Restaurant & Dining Reviews

Traditional french bread was served, resembling quite like Robuchon’s bread. Nothing to complain about; it was quite acceptable as temporary relief from hunger (kudos to those who can guess this reference) as the waitress listed off les plats du jour. There is a lengthy wine and cocktail list for your perusal; we settled on a nice riesling for my sweet-biased wine palate.

Appetizer course started with Assiette de Charcuterie: a fine selection of truffled duck pate, pork risette, spicy cured pork slices, prosciutto, accompanied by assorted pickled vegetables, dijon mustard, sea salt, and a cherry jam. The pate was rich and, most importantly, had an excellent, smooth texture, making it one of the highlights of the dish. The truffle added into the pate gave it a nice buttery flavor, which went beautifully with the cherry jam on the petite baguettes. The other meat selections were wonderfully prepared, especially the spicy pork slices which had the right amount of peppercorn to give it nice heat, but did not overpower the savory pork. The pickled vegetables served as the other highlight, with each one complementing every meat selection perfectly. The acidity balanced the entire course quite well. A beautifully prepared charcuterie overall.

First entree was their traditional Croque Madame: grilled ham and cheese sandwich on brioche with a fried egg and sauce Mornay served with crispy French fries. Presentation first off was excellent. French fries were golden and crisp to the touch. Mornay sauce poured over the whites of the friend egg and Bouchon did this sauce beautifully; it was rich and creamy and the slight hint of nutmeg was nice. Ham was nicely salted and the French fries were cooked perfectly -- right amount of salt and thin and crispy like the way I generally prefer fries. 

Second entree was le Poulet Roti: roasted chicken with riz rouge, marinated eggplant, pickled beech mushrooms, mizuna and chicken jus. Chicken was cooked perfectly, with a nice crispy skin that would make Gordon Ramsey happy; seasoned beautifully and the pickled mushrooms added the right amount of acidity to the dish. Chicken jus packed a lot of flavor and the little bit of mizuna gave a nice peppery flavor to the dish -- a nice choice over arugula which would have been overpowering. Riz rouge was slightly overcooked, but still enjoyable in the jus nonetheless.

Dessert course was one of their specials for the day: Chocolate Bouchon bites with mint ice cream and chocolate sauce. This was a perfect ending to the meal. Chocolate bites were miniature delicious, light brownies with a semisweet chocolate sauce served warm. Mint ice cream was truly the standout here: real mint infused ice cream where the  natural mint flavor was bright, yet subtle enough to be the perfect complement to the brownies. A real surprise were the candied mint leaves around the dish that were perfectly crispy.

Overall, a wonderful dining experience. Service was good; entrees were a tad bit slow to come out, but the rich flavors and smart combinations more than made up for it.

Our appetizers were tuna tartare and rock shrimp louie. The tartare was prepared table side and the portion was big enough for two people! It was delicious and the use of pear gave it the right amount of crunch to balance out the texture of the tuna. The rock shrimp louie was good, but not memorable. The flavors were good, but we wish there was even more flavor to it -- it was a tad bland. The shrimp was cooked nicely though.

The support staff was quick to clear our plates and fill out waters. Always a plus!

The entrees: strip steak and kurobuta porkchop. The strip steak was seasoned beautifully and we appreciated how they put the sauce on the side in a separate cup instead of all over the strip steak, as most restaurants do. We appreciate a nice piece of steak that is not drowned out by sauces. The waiter suggested the bearnaise, but we preferred the worchester vinaigrette with the strip steak. This was a winner among steak houses.

The kurobuta porkchop: how do you describe perfection? It was the most delicious pork chop I have ever had. Medium rare. It was tender, moist and most importantly, not chewy! This is a definite must if you are not the mood for steak. It was seasoned well and cooked perfectly.

We also had the duck fat fries, which we saw other reviews rave about. These are a must as well! They cook them so they are crispy and the duck fat gives it a nice flavor that compliments the other dishes we had.

For dessert: chocolate lava cake and banana tarte. The chocolate lava cake was really well done. The lava was nice and warm. It did get a little messy, but overall very delicious. It wasn't a unique or memorable cake, but well-done nonetheless. The banana tarte was spectacular! The phyllo dough was cooked nicely, and didn't taste store-bought. The banana on top was scrumptious! It tasted like a banana's fosters, but better because it had phyllo dough! Everything is better with a little bit of phyllo dough!

Review:

Our waiter Scott was fantastic! Very attentive, everything a waiter should be! Once again, the support staff was attentive as well. Great service all around this time. Once it picked up, the service slowed, but not to the point where we felt neglected, as was the case during our first experience. 

We were seated promptly and drinks were served immediately. Scott came to us very quickly with menus in hand and was fully knowledgeable of the specials and menu. Off to a good start.

The amuse bouche for the night was a slow poached egg with maple syrup and miso cream. The miso cream was very light and was done beautifully. However, Alexander's should re-examine the use of maple syrup, as such sweetness early on in a meal (and on an empty stomach) can have the opposite effect for which it was intended.

Our dishes were cleared promptly and our glasses were always full. Nice to see this aspect of the service is always consistent.

Appetizers were tempura short ribs and smoked gyu carpaccio. The tempura short ribs were delicious. The tempura was the right thickness and had just enough crunch without feeling like a mouthful of fried tempura mix. The accompanying maitake mushrooms did not add much in the way of flavor to the dish. The dipping sauce that came with it was lovely.

The carpaccio was presented beautifully with nice colors. The first impressions of the carpaccio were that it was presented beautifully with nice colors and that there was a lot going on in the dish. Though it's appearance was complex, the textures and flavors were spot on.

The intermezzo of a pomegranate gelee with apple pearls and micro cilantro was refreshing. We really liked how the gelee was not too sweet or thick, just enough to bridge our first courses with the entree and cleanse the palate.

Entrees consisted of filet mignon with a demi-glace and the sous-vide jidori chicken. The filet was slightly overcooked without ruining the taste. This would have been an opportunity to just season the meat beautifully and let it shine through on its own. 

The sous-vide jidori chicken was well-cooked; juicy and tender all the way through with a crispy skin that came off nicely. A well-seasoned dish. The popcorn foam on top was underwhelming and did not give off the contrast in flavors we were anticipating. The green garlic puree was good, but did not come across as garlic, it was much more acidic. The portioning could have been reduced to half the size as much of the chicken was left unfinished. 

After the entrees, we noticed the service slowing down a bit because the dinner rush was in full swing. It took a good 20-25 minutes between finishing our entree to ordering our dessert. Ordinarily this would have seemed long, but we were enjoying the company and compared to our initial visit, the slow-down was nothing.