Budget French: Quality French Bistro @ Bistro La Bonne

Finding quality, reasonable-priced French cuisine in the Washington DC metro area is a challenge.



One place however that's serving exactly that is Bistro La Bonne on U Street NW (Editors' Pick in the Washington Post).

Food: Chef/Owner Daniel Labonne is producing well-executed renditions of french bistro classics like Escargots, Mussels, Coq au Vin, Steaks (various styles), Boeuf Bourguignon, and Steak Tartare.

Desserts here are also fairly traditional. On Thursday nights, the restaurant offers two souffles as a special: a Grand Marnier Souffle in addition to a Chocolate Souffle with Sabayon (see pic below). As with all souffles, they take about 20 minutes to create from scratch, so letting the server know well in-advance (either during when initially ordering or in the middle of eating your entrees) is recommended.



Chocolate Souffle w/ Sabayon (regular Thursday night special)

Overall, food prices at Bistro La Bonne are very reasonable, and quite cheap compared to many of their direct competitors. Coq au Vin and Boeuf Bourguignon for under $20 with healthy portions and great flavor? Yes please!

As for drinks, wine choices are average but generally fine choices. I don't think you'll be wow'd by any. Same could be said for cocktails. But where they most shine unexpectedly is in the beer selection (perhaps representative of their U Street locale). They offer a nice selection of Belgian whites / and tripels (example: Gouden Carolus tripel on draft, NOT expecting that), along with some standard U.S. fare.

Service is generally attentive except when the restaurant is very busy, but quite pleasant.

Space: Not fancy by any means but nicely appointed (lots of French-themed prints, wine bottles nested into the bricks). Tables and chairs are sort of generic but functional. Overall, decor fits in the U Street area nicely. The place can get loud here, acoustics generally aren't kind. But it's a Bistro!

Overall Opinion? Add to your rotation when in the mood for classic French fare and bistro decor.

Blog-Following: Spot-On Article on Scrambled Eggs

Yes please, low & slow. Preach it like gospel to all.

• A Dissertation on the Scrambled Egg on What's Cookin http://t.co/GHkerhq

DC Restaurant Week: Summer 2011 Edition

Summer Restaurant Week (RW) is back in DC mid-August!:

• Learn more about DC's Restaurant Week
• Officially runs Aug 15 - 21. Some places will extend the deal beyond these dates)
• Lunch: $20.11 per person, Dinner: $35.11 per person

I'll be posting some of my favorites places to "best take-advantage" of the Restaurant Week promotion.

Some places are much better values (and frankly, more deserving of your dining dollars food quality-wise).

Tips for making RW reservations:

• Don't solely rely on OpenTable. I see a lot of folks make the mistake of checking for table availability on OpenTable & get discouraged (eliminate the restaurant as a possible choice) when they see no openings for their requested timeslot. Restaurants typically only provide OpenTable a limited # of seats to reserve via that method. There's often a decent chance that calling the restaurant directly will yield a possible opening.
  
• If available, choose a date outside of the actual RW period. There's a mad rush to make reservations for the actual week of the deal. Many restaurants extend the RW Deal pricing. I've had plenty of success of getting reservations if I choose a date outside of the official RW period.