BOVINE — Restaurant in San Miguel de Allende

Hello hello! We visited Bovine on Tuesday April 13, 2021. I was looking forward to a Steak restaurant that would have a good steak to pair with a velvety red wine to finish off a day of sight seeing in SMA (San Miguel de Allende).

The opportunity presented itself as our party of 5 ages 22-66 was resting at the hotel about 1.2 Km from the city center at about 7 PM and hunger struck. We Ubered to the restaurant and were greeted by a lobby that evokes the Art Deco scene from New York, a lot of Black and White with mirrors that greatly add to the space sensation.

We were seated on the second story on a round booth, the whole ceiling is decorated with cut mirrors and feels very intimate. So far so good I thought. The staff is attentive and friendly, the aqua service is good and a lot of work in the glass details is done.

And well we were there for the food, as Starters we had Grilled Octopus and Roasted Carrots, in the meantime our Baja California Roganto RA (Piccolo) Red Blend was being chilled. Th Octopus was just OK as it was charred but lemon less and the Carrots were blackened and the aioli-sauce was tasty, but the vegetable itself was soggy. Amounting to an OK experience.

We settled to share the main courses as tasters, we had Rib Eye (medium well or 3/4 in Spanish), the Braised Rib, Capresse Tomato Salad, with French Fries, Brussel Sprouts and Bread. The Wine was uncorked and as promised fruity and refreshing, served in a beautiful wine glass, it needed some steak.

The Rib eye was only fat and very thin, no flavor from the melted preparation. I gave it another bite but again was greeted by tasteless meat and unmelted fat. Went for the Rib and found the meat though, as opposed to the expected almost crackling like feel of meat. So failed again. The salad was fresh and the Sprouts tasty, the fries served to try some of the au ju, so at least a bit of taste.

All in all the US$ 200 meal was unsatisfactory, the wine was good and the decor unsurpassed. Even their plates are personalized. But the food a big let down.

Hope this helps to reconcile expectation and what you may...

Ordered the rib eye steak and it looked more like a striploin..? It was very thin and awfully fatty for a rib eye. But they're the experts, so I took their word on it! It was cooked perfectly and tasted delicious so I was satisfied. The caramelized onions were nice - I was impressed that it was an entire onion cut into thirds! But I was a little sad that for the price it didn't come with a proper side dish. I ordered the mashed potatoes as an extra side and they were great, but VERY rich. Almost tasted like if you mixed instant mashed potatoes into a cheese fondue... Strange but surprisingly good! The cocktail was fantastic (I forget the name but it was with ginger beer and irish whiskey. delicious!!) But the red wine was horrible. Ordered a Cabernet Sauvignon to go with my steak and had to practically chug it at the end because it was 200 pesos for a VERY small pour, so I wasn't going to waste it! In their defence, they let me taste a sip first - but I was too focused on my steak to really notice it was bad until it was too late. The bread was stale and crunchy (probably pre-sliced first thing in the morning) and was served with no butter. Atmosphere was great, and not too stuffy. Decorations were fantastic! Would be a great place to take some nice pics over dinner or for a date night. Will probably go back on my next trip, but will just stick with the cheaper cut of steak from the menu - since I suspect that maybe be what I was served anyway! Service was good, but almost... too quick. He only gave me 1-2 minutes with the menu before coming to get my drink order - I hadn't even read through the full drink menu yet. But that's alright! I think I was his only table, so he was probably just excited to have...

Pésima experiencia. El lugar para empezar es subir escaleras las cuales me fatigaron y al recibir mi mesa que ojo el restaurante estaba solo, ese día llovió éramos los únicos clientes, cuando el mesero me vio fatigado me dijo joven gusta un vaso de agua a lo que agradecí esto y le dije que sí, acto seguido me trae un vaso con agua me lo tomo y en ese momento pone una botellita de agua bui, la cual me cobraron en $120 al final de la cuenta.

Entendí que su gesto disfrazado de bueno fue una medida gandalla para venderme un producto que si me lo hubiera especificado tal cual... hubiera dicho no.

La comida. La ensalada de jitomates con burrata rica nada fuera de lo normal, La hamburguesa y las papas normales nada que exagerar, Yo pedí un pescado el cual venía exageradamente oloroso acompañado solamente cilantro pero debo aceptar que la muselin estaba espectacular fue lo único que valió la pena cremosa y bien adaptada.

El servicio. Hago hincapié en que éramos los únicos clientes del restaurante estábamos solos ese día llovió y nos dejaron la deriva hasta pareciera que después de lo del agua nadie quiso aparecer para que no preguntáramos nada más.

Ambiente. Debo aceptar que el lugar es un lugar único a mí me lo recomendaron porque era demasiado bonito pareciera una galería de arte contemporánea, pero creo yo que es un lugar en el que olvidas que estás en San Miguel de Allende ya que no hay ni una vista a la calle.

Cierre con broche de oro. Al llegar la cuenta obviamente que lo primero que vi fue que me cobraron el agua me di cuenta que sí era una medida gandalla para aprovecharse del cliente... Respiré y dije entre mí va estoy en San Miguel de Allende quiero pasar bien la velada. Saco mi tarjeta para pagar con terminal y al momento del cobro velozmente y ni siquiera nos preguntaron qué nos había parecido el lugar la cena lo único que dijo fue le agrego el servicio, solo recuerden que les dije que nos dejaron a la deriva, pasó lo del agua, y que lo primero que me preguntaron antes de qué tal estuvo su cena fuera le agrego el servicio... A lo que respondí el 10 y para que el mesero me recontra recomendara el 15... Volteo a verlo y le dije ciérramela con el 5, Y todavía el mesero me dijo "perfecto a nosotros nos conviene que lo demás no los deje en efectivo", me paré enojadísimo y me fui.

Para el que sea dueño de este restaurante, está muy bonito yo creo que tu comida está muy buena, a mí me recomendaba mucho tu restaurante justo antes de ir a San Miguel, pero la gente que tienes al frente de tu servicio está destruyendo tu negocio ten cuidado sus malas prácticas por lo que leo en otros comentarios similares al mío van a ser que un día no te visiten y qué triste porque este lugar a pesar de que dije que no te hace sentir en San Miguel está dentro de una galería de arte que sí es muy bonita y elegante. Quiero imaginar que tu menú puede dar mucho de sí, o que tienes un buen equipo de cocina porque había técnicas en tu plato muy bien hechas y aterrizadas, y te recomendaría que en vez de vender huachinango solamente, pudieras vender pesca de temporada para que tuvieras un...