Bijoux

I love restaurant week. I usually go to a restaurant that I would not normally go to eat (usually can't afford it, honestly). Last night, Robin, Mike, Tom and I went to Bijoux. It's in Inwood Shopping Center and, if you couldn't tell, it's french. I've only been to one other french restaurant and that was in New York City about six years ago, so, I was ready to try it.

The food was excellent and once the service started...it was great. We ended up sitting at our table for about ten minutes before a waiter came to take our order.

For the newbies or virgins of restaurant week, you get a three course meal for $35.

Apparently, at french restaurants, you get an "amuse-bouche" to begin the meal. It was a tiny veggie concoction that made my mouth "happy". I started with Pork Belly, which sounds kind of gross to me. But, it was very yummy. My entree was the New York Strip Steak and it was served with polenta puree and root vegetables (i.e. something that tasted like mashed potatoes and carrots). We then had a palate cleanser before our dessert. Um, the palate cleanser was like a dessert. It was peach ice cream with diced fresh strawberries. Yum. For dessert, yummy chocolate mousse with a passion fruit glaze. It was so rich and SO good.

Our $35 meal ended up being over $200 for the four of us because of the wine we also had with it. But, everything was great.

Funny antedotes from the evening:

The restaurant changed our silverware seven times throughout the meal. SEVEN times.

Robin made the suggestion to Mike to share entrees (she would order the risotto and he'd get the steak). Mike immediately said, "I'm not sharing half my steak. Risotto is a side dish."

The servers placed oddly-shaped spoons on the table for our palate cleanser. Tom's comment: "Look, it's like a mini shovel."

Overall, the restaurant was great, the food was fantastic, and, of course, the conversation was lively. What else do you need?