Bungalow - 3.5 out of 5

Finally, another date night! This time with friends Steve and Jennifer Cox, I was so excited to be checking out Bungalow--the new incarnation of Richard’s in Hyde Park. We got reservations for the patio at 7:00pm on a perfect, warm spring evening.
I was planning on at least a score of 4 out of 5, maybe even better! Alas, it didn’t work out that way.

Our table was ready immediately (nice) and I even got to chat a bit with owner, Erik McLaughlin about the new name. From everything I’ve read, Erik believes in a true neighborhood place and naming his restaurant is no exception. He told me that “Bungalow” echoes the special north-end homes and décor, not to mention that the name seemed fun. I agree, but why do I have such a hard time remembering it?

We started the night with a bottle of Maysara Pinot Noir. Jennifer wanted her wine with dinner and our server gladly obliged, better yet, she actually remembered! The wine list is extensive and broken out as at 8th Street Wine Company into styles of wine (“supple and sexy” for example) and not just by red and white. This is quite helpful and lets you go right for the taste you enjoy as well as allowing just about anyone to pair the right drink with dinner. Our server was friendly and pleasant, but it did take quite some time before we initially met her. As we remarked later, our glasses were always filled, nothing was forgotten or ignored, but please don’t be in a hurry here. Luckily, we weren’t and it was just fine with me to sit and enjoy a 3 hour meal.

Our server recommended the calamari and the risotto for appetizers, so that’s what we tried. She steered us away from the pommes frites (French fries), saying they weren’t that special. The calamari truly was excellent, perfectly fried and exquisite seasonings. The garden risotto was ok, but for a recommended appetizer I would have preferred a little more interest. It’s hard to do a great risotto and it wasn’t happening here. The risotto was also an unfortunate choice because several of the dinners are served with the same risotto—it’s just plain boring to have an appetizer reappear on your plate for dinner.

Recommendations for dinner included the halibut and their hamburger—which did sound great. But no one at our table was interested in beef that night. Mark got the bow-tie pasta with chicken, I got the halibut, Steve & Jennifer both ordered salmon. (What’s that about becoming more and more alike after many years of marriage?)

The halibut was served with a risotto cake, leeks and tomatoes. The risotto cake was great—very creamy inside and deep fried and crispy outside. The halibut was a thick piece of firm beautiful fish, but it didn’t bowl me over. I could have cooked it at home, and I really want something better than what I can cook at home when I go out for dinner. The leeks were bland and the tomatoes looked like stewed tomatoes from a can—I’m sure they weren’t, but the presentation was not good.

Steve and Jennifer’s salmon was served with a mustard-y sauce on top of a bed of the now familiar garden risotto. The salmon was excellent—very tender, cooked to perfection, and a nice size piece at that. The drizzle of mustard sauce was the perfect accompaniment. Mark enjoyed his pasta with shredded dark-meat chicken. It had a tarragon-flavored sauce that seemed like it might be a bit too heavy on the tarragon, but Mark said he really liked it.

We shared a tart tartin (kind of an apple pie a la mode without the crust.) Everyone enjoyed it with melting cinnamon ice cream on top. We also enjoyed the “chocolate overload” although we almost didn’t get it. They were out of it at first and busily baking more, so we ordered the only other chocolate dessert—unfortunately that last one burned, but by then the chocolate overload was complete and we got what we wanted in the first place—along with apologies from the owner and our server. Not really a big deal and well handled. The chocolate overload was truly overload. It came with raspberries and crème anglaise—decadent. We oohed and ahhed, and it really was chocolate-y, but sigh, I’ve had better.

I like nothing more than to sit out on that patio on 13th street on a beautiful evening with good friends. Well ok, I might have liked it more if the food had been a little better. I’ll definitely be back checking out the menu again. After all, they’ve just opened with this menu and there are probably some kinks to work out. The menu is definitely more laid-back and less expensive than Richard’s was. But at this point, I don’t think that’s a good thing.