Bistro Louise

Bistro Louise is Monika’s favorite restaurant.

Why, you might ask? First, the ambience is top-notch. The setting is a bit rustic French countryside, and the place is constantly full of people who you can tell are regulars. The owner walks around frequently over the course of the night asking you how the food is, eager to hear your comments. For some dishes, fish for example, she’ll cart your meal out and de-bone the fish right in front of you. Or she’ll whip up some Bananas Foster (insanely good, by the way).

The food overall is spectacular.

The best thing I’ve had there is the pecan-fried chicken. Now, you might ask yourself – fried chicken? Why would you go to a fancy French restaurant and order fried-freaking-chicken?

Well, it’s that same sort of “it doesn’t make sense” gibberish that goes through my head that convinced me to order it one time, and they delivered the goods. The batter was crisp and well-seasoned, the chicken was tender and flavorful. I can’t for the life of me remember what the sides were, but one of them involved gravy, which was obviously a good match for the chicken.

Monika is a big fan of the assorted cheese appetizer. It comes with a few slices of bruschetta, some greens, and some seriously stinky cheese, including a local goat cheese crusted in pepper. Now, it’s noteworthy to point out that this place is pretty expensive, on the order of ~$60 for a two-person meal.

However, they also serve breakfast on Saturday morning, and the prices are dirt-cheap in comparison. We’re talking less than $10 per person, and the caliber and quantity of food is comparable.

Overall Grade: A

Okay, I’ve now decided that I need to split the grade…one alone doesn’t encompass enough.

Food: A+

Value: A-