Sayin a prayer for…
I had dinner tonight at the Blue Moon Bistro in Dayton. The online menu looked OK – not your average bistro fare. The wine list looked equally interesting. It had been hyped by a coworker, so I had high expectations. Perhaps too high for Dayton.
It was just two of us eating, and getting a table proved to be an adventure. The hostess started to say “We have smoking and non-smoking…” to which I answered “non is fine, thanks.” She snipped at me for cutting her off. What she had intended to say was that the non-smoking area was really loud and the smoking area was quieter and didn’t have anyone smoking. We took the latter.
They had a specials menu of sorts and the hostess also let us know that it was half price night for bottles of wine – can’t go wrong with that. We ordered a bottle of “Towering Tuscan” or something, which turned out to be a Mondavi wine. It was OK, but probably not worth it had we paid full price (or at all for that matter).
For an appetizer we got an artichoke beggar’s purse. It came out luke warm and unflavorful. It was accompanied by a tapenade and roasted garlic. I’m not sure they had anything in common with the artichoke, but they tasted OK separately.
On a whim I got a bowl of soup as well. It was a lobster squash bisque. It also came out luke warm. Are you sensing a trend? The flavor was mild, and the squash did not stand out in any way. The texture was thing and the pieces of lobster were small and shredded. While I didn’t expect large bites of lobster, a couple healthy spoonfuls of it would have been nice.
I orderd duck as my entree. It came out with some bok choy, shittake mushroom and gouda cheese. Bok choy is asian-ish, mushrooms are more American, and Gouda is continental. I’m not sure where the chef thought they crossed over enough to warrant being on one plate.
I think it was the cheese that got to me. The plate came out luke warm, again. The cheese was in that congealed state somewhere between solid cheese and melted cheese. It also looked like it came straight from the dairy case at whatever supermarket people frequent here. The sauce was good, as it had some kind of wine in it. The duck was cooked appropriately, coming to the table still pink in the middle (yet cold).
I crossed my fingers that dessert would be the saving grace. It actually was. If not for dessert, I would have been more disappointed. The waittress brought a tray of 6 desserts to the table and I picked an apple galette. It came to the table still warm, with large sugar crystals adhering to its outer edges. The apples inside were sliced thing and accompanied by caramel and figs.
I think I’d still have other people try this place if they asked about it, but I don’t think it deserves any sort of urgency to get there. It is in Dayton…