frenchish — Restaurant in Albuquerque

I’ve been a fan of Chef Jennifer James for a long time now and each restaurant has been a real joy for me. Frenchish sticks to a good foundation of maximizing locally sourced ingredients and others that are best quality. Then those ingredients are cooked correctly and combined in ways that compliment each other. Seeing several familiar faces when we have eaten there means it must be a nice place to stay and work. Local dining at this level has been dwindling for a few years and we’ve gotten curbside from Frenchish a few times now during this pandemic because we dearly want this place to survive and be there for us when we can all come back and watch Jennifer in the kitchen again. My advice is from several small things and share. Those small bites will add up to a great tapestry of a meal. But if you prefer an entree, Jennifer can take seemingly straightforward items like a steak or scallops and help you discover that you’ve been eating it wrong all this time. My other pro tip if it’s just you or one other is to sit at the bar and get there for happy hour. Good nibbles and beer and wine that are chosen with the same care as the food. You’ll beat the later dinner crowd (reservations always a good idea if you want a table) and you’ll save a...

The food was absolutely delicious! I got the crispy duck, and was surprised to learn it could be cooked medium rare! I've never tasted duck like it before, it almost tasted like steak! Wonderful.

Service was also great - we were told ahead of time that the duck takes a little longer to cook than most meals, so we were prepared to wait, which was considerate. They were very attentive. We were also about 20 minutes late to our reservation and they were very gracious about it.

However, both my husband and I were underwhelmed with the contrast between "high scale prices and portions" and "low-mid scale atmosphere". If you want fine dining without having to dress up or be fancy, this is for you. But for me, if I'm spending almost $40 on my entree alone (which was small enough to wipe the plate clean), I would like to at least have a hostess who isn't dressed in a flannel and jeans, and maybe have some visual separation between the kitchen and...

One of the best burgers I've ever had in my life. Incredibly rich and flavorful but not so heavy that you leave feeling overly full. And the fries are maybe even better than the burger - perfectly salty and almost impossibly crispy, with delicious frite sauce being the cherry on top. They're so well-fried that they actually keep overnight, suggesting that they employ some form of magic in making them, as most other fries turn to soggy garbage after a nap in the fridge. The carrot dog is also very good, as is the mac and cheese. The menu seems to rotate somewhat frequently, although some staples remain in every iteration. Some of the items can be quite expensive (especially by Albuquerque standards) but I've yet to have anything that I felt wasn't worth the price. The burger is a great deal comparatively at $14, but you really can't go wrong. But maybe just...