American
French 75 Bistro, Burbank — a Parisian wannabe
Last week I posted a query regarding this place. You can read the recs I received here –
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/340730
I’m going to adopt Poet Kitty’s style for this review (thanks, PK – you rock!)
Very chic, cosy and large bar area. Warm vibe. French reproduction – stamped tin ceiling, little (faux) paintings, period light fixtures and other decorative touches everywhere. Comfy, deep red leather booths in large wing of restaurant. But they spelled a few French terms incorrectly on their menu! Hmmmnnn…
Cocktails: They have several champagne cocktails (made with a cheap local bubbly). Most of us girls went for the champagne with pomegranate juice, which was very nice. $14 or $18, from memory. I thought I might have to drive (my sweetheart drank two “very good” Sapphire martinis throughout his meal) so I opted for the fanciest champagne they had by the glass – Tattinger – $24. It was fine, but pricey, non? Four of us had two or so cocktails with their meal, three of us had one cocktail and shared a bottle of Iron Horse Pinot Noir ($54), which I liked.
Bread: Excellent – fluffy and freshly made, more Italian style than French, methought. Came with this delicious spread – mayonnaise, garlic, a touch of black olive tapenade and possibly balsamic vinegar. Everyone loved this. It was an optimistic start to the meal.
Appetizers: Mine was the crab cake. Medium in size and very meaty. Good flavour. My guy had the prosciutto-wrapped scallops with white corn ragout, sage brown butter. This dish was easily the best thing I tasted all night. Two fat, perfectly cooked and scrumptious scallops but swimming in a pond of butter/oil that floated next to the corn relish. I found that a little off-putting. Someone had the caesar salad, which was massive. I tasted the lobster beignet (a special) – decent morsels of lobster encased in a lot of batter, which was crispy on the outside but soggy inside. Nicely presented in a cone of paper inside a tall, metal parfait ‘glass’, atop shoestring fries.
Sides: There were loads of delicious-looking sides on the menu. The only one I tried was the creamed corn, which was sweet and yummy. The steamed asparagus hollandaise looked nice.
Entrees: Mine was a big disappointment. I just can’t go past duck in a French restaurant, but this “duck two ways” ($24) was really ordinary confit leg and pink, chewy sliced breast on a smattering of cherry sauce. The halved artichoke was undercooked. Potato gratin was unremarkable. I ended up taking most of my main meal home. Duck salad for lunch!!
My guy also ordered the duck and cleaned his plate, though.
I really wish I’d taken a ’hound’s rec and gone for the short ribs a la Bourguignonne with red wine sauce and horseradish cream… But then again, would it have been better than at Lucques?
Dessert: We all shared two desserts; the berry cobbler which was okay and not too syrupy, though there were nuts in the crumble (ugh!) The chocolate, hazelnut and banana crepes were fantastic, featuring a crunchy toffee element that was there ’till the last bite. I should know – I snagged it!
Damage for 7 diners, $608.00, before tip.
THE BAD – One girl’s dish came out wrong AND cold. She’d ordered the chicken crepes and got the vegetarian. To their credit, her meal was replaced within 10 minutes and was hot.
Also, we asked if they could put $200 on every couple’s bill and $100 on the single girl’s bill. They said they could do this, but hers (same girl as the wrong meal!) came back with $120 total, which didn’t seem fair. I told her to send her bill back, but she just ate the extra cost. I certainly wouldn’t have.
RESTAURANT REPORT CARD - French 75 Bistro, Visit 1
Ambiance A
Service A (but the place wasn’t crowded)
Food (Taste) B-
Food (Presentation) B
Wine/Drinks B
Value C
Vibe/Energy/Scene B-
Overall Experience B-
Final word – Decent menu, many choices. We had a very nice time with our friends, but I probably wouldn’t go back. Too many better places in LA to knock my socks off and leave a similar hole in my wallet.
French 75 Bistro
3400 W Olive Avenue,
Burbank, CA 91505
right next to Arnie Mortons
(818) 955-5100
www.French75Bistro.com
BTW – There are four other locations – Newport Beach, Irvine, Century City and Laguna Beach.
By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She is completing a family cookbook and also writes novels for 8-12 year olds.
Discussion
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Good write up, very comprehensive! I’m with you on the duck, when I see it, it takes great restraint not to order it. Unfortunately, it’s not always a home run. I had a delicious duck at Chez Mimi, but even that had its shortcomings.
As a side note, where is your favorite duck?
^ Ya know, that’s a very good question. I think the main reason for my disappointment was that I hadn’t eaten duck for a while. I’ve had a few memorable duck dinners in Paris (!), particularly at Aux Fins Gourmets, on Blvd St-Germain…
But here in LA? Le Petit Jacques in Sherman Oaks has tender medallions of roasted duck breast with butternut squash puree. Excellent.
Several years ago we went out to the Saddle Peak Lodge and I ordered the venison, but wished I’d gone for the duck (I sampled Ash’s meal), as it was truly superb.
I have a feeling Pinot Bistro do a decent duck, but I’m a bit hazy. At the Wine Bistro in Studio City, not so good…
I’m pretty sure I’ve also had duck at L’Orangerie and that it was wonderful there, too. It’s just that the last two times we went, over a year ago, we ordered the fabulous Langoustines.
NOTA BENE — LA’s French institution, L’Orangerie, is due to close by the end of the year, so do visit while you still can.
Fabulous fine fare, gorgeous decore and very welcoming.
Shoot! Thanks for the heads up, MaxMillion. I will try to visit both French 75 and L’Orangerie soon.
I heard L’Orangerie is not as good now everything’s wrapping up and a good portion of staff have already left (and I’m sure the rest got wandering eyes) - also, the exec. chef of L’Orangerie at its prime is now at La Cachette - relatively cheaper.
Anyways, I had a lukewarm experience at Chat Noir (same restaurant group @ F75) — more so due to bad service than bad food:
http://la-oc-foodie.blogspot.com/2006/11/foodventure-10-chat-noir-costa-mesa.html
And I still have a David Wilhelm gift card!!! Hopefully Chimayo will fare better ~
^ You make a good point about L’Orangerie winding down. We dined there when Chrisophe Eme was at the helm (two years ago) and that was a magnificent meal. A year later, it was a different chef. (Perhaps the one you said was now at La Cachette? I don’t know his/her name.)
But L’Orangerie’s wonderfully sweet and welcoming maitre’d, Stephane, followed Eme to his own place, Ortolan, which offers fine haute cuisine. We had an excellent meal there and intend to dine there for Christmas eve.
But the space — L’Orangerie is one of the most exquisitely beautiful and comfortable restaurants in town.
At the very least, try to visit before it closes, have a glass of champagne or two and sample their signature dish — two eggs stuffed with oestra caviar ($39). You will not be disappointed.
Oh the guy I was thinking about (Francois Meteigner) goes way back at L’Orangerie… he was there from 1980-1990 (from La Cachette’s Website)
I feel like I’ve been immortalized by a deity - thanks for the props, MaxMill, you are magnifique! And the French Bistro review rocks - I needed some hardcore advice on this one. Blessings :)
$100/person sounds expensive for so-so bistro food. thanks for your post. i’ll probably hit this place up just for the bubbly hour then.
Wow, I wandered in and it was like you said, the maitre d’ was really nice and seated me like I was a regular. I couldn’t tell if the French spelling was right but from the soup on down to the salmon entree, everything was superb! I think there was a lot of complexity to every dish. Now I know why the French take such time eating, its because when you savor every bite and really ‘listen’ to the dishes you can detect several layers of flavour. Bravo on the comprehensive review, Max. I have a new favorite in the Valley.
Is there an echo in here?!? lol!
I had a similar experience at French 75. I’d give an A to the service, but the food was just ok. I ordered the skirt steak which was a huge mistake. I’ve never had a piece of steak this tough. The flavor was great, but who wants to eat a tasty piece of rubber? My friend had the lamb chops and he was kind enough to share his with me. It was tasty, but I felt the dish was pricey for what you got. We also ordered a plate of mussels, which again was tasty, but not much in size for the money. Seemed like there were more shells than fish. The best thing about the night was the dessert. We ordered the chocolate souffle. It was one of the best I’ve had. My recommendation is to skip the dinner and go there for dessert!