Bistro Daisy Review

Went tonight with the family for early Mother's day celebration. Here's what we got.

Appetizers:

quote:

---

grilled sweetbreads with lemon supremes, fried
capers and toasted pinenuts in a browned butter

Louisiana oysters poached in horseradish, bacon
and garlic cream over a grilled crouton with chives

---

and a duck terrine (with the normal accompaniments of mustard, pickles, flatbreads).

The oysters were perfectly poached, and the combination of the oyster, sauce, and bacon was fantastic. The sweetbreads were awesome, very creamy, but crispy on the outside. Not huge (like Upperline's), but not breaded. It had some pickled onions with the pine nuts, and I really like the sour contrast with the sweetbreads. The duck terrine was expectedly delicious.

For entrees:

quote:

---

tomato and mint braised lamb shank over saute of gnocchi, spinach and Nicoise olives with tomato-mint reduction

---

quote:

---

saute of gulf shrimp in an Herbsaint, garlic and tomato buerre blanc with toasted fennel, red onion and yellow grits

---

quote:

---

grilled duck breast on French lentil, chard, and poached garlic ragout with bacon & cracklins and a roasted shallot demi

---

and a flounder with sweet potato puree.

The lamb shank was gigantic and basically fell apart if you touched it. Ridiculously tender, but not dry. The gnocchi were just okay, but the rest of the dish was great. The duck and the cracklins were awesome, although Patois still has the best duck I've ever had (in the Uptown American bistro circuit).

The shrimp were cooked perfectly, and even though it doesn't say it on the menu, it had little chunks of bacon in it (so not overpowering), which was awesome. The grits were actually really light, which was a nice surprise. The flounder was very lightly breaded, so it was also very light, and cooked as well as I've ever seen fish cooked.

For dessert:

quote:

---

Chevre "cheesecake" and hazelnut crisp Napoleon
with port syrup and sun dried cherries

---

quote:

---

strawberry baked Alaska with pistachio cake and
Champagne crème Anglaise

---

quote:

---

homemade ice cream or sorbert with shortbread cookie

---

Didn't get to taste the cheescake (it was pretty small), but the ice cream was a heaping serving (it was almond amaretto) and the baked alaska was out of this world. The inside was like a sorbet, just an incredibly powerful strawberry taste.

In all, it was a very good meal. Not quite as good as Patois/Gautreau's, but not far behind either, and probably equal to Upperline IMO (comparing similarly styled restaurants). Including alcohol (bottle of house pino grigio, 2 turbodogs, vodka tonic), it was 211 before tip, so just about $50/person. ETA: website