Seared Bistro Albuquerque — Restaurant in Albuquerque

My husband and I went there for my husband’s birthday. It was a last minute decision since the restaurant we were originally going to was closed. We went to the restaurant part and the waitress suggested we go to the bar section since it was “more intimate. The “bar” is a couple of doors down from the actual restaurant. . The place is small, white table cloths, candles and small bunch of fresh flowers at each table. There were four other tables with patrons, along with a couple at the bar. There was one waiter for the place, and he was rushing. The sounds were loud. There is a small saloon style swinging door separating the kitchen area from the sitting area. I could see underneath the door and the tablecloths were thrown in a “dirty laundry” section. It was not a relaxing inducing atmosphere by any stretch of the imagination. The house red wine was good with hints of fruit and pleasant taste. The salads were unremarkable. The salad dressing is brought on the side, the way ketchup might be placed in a container next to the fries. This is the customary way they serve the salad. We had green Chile ranch dressing. It was basically ranch dressing with a few strips of green Chile on top! The salad, however was fresh. As far as taste or artistic endeavor, I would say 0/10.. I have better salads every day and I am by no means a chef.

With regard to the meals, mine was a salmon dish and my husband ordered a steak sandwich. The brussel sprouts were soggy and completely over done. I usually love brussel sprouts, but this was amateur cooking. If my kids had served up bruseel sprouts that way, I would have shown them how to improve. My husband’s waffle fries were saturated in oil. The bread his sandwich came in was cold. It had not been buttered,toasted, or cared for in any way. The meat itself was descent. Hubby ate just the meat. I had a few bites of the salmon and I had to stop eating. I was wishing we had gone to just about any chain restaurant instead because the taste would have been better, and the server would have been less rushed( and that is saying a lot!)

When the waiter asked if he could bring us boxes, I told him the truth. I usually hate wasting food, but this was ridiculous.

The waiter talked to the chef and we were told we could just leave without paying.We left a tip and did just that. The prices for the food are way too high for the quality and the taste. This is by no means a gourmet place. White table cloths do not make gourmet. The server attitude, relaxing inducing atmosphere and fabulous food makes a gourmet restaurant.

My husband was talking to some restaurant goers at the gym and they said,”O that place serves terrible food.” Wish we had known that yesterday.

Do not waste your hard...

This has to be a joke, right?? All of these reviews, all of these photos, and this is an alleged “high-end” restaurant that serves milk duds and poorly-disguised low-quality fig jam from a jar on their charcuterie board?? This place seems less like an actual restaurant and more like a front for money laundering or human trafficking, because WOW: it was one of the worst dining ‘experiences’ of my lifetime.

We had reservations at 7 after hearing great things about this place. Showed up and it was packed, but a good sign for a Wednesday… that was about the only good sign, because everything went downhill from there, starting with the waiter ’explaining’ that their encrusted Brie was “like a giant mozzarella stick” before mispronouncing ‘cioppino’. I actually laughed out loud when, after bringing out the garbage that they call a charcuterie platter and our rotten-fish soup (don’t even ask) an hour into the meal, our waiter popped by the table to inform me that the scallops I had ordered 70 minutes earlier were simply “out”. No further explanation was given, and by this point, I had zero interest in salvaging any part of the meal. I ordered the filet de boeuf anyway and asked for a medium rare steak.

Worst. Idea. Ever.

Not only were the potatoes accompanying the meat still raw, the steak was cold in the center and seemed to have been thawed in a microwave rather than properly seared. For a $40+ entree, I’m still shaking my head at the off-the-shelf gravy and greasy mushrooms… because no part of this dining debacle was something I’d ever repeat.

The entire restaurant feels like a bad practical joke put on by teenagers who’ve never left Albuquerque — because dear god, the ‘food’ is downright inedible. I didn’t eat more than two or three bites of any dish, yet I’m writing this review at 3:30am following another bout of the gut-twisting nausea and food-poisoning symptoms that had a sudden onset precisely 6-8 hours after our nightmare ‘meal’.

Whatever you do, make sure to run (not walk!) in the opposite direction of anyone recommending this pretend eatery, because those people don’t cook, clearly don’t eat, and are likely the types of people who appreciate the dark lighting that obscures anything that could be crawling throughout their food and the incredibly uncomfortable ‘ambiance’ that is sound-dampening foam stapled to a ceiling.

There are so many truly amazing, high-end restaurants to visit and enjoy in Albuquerque (such as Campo, Antiquity, Gather, etc etc etc) — save yourself some time, money and gastric distress and just go eat somewhere that isn’t badly masquerading as a...

After seeing several rave reviews, we decided to have dinner at Seared Bistro last night. We had an excellent dinner and an excellent experience.

The restaurant started out on the right foot when , after making a last minute decision, we were able to get a reservation on the day we called. And on a Saturday yet! The place was full, but they did have room for us. I also like that they are open till 10 pm, later than most places here.

They have a nice cocktail menu and a very good wine list. I was pleased to see that they also feature wines from two NM wineries: Sheehan and Jaramillo. We are members of Sheehan’s wine club and really enjoy their wines. They are a small family operation and are located right here in the south valley with a tasting room in Old Town. So pleased to see that a local eatery also supports local! (But since I have lots of their wine at home, I did order an Italian Malbec.)

For dinner, we had the French onion soup, which is exactly as that soup is meant to be. And we also shared the deep fried asparagus. If you go there you must (you MUST) have this app. So delicious.

For entrees, Ms Spouse had the beef filet, which was tender and flavorful, and came with a wonderful mushroom risotto. I literally bought “the farm”. That was the name of the menu item. It had three kinds of meat. Two are standard: duck leg confit (which I have say was a bit dry), and lamb chops (wonderful). The third changes daily and last night was duck sausage in a yummy spicy bbq sauce. There was enough food there for two dinners. Everything was delicious.

But perhaps the star of the dinner, which came with both entrees, was the seasonal vegetable which last night was yams with walnuts and pomegranate seeds in a maple glaze. I’ll be dreaming about that dish for a long time.

We finished with the German chocolate cake; some of the best I’ve had…and that’s my favorite cake. It was a large piece and we took most of it home.

Our waiter, Austin, was very good. Since the menu changes frequently and some items change daily, he has a long speech to give at the beginning to explain the evening’s offerings and he did so flawlessly. He knows his stuff! He was attentive and checked in with us frequently, without being intrusive.

This is an upscale dining experience that I would recommend for any special occasion, a romantic date, or just to treat yourself. It’s well worth it. — eating dinner with my love with D Melissa Larntz Case at...