Bistro Elan Restaurant Review
Unexpected obligations made our crowd small two weeks ago, so instead of vainly trying to dent the menu at an Indonesian restaurant we decided to go French.
Our French destination was Bistro Elan in Palo Alto, where we had a very good duck and very good desserts and otherwise okay food. By okay, I mean certainly not memorable; I'm having trouble remembering the non-dessert, non-duck dishes as I write this review.
When we sat down, they immediately gave us a small plate of tidbits ("amuse bouche") (three different items per person), with one of the items being an olive. I don't remember the others. Okay.
Soon afterward, bread arrived. It was decent: what one would expect at a high class restaurant.
We had two appetizers. One, the special, steamed mussels in cream, was fine but did not shock us with, say, the mussels' freshness or the flavor of the liquid. Two, a mushroom quiche (or something vaguely like it). A bit over a week later none of us remember this dish to describe it.
One entree, salmon on mashed potatoes, looked very bland, robbed of color, and unappealing. Happily, it tasted better than it looked and could best be described as simply competent.
The other entree, a roast duck accompanied by a risotto, was very good. The duck was tender but not too fatty (unlike many duck preparations). I don't recall what flavors were supposed to go in the risotto because the parmesan component dominated the dish, making it taste like cheese with rice (and have a texture like macaroni and cheese). It didn't appeal to us.
Desserts were certainly an improvement. The first was much like the insides of an apple pie. Quite good. Made of sizable slices of soft apples, it was not overly sweetened and was without too much of that gooey mixture bakers use to fill up the empty space in an apple pie. Served with vanilla bean ice cream.
The second dessert, a (flour-less) chocolate souffle, turned out to be much like Limon's flour-less chocolate cake that we've previously raved out.
Incidentally, I had a quite good glass of a Riesling.
A full three course meal with taxes and tip without drinks was $50/person, probably not worth the price compared to other places we've been.
Original Announcement
Since Bistro Elan was the result of a last minute change of venue, there was no original announcement.
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