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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Tuesday, 6/15/10 - Boardwalk Bistro

Date: 6/15/10
Restaurant: Boardwalk Bistro
Location: 4011 Broadway, next to the Witte Museum, in the same Boardwalk on Broadway that includes our beloved Tre Trattoria as well as Koi Kawa
Executive Chef: Russell Atkinson/David Yokuty

Taking a week off for a trip to Dallas, our return back to San Antonio couldn't have been more inviting. We're back to our new favorite cluster of restaurants, right next door to Tre and the Witte Museum (speaking of which, if you're in the area, you might want to check out their Dinosaur Exhibit. It's not huge, but some neat animatronics combined with mind-blowing recent discoveries that even a dinosaur-happy brother and husband didn't prepare me for!).

Where was I?


Oh yes. Boardwalk Bistro.


The inside. We were greeted by the proprietress/sommelier herself, a gracious hostess. Surprisingly uncrowded, although we arrived almost simultaneously with three other parties. (The wait was quite reasonable despite this conglomeration of customers.)


I love this ancient menu! So neat. Mediterranean in decor and menu influence, we had our choices of many types of tapas, lots of seafood, and amazing, in-house-created desserts. In addition, Boardwalk Bistro has a very reasonable 4 or 5 course "tasting" menu at $30/$34 respectively. The only fault with the tasting menu I had was the limited entree selection (only 4 choices!); other than that, it's a great deal for trying a lot of yummies.


Heeheehee! Isn't that just the cutest plate ever?

On to the food! I opted for the 5 course tasting menu, which includes an appetizer, a soup, a salad, one of the 4 entrees, and a dessert.


My appetizer, really more of an amuse-bouche for as small as it is. Artichoke hearts wrapped in serrano ham on a little baguette. Delicious, tangy and savory at the same time--but ordering a la carte, $8 seems a little steep for two yummy bites.


This was the defining moment when I realized I was in the presence of culinary greatness. "Beef stew" doesn't even begin to cover the richness and complexity and just drool-worthy yummy that this bowl contained. The veggies still had a bit of crunch, the beef tender, the broth unbelievably savory. I would live in this soup.

We were served a basket of delicious, buttery brioche as well, the absolute perfect vessel for sopping up bite after bite of soup.


This salad definitely took us back down from cloud 9, despite its pretty presentation in the Susur Lee bowl (hopefully someone besides Mom will get the reference). The blandest Caesar salad I've ever had, I couldn't taste anything but a bit of oil. Very disappointing.


My salad, including goat cheese, a port vinaigrette and a yummy crostini. Considerably better than the Caesar.


The entrees arrive! Mine was the crabcake, which came recommended via online reviews. It's served with a mango relish, avocado, citrus beurre blanc and greens in more citrus vinaigrette. The sweet and creamy salsas and sauces sort of overwhelmed the crab for my taste, but I still enjoyed this. That is, until I tried Tavis's entree and the world changed again.


Pan-seared pork chop. Stilton sauce, stuffing, side of risotto. If the photo is blurry, it's just because I'm weeping for joy at the flavors of this dish.

You MIGHT be a velociraptor if you...
*can't even finish your entree because it feels like cheating on the pork chop
*steal your husband's pork chop bone and gnaw it shamelessly in a fairly classy restaurant
*kiss your husband after dinner in hopes of catching one more taste of pork chop

Needless to say, I recommend the pork chop.


Our final taste of the night, a very yummy, tangy and sweet NY Cheesecake. Their desserts change here all the time, so I'd recommend stopping in often to see what's new. If they're all of this caliber, I doubt you'll go wrong.

Returnability: oh my gosh YES! The service and timing was excellent, the menu has so many unexplored options, including lamb and duck in many different presentations, and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of their dessert menu. But I must say, it will be incredibly hard to keep from ODing on beef stew and pork chops. Such a difficult life I lead. :)

3 comments:

Bombay Talkies said...

I hate to do this to such a classy blog but I honestly can't help myself. Your amuse-bouche looks like a penis.

There.

I said it.

:p

Megan and Tavis said...

Oh my GOD. It DOES. *jawdrop* Wait that's probably the exact wrong thing to do in this scenario.

Bombay Talkies said...

lol probably...

-Melissa :)