This Saturday, my husband and I went to Bistro 29 to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. We had been planning this date for weeks. I called about a week in advance to make reservations for Saturday. The woman on the phone told me that unless we were coming with a large party, we would have no wait. So at 7:30, we get to Bistro 29 and there are three empty tables. The hostess asks if we have a reservation, and says if not, the wait would be at least 30 minutes in the hallway/lobby. We put our name on the list and told her that we would be back at 8pm. When she heard that we would be leaving and not waiting the 30 minutes in the hallway/lobby, she actually seemed happy!
We came back at 8pm, and immediately were seated. I had previewed the menu online, and I already knew that I wanted to have the prime rib for dinner, which is a Saturday special. They were sold out of Prime rib already. So here is what we ordered:
*Crab cakes - $10* They were delicious! They were flaky, while still very moist. You could taste all the different ingredients in the cake, but the flavors blended beautifully! The mustard aioli was also a perfect compliment to the crab cake. However, there was nothing spicy about these crab cakes at all.
*Calamari - $9* My husband and I both love calamari, and have eaten it at probably every seafood restaurant we have been to. This was by far my favorite. The breading was perfectly seasoned, and fried to the perfect golden brown. The rings were the most tender I have ever tasted! They were also served with the mustard aioli, but you could have marinara if you asked. The only drawback to the calamari was they put a bunch of the fried tentacles on the plate, and I just can't eat those.
*Filet Mignon - $30* I ordered mine without bacon, and cooked medium. It was perfectly cooked, and so tender that I could have cut it with a butter knife. The filet was covered with a red wine-Gorgonzola cheese sauce. I felt that the flavors of the sauce were conflicting with each other, but it was still good. It think that a red wine jus would have complimented the meat better. The meal was served with potatoes au gratin and some sauteed vegetables. I could not taste any cheese in the potatoes at all. I also thought that the food needed a lot of extra salt.
*Chicken Picatta - $18* My husband ordered this and I did not get to taste it. He said that it was very yummy, but very rich.
*Creme Brulee - $6* The vanilla custard was absolutely decadent! I found the caramelized sugar shell to be way too thin. I traveled in France for a month, and when you eat creme brulee there, you are supposed to hit the sugar shell and it cracks like a glass window. When I tried to crack my sugar shell on this creme brulee, it just mushed into the custard.
Review Summary:
*Taste of the food - Taste overall was delicious.
*Appearance of the food - The food was presented nicely on the plate. No pics, sorry!
*Service - Lacking. I had to ask for my iced tea to be refilled each time. They should have told me to make reservations when I called the week before.
*Price - Expensive, but for the quality of food, it is worth the money.
*Atmosphere - Cozy but refined. Doesn't look like it belongs in 29 Palms! It was nice!
*Whether or not to take your kids - Not a good place to take children. Great place for a date night!
Additional note: They had no mixed drinks on their drink menu. They had mostly beers nice wines.
We will for sure be going back!
Thanks for reading!
Molly
A couple of people have told me that this place was good. They said it was pricey but considering it is in 29, it was good food for the price. I will have to give it a try before we leave.
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