a good meal at Bouchon (including the steak-frites) and then a very disappointing one (exception: to-do-for tomato soup en croute) at Bistro Jeanty. I know all restaurants have their off nights, but when it’s a destination place in a touristy region, it’s especially unfortunate.

8

Sorry Bill. Sounds like they messed with the wrong Texas tourist.

9

Have been a few times. It used to be very good. We haven’t been back in a few years for reasons much as you cite.

Hopefully Ad Hoc treats you better, and I suspect it will.

10

Translation: when something isn’t quite to die for, but is still pretty good…

11

I found the service and atmosphere worse than the food. We were so crammed, my wife’s chair was bumped no less than a half dozen times by clumsy waitstaff trying to wade their way through. I will not return . . at least to that location. Bistro Jeanty, on the other hand, is outstanding.

12

I ate there back in 2004. It was fantastic. Knockout steak frites. (It’s a hanger, right? I expect a faint liver taste in that cut.)

Too bad your meal sucked. That is a bummer.

13

[oops.gif]

It was flatiron when I was there in… hmm… '05 or '06.

14

Maybe an off day (it happens to any establishment) or things have drastically changed?

I was there last May 2006 for lunch with friends and we had a very good experience: good service, good wine, good food, all at a reasonable price. The moules and frites were simple, honest and delicious, the oysters very fresh and the boudin noir, in particular, was superb - better than any I’ve had around France. The closest boudin noir in quality I’ve had was at Ducasse’s bistro Aux Lyonnais in Paris.

15

Flat Iron is what the critter was.

Wine list is as marked up as any place I have ever been.

16

The crispy pork belly I had in June was fabulous…

17

Thanks for the FOS love…enjoy the rest of napa.

18

We brought wine and had no troubles. I found my notes, this was 7/31/2004. Was terrific then. Sorry yours sucked. If anyone would know a crap steak, you would be the man.

19

sorry 'bout the bad meal, Bill … Bouchon is on my permanent shit list … the Vegas location is 0 for 3 with me … although I do agree the bread is fantastic, as was the pear/fennel soup I had the last time we went. Still, the occasional nice dish is not good enough for an establishment such as this … oh yeah, the service has always been horrible.

20

the wine list at Bottega is very well priced. Not even 1.5x retail