VERO BEACH — When it comes to luring diners with special off-season menus, the Vero restaurants that have been the most successful all offer pretty straight-forward deals: a limited choice of appetizers and entrées (with occasionally a dessert), all at a price point that makes their summer prix fixe seem like one of the all-time great bargains.
But Bijou, the tiny French Mediterranean bistro on 14th Avenue that drew raves for its innovative cuisine during its debut season, has taken a different – and we fear a bit bewildering – approach.
While its ads offer a chef’s tasting menu “starting” at $25, the tasting menu can in fact run as much as $38 depending on your choice of entrée.
And the grazing menu, a choice of three appetizers or salads for $30, doesn’t seem like all that much of a deal, when you consider that you could go with two courses – a Bijou salad along with a bistro burger or the griddled shrimp over polenta – for $20.
Confused yet? By the time we made it through the three pages of menu options, all we could think of was ordering another drink.
But the food at Bijou – as we noted in our review during season – is innovative and delicious, some of the best in town. And on our visit last week, my husband and I both finally wound up sampling the tasting menu.
For the first course, I chose the garlic seared calamari with cherry tomatoes, crispy fried artichoke hearts and lemon aioli, and my husband opted for the seared duck breast with ricotta, blue cheese and dried cranberries on grilled housemade flatbread.
These two dishes were excellent.
The baby calamari rings were extremely tender. The thin slices of duck breast were also nice, and the flatbread had a wonderful porcini taste.
Then for a second course, I went for the curried roasted corn and basil soup with fresh crab, toasted almonds and herb oil, while my husband picked the mixed baby greens with crumbled blue cheese, croutons and aged sherry vinaigrette. The soup was creamy and had a nice kick to it. The baby greens salad was refreshing.
On the tasting menu, the listed choices for the third course were a fire grilled local black grouper – which would bring the tasting menu price to $35 – or a fire grilled ribeye with marsala glaze, which would bring the tasting menu total to $38.
While my husband decided to go with the grouper, I asked what entrée was being offered as part of the $25 tasting menu, and was told that evening’s entrée would be a seafood crepe.
The grouper, a beautiful piece of fish, was grilled perfectly, and served with a spinach, mushroom, and fontina cannelloni with a lemon caper sauce. My husband felt the three courses he enjoyed were a good value for $35, but not what one would call a great bargain.
But the surprise of the evening was my entrée. It consisted of seafood, with baby spinach, caramelized onion and fontina cheese, folded into a spinach crepe finished with a saffron shrimp jus. The broth was reminiscent of a classic bouillabaisse. This was a very successful dish.
While I would say that the three-course menu I enjoyed for $25 is a good value, I am skeptical of how many diners Bijou is going to draw with this offering in a summer when several of our top restaurants have set the price for an off-season dining deal at $15.
You can’t go wrong with the food at Bijou, but the summer deals are not the knock-your-socks-off bargains that Vero diners have come to expect.
To lure diners during Vero’s long hot summer, we suspect Bijou’s management is going to have to simplify the deal and sharpen up their pencils.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at tina@verobeach32963.com.
The reviewer dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.