Report Card: Bon Vie Bistro

http://bon-vie.com/index.html

 

Overall GrubGrade B-

The Breakdown:

Atmosphere: Grade B: We’re fans of Brio and Bravo, so there is no reason that we wouldn’t be big fans of Bon Vie since they are all owned by the same parent company. We stopped by the Bon Vie Bistro at the Easton Town Center at about 4:30pm on a Friday. The restaurant was fairly empty, so it looked like we beat the evening dinner rush. We’re not exactly sure that Bon Vie was even ready to go with the dinner service since we were seated with lunch menus to order from. After a few minutes of looking at the menu and wondering why some of the dishes we saw on the online menu were absent, Katina figured out we had lunch menus instead of dinner menus. We stopped a passing server and were promptly brought dinner menus. The décor was nice and the restaurant was clean. But, one of our big pet peeves was present – the bench seat. Check out our review of the Cheesecake Factory to see how much we really hate the bench seat. I know my wife appears to be out of my league, but I do assume that most of the restaurant staff know that we are on a date. As such, why, may I ask, do you insist on sitting us at that stupid bench seat? Since we were the only ones there, it wasn’t a real big deal at first, but by the time we left we had groups of 4 on each side of us, so privacy was nil. Couple that with the fact that the music was too loud, and any romantic atmosphere that Bon Vie started with was quickly wiped away.

High marks: Clean, not crowded (at first), nicely decorated

Low marks: Given lunch menus, that horrific bench seat, no privacy

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Service: Grade B: If you look up the word “stiff” or “serious” in the dictionary, you might see a picture of our server, Tim, with the definition. And while all our needs were met and our service was timely and accurate, we were a little uncomfortable because our server seemed almost too intense. We certainly appreciate someone who takes their job responsibilities seriously, but diners want a relaxing experience when they visit a restaurant, and we just didn’t feel relaxed when our server was nearby. We still had to give Tim a “B” since he performed his duties professionally, but had he cracked a joke or projected some friendliness, that grade would have probably been an “A.”

High marks: Accurate, timely, very professional

Low marks: Too stiff and formal

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Food/Spirits: Grade B-: We both started out with raspberry mojitos, which has strong but not overwhelming raspberry flavor with no alcohol bite. Unfortunately, we had quite a bit of a wait for our drinks. While we were waiting, our server brought us some bread. Now since Bon Vie has a French vibe going on, we were assuming the bread would be really good. It was mediocre, and certainly not sliced at all. Other than eating crab legs, when we are paying for a meal, we’d like to keep the manual labor down to a minimum. So, Bon Vie, we suggest you take a couple of minutes and slice that loaf of bread for your patrons next time. We ordered the Sweet Chili Calamari and Shrimp for our appetizer. The calamari and shrimp were lightly breaded and had a nice flavor, but the sauce was a little on the skimpy side, and that was where most of the flavor was stashed. But, overall it was a pretty nice appetizer. By the end of our appetizer, our drinks were dry so Katina ordered a Strawberry Basil Lemonade and I ordered a beer called Kronenburg 1664. The strawberry lemonade (we’re not sure where the basil was hiding, but we never found it) was very sweet and sugary tasting. The beer, on the other hand, has almost no flavor. It would be a good beer for someone who doesn’t drink a lot of beer. For entrees, Katina ordered the Crab Crusted Tilapia and I ordered the Grilled NY Strip. The tilapia, like the appetizer, needed more sauce. The fish itself had a nice flavor, and the haricots verts that accompanied both entrees were fantastic. The tilapia also came with a vegetable blend that was also very tasty. The NY Strip was cooked to the perfect temperature, but way under-seasoned and dry. The menu stated it was supposed to come with truffle butter, but we couldn’t detect and butter anywhere in or on the dish. I opted to swap the baked potato for their fries, which was a good call as the fries were delightful. Had the quality of the preparation matched the quality of the cut of beef, then the dish would have been much, much better.

High marks: Decent calamari, great haricots verts and fries

Low marks: Entrees needed more sauce and more seasoning

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Value: Grade B-: We weren’t blown away by either the portion sizes or the quality of the food, so coming close to dropping a Benjamin for just the two of us seemed a little steep (and, I am ashamed to admit, we had a coupon – so it would have been over $100). Parts of the meal were really good, but others were just slightly better than average. Bon Vie Bistro is certainly a viable choice if you are out at Easton Town Center and want mix it up a bit, but we wouldn’t recommend making a trip out there just for the dining experience.

High marks: Parts of meal very nicely executed

Low marks: A little expensive for the quality

Report Card: Brio Tuscan Grille

Brio Tuscan Grille at Polaris Fashion Place

http://www.brioitalian.com/polaris_fashion_place.html

Overall GrubGrade B

 

The Breakdown:

 

Atmosphere:  Grade A-:  If you’ve ever been to Bravo, then you might be a little confused when you walk through the front doors of Brio.  These two restaurants are so similar in décor that you might doubt your sanity and think you’ve entered the wrong restaurant.  The interior is clean, and the overall vibe is very Mediterranean with all the stucco adorning the walls.  When we visited, there weren’t a whole lot of other people there, but like its cousin Bravo, the place seemed really noisy.  Seating was nicely spaced, and other than some poor seals around some doors and windows making the place drafty, the overall atmosphere was really nice.

High marks:  Clean, well-spaced tables

Low marks:   Noisy and drafty

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Service:  Grade B+:  After a change in tables (the first place they sat us was right in front of some doors that led outside, creating a real draft problem), our server’s name was Joshua.  Josh did a very commendable job serving us.  Our food arrived promptly, our drinks were served with minimal delay, and we received refills of bread almost as soon as we ate the last piece in the basket (I should point out that the majority of bread consumed was done so by our daughter, who are like she’s been in a prison camp for a decade).  Since Brio’s wasn’t very busy, I expected a little more “umph” out of the service.  Our server got everything right, but there wasn’t much engagement beyond the basic back and forth involved with dining out.

High marks:  Accurate and quick

Low marks:   Not anything really stood out about the service

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Food/Spirits:  Grade B:   On this visit to Brio, Katina selected the White Peach Sangria for her first cocktail and chased it with another cocktail called a Strawberry Basil Lemonade.  The sangria was very tasty, with a heavy peach flavor and a lot of sweetness.  This sangria wasn’t dry like some sangria can be, and it was very lightly carbonated which made it easy to drink.  I ordered the raspberry mojito.  I found it to be very smooth with a pronounced raspberry flavor.  There was virtually no alcohol flavor in this mojito, which made me wonder if they might have forgotten an important ingredient.  For entrees, our daughter, Morgan, ordered the sausage and pepperoni flatbread.  She found it to be delicious, with just a hint of spiciness and a nice, balanced flavor.  She particularly enjoyed the thin and crispy crust.  I really don’t even know how she tasted it since she eats so quickly I’m not sure the food even touches her tongue.  Katina selected the veal marsala for her entrée.  She found it to be very good (and she’s a veal marsala expert).  The veal was pounded nice and thin and cooked to perfection, and Brio wasn’t stingy with the marsala sauce, which was perfect for Katina (who usually orders a side of whatever sauce comes with her dish, anyway.  The veal marsala was accompanied by a Caesar salad (which is Katina’s favorite style of salad).  She thought it was good, but just too light on the dressing.  For myself, I begrudgingly ordered the crab and shrimp cakes.  Evidently, the only reason I wanted to go to Brio (can you say gorgonzola crusted lamb chops?) was removed from the menu.  That was rather suckish.  The crab and shrimp cakes were okay.  They were very light on flavor, and portion size was ridiculously small (think 3 bite sized cakes).  The crab and shrimp cakes came with crispy potatoes, which I might have ordinarily passed on but devoured due to food shortage that was evident on my plate.  The crispy potatoes were surprisingly good.  I ordered the Biscetta Insalata to go with my dish…and thank god I did.  Otherwise I might have taken down the first elderly or sick person in the parking lot like a lion dispatching a gimpy zebra.  This salad looked terrible – a huge wedge of lettuce with some creamy Italian dressing and some bacon bits.  However, the Biscetta Insalata was one of the best salads I’ve ever tasted.  The lettuce, while not loose, was very fresh, and the creamy Italian dressing was perfect.  Plus, Brio was fairly generous with the bacon, so the salad ended up in near perfect balance.  It’s pretty sad when the salad is the highlight of the meal.  Katina gave Brio an “A” for food, but I couldn’t muster anything higher than a “C+,” so we split the difference to get the grade of “B.”

High marks:  Good flatbread, good drinks, excellent salad, good veal marsala     

Low marks:   Mediocre crab and shrimp cakes, I think (not really enough of them to taste), weak mojito

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Value:  Grade B- :  The quality of food is high at Brio Tuscan Grille, and on this occasion, so was the price.  Portion size was adequate for most of the dishes (except the crab and shrimp cakes), but we certainly didn’t have much need for a doggy bag (Katina took half of her dish home, but I bet she could have finished it off – she was looking for an easy dish to take to work for lunch).  However, for the price we paid, I would expect service above and beyond the normal and the food quality to be exceptional.  While not our first pick for Italian food, Brio Tuscan Grille does provide a nice alternative to Olive Garden and Bravo if you’re in need of a change.

High marks:   Good food quality, adequate portion size

Low marks:   For the price, our expectations were a little higher