Bijou - Revisit

You want rich and decadent and old school French? Bijou may just be your perfect place. We have been to this place before, and I reviewed it, but we really have wanted to go back and make good on our promise to order all appetizers. I followed through on that promise, but hubby was swayed by a really yummy sounding special.

I really like the interior and feel of this place. It is warm and cozy feeling and all the staff (which as far as I can tell is the chef, the host, and a waiter) is very friendly and accommodating. We chose to sit a regular table on this trip, as we remembered the booths, while nice and private, being a little too vertical for hubby’s back. We were very pleased with the comfy chairs and plenty of room at the tables.

For something new, I started with the mushroom crepe. We discussed the fact that it could easily be drown in a tasteless cream sauce and debated the merits of ordering it. Pleasantly, it was very good and the cream sauce was flavorful with a cheese taste that wasn’t over the top rich and still had depth in flavor. It was one crepe, filled with a finely pureed mushroom mixture. Nice flavor, not too heavy, and the serving size was appropriate for a rich dish. If they put 2 on the plate, I would have thought it was overkill.

Hubby started with the oysters that he had last time—“Oysters Bijou.” These are little toasts with an (cooked) oyster, bacon and a chardonnay cream sauce. He loved them last time, and if anything, he liked them even more this time. They are really good (we shared a bit). Nice small oysters with just the right amount of bacon and sauce that are quickly broiled. And judging by the number of them coming out, we aren’t the only ones who like them.

We shared the spinach salad we had the last time. It was still very good. Simple and fresh with spinach, red onion slices and really nice Roquefort. I could have used a little more of the cheese and a little less of the dressing (a lemon dressing). The dressing was sweet and tangy at the same time, but mine just had a little much of it. And I mentioned the cheese before—it is excellent Roquefort. And we split a salad, and I thought it was perfect for a middle course. Even the full size salad would not be gigantic though, and I thought about the salad I had at Bella Vita that probably had 10 times the amount of spinach in it. Again, the bread, simple French baguettes are delicious and we went through a couple of baskets.

We were given the same intermezzo we were given the last time, a little tiny dish of passion fruit sorbet to cleanse the palate. A great flavor, and a nice touch, and in just the right amount.
For my main course, I had the appetizer I had the last time, the lobster feuilleté. It is pieces of lobster meat, cooked perfectly, with a heart shaped piece of puff pastry on top and surrounded by a Champagne cream sauce. It was still very good, although the saucing may have been a little heavy handed this time. I didn’t need all the rich sauce relative to the amount of other things. In fact, I would have loved a little bit more of the puff pastry to balance everything out. But overall, this is a great dish. Rich and completely decadent, and delicious.

Originally hubby was going to get another appetizer too, because we liked ours so much as I mentioned, but when he heard the special of pan fried turbot stuffed with lobster, shrimp and crab, he changed his mind. Actually, it was when he saw the table next to ours being served the dish that really pushed him over the edge. It was a lovely dish. Turbot, if you aren’t familiar, is a fairly thick white fish, sort of similar to petrale sole. It is mild in flavor and is a great base for doing lots of things to. In this case, the fish was stuffed with creamy bits of the above mentioned shellfish which were all good in their own right, and the fish was then pan fried to give it a perfect crispy outer crust. It was served with polenta and some broccoli, which were ok, but the fish was the real star. We were glad to have gotten an entrée that we really liked. It renewed our hope that we don’t have to only order appetizers here. But the lesson is, pay attention to the specials, and if they sound good, order them. My main complaint about this place (like you have never heard this from me before) is that they don’t seem to change the menu at all. What is on there is good, but I like variety and based on that special, I would love to see what else the chef could come up with.

Since I had only two appetizers and half a salad, I needed dessert right? That’s what I was thinking. And last time I was so full I couldn’t do it. This time I ordered the chocolate pot de crème. It was really good. Rich and dark chocolate-y. I often just think these kind of desserts are just ok because they taste too much just like pudding. But this one was rich and dense and one of the better ones I have had. Also, I liked the way it was served in a small lidded porcelain dish with a little whipped cream on the side (and not on top). It was a lovely presentation (picture was blurry sorry). Which actually brings me to one of the other things I appreciate about this place. The dishware and glassware is all lovely and high quality. I hate thick wine glasses and while normally I don’t even notice the dishes (usually because there is nothing worth noticing), these draw your attention. They are sort of old fashioned, but fit into the French bistro-ish kind of feeling you get here.

All in all, I still think this place is a nice change in our area. Why can’t Indy support a proper French restaurant? And how is Lebanon pulling it off? Anyway, if you haven’t tried it, and you like old school classic rich food, give this one a try. It really doesn’t take that long to get there.

Bijou Restaurant
111 West Main Street
Lebanon, IN 46052
765/482-7090
www.bijourestaurant.net

Bijou Restaurant - Lebanon

Before we had actually moved back to Indy, I had heard about this place from my sister—her boss at the time thought it was the best restaurant in the Indianapolis area. So I was intrigued to say the least. But the downside was it is in Lebanon which seemed so far away just for dinner. After mapquesting it, we realized, while distance-wise it was farther, time-wise, it was really about the same from our house as it is to go to some of the farther places downtown. And it was our anniversary, so it seemed like a good opportunity to give it a go (although our big anniversary celebration is coming up next week in Chicago, but that’s another post!) One note though, I probably would stick to going here on a Saturday night from Indy unless you go later, because I imagine traffic is pretty bad during rush hour.

To start with, it is chef owned and operated, which I think seems to make a restaurant more of a labor of love, and I tend to find that things come together better all around in these circumstances. I also love the homey, but upscale atmosphere of the interior of Bijou. The restaurant is set on the town square in downtown Lebanon, looking right onto the front of the courthouse. Sadly, this downtown looks a little forlorn, like so many small town downtowns, but the restaurant itself seems to be doing fine. It reminds me of a lot of the small family owned places we used to go to in Europe—it is a couple of store fronts wide, but with dark wood and white tablecloths. The place has been there awhile, and you can tell, but thankfully, wasn’t decorated in the 80s, if you know what I mean.

Anyhow, our server was very friendly and knowledgeable about the food and the wines, although he was a bit over-worked I think. There were a few pauses in service that might have been just a little too long. But we were enjoying ourselves, and our wine, so we didn’t mind.

We each started with an appetizer, which we shared and they were both totally outstanding. Mine was the lobster feuilleté which was beautifully cooked (read perfectly tender) pieces of lobster meat (and a lot of it) topped with a piece of puff pastry. And there was actually a bit of the pastry underneath the meat as well. The lobster was all in a Champagne cream sauce. It was rich and decadent and really, just perfect.

Hubby ordered (and again we shared) the oysters Bijou which were wonderful, small, tender Blue Point oysters served in their shells with bacon and a Chardonnay cream sauce (and there was a super thin slice of bread underneath the oyster making it all stay together).These were outstanding as well. I had a hard time deciding which was better and went back and forth, but in the end I think I liked the lobster better, although I would quite happily get either one (or both!) again.

We also decided to split one of their salads because they sounded good. We settled on the spinach salad with onion and Roquefort and served with a tangy lemon vinaigrette. I appreciated that they split it for us and that each salad had the appropriate amount of toppings. This was a simple salad, but one of the best I have had in a while. The Roquefort was truly Roquefort. It was super high quality cheese and you could really taste it. Not those tasteless blue cheese crumbles you get a lot of places. This was proper cheese. Proper French cheese. And I loved the vinaigrette, and the fact that there was the exact right amount of it, even on a split salad. No obligatory “warm bacon vinaigrette” here. And it was delicious.

Oh, and wait, I almost forgot the bread. Oh my. Warm perfect French baguettes. Just when you thought it might be impossible to find. There they are. In Lebanon. And the butter was delicious too—had a bit of salt and was perfect with the bread. I’m serious. You may think bread and butter sounds obvious, but I think it is tough to find a decent bread service around here. Man, it was hard to not eat too much. And they were happy to refill as much as you wanted. Oh! And I almost forgot the little palate cleanser that was sent out. Really superb passionfruit sorbet. I love passionfruit and this was really good. I really could have had a bowl for dessert. But I appreciate the palate cleanser. I think this is the first Indiana restaurant in which I have been served one.

Ok, unfortunately, this is the point where things got a little disappointing. The entrées were just ok. I was torn between the walleye in a lemon cream sauce or the shrimp and crab Normandie. Based on the waiter’s recommendation (he did say they were both very good though), I tried the shrimp and crab Normandie. This dish was large shrimp curled around a bit of what was basically crab cake mixture and set into a cream sauce with a touch of chipotle. The shrimp were cooked pretty well, but the crab cake mixture was disappointing and the sauce was just too blah. The whole thing needed a shot of acid of some sort (lemon perhaps would be an obvious choice) to bump it out of its flat, purely rich flavor. I wished I would have ordered the fish. The other thing that annoyed me (and is a pet peeve of mine) is that while each entrée is served with its own starch (mine was couscous which was fine, but plain, although in a heart shape), every single entrée is served with the same vegetable of the day. I know, I am sure this is much easier for the restaurant, and I get that. But I would almost rather not have it, then to have a one-side fits all type of thing. In a restaurant as nice as this, if you can’t pair something special, then just don’t do it. In case you are wondering, the side dish was a ratatouille with tomatoes and eggplant and then some broccoli with cheese sauce. Not that I am opposed to any of these things on their own, just the pairing of the same thing with every dish. And they didn’t add anything to the protein.

Hubby had the duck with Grand Marnier demiglaze. He felt about the same way about his as I did about mine. His was almost too sweet and thus, also sort of one dimensional. He said a bit of salt helped a bit. Some of the duck was a bit overcooked (even though they told us the kitchen cooks it medium rare and that is also how hubby likes it.). It was locally sourced, and I appreciate that. The starch on his plate was a shredded potato casserole, which he said reminded him of his Grandma’s and was his favorite part of the meal. Same veg obviously.

So I really liked about 78% of this meal, and will certainly go back. I may very well order two appetizers the next time (possibly the two we had actually, they were so good, although there were some other good sounding appetizers as well) along with my own salad. Or I may try one of the red meat dishes; I bet they can pull of a pretty good steak. Oh, and lots of that bread. And next time, dessert. The dessert menu was very tempting. And based on the two truffles we got for our anniversary, I bet dessert will be good. This place is a little gem, not perfect, but really enjoyable nonetheless.

Bijou Restaurant
111 West Main Street
Lebanon, IN 46052
765/482-7090
http://www.bijourestaurant.net/