Bistro San Martín — Restaurant in Arlington

First time here! Have tried to get in every year at Valentine, but always packed out!!! This year we were successful, and boy, was it worth the wait!!!

Upon entering the restaurant, we were immediately shown to our table, and greeted warmly, within minutes, drinks were on the table, menus were in hand and we started salivating at the exquisite choices offered! We decided to opt for a starter, and went halves on the king crab legs! Not only were they cooked to perfection, but prepared and served in a fashion, that didn't involve the usual greasy mess associated with less cultured destinations!

Next, I had the New York steak, with a fabulous blue cheese coating, the menu advertised a herb and garlic butter coat, but it was sooo good I wasn't complaining!!! The demi-glace and accompaniment veggies were near perfect, (Carrots were a little under done but still very good) and overall the food had a good balance of flavours, which at no time disappointed!

My wife had the roast chicken, which when it arrived, we thought that they had got the wrong table, as it looked like a family of four could have fed well on it for a week! In my wife's words " I seem to have half an animal on my plate!!! The chicken was first class! Succulent, tender, and beautifully seasoned, the only disappointment was the stuffing which had neither much flavour and almost no texture!

Finally onto dessert! I had the lemon creme brulee, a ridiculously fluffy almost intangible texture, which left just the right amount of zesty zing on the pallet! Delicious!!!

My wife had a chocolate cake and ice cream which although I didn't get to try it, (try taking chocolate from your redhead and see if you live through it!!!) my wife assured me it had more cocoa than the Cadbury factory in it, and was absolutely amazing!!!

Now I will say that although all the food was of the highest quality, and the service was such, we never really felt we were not cared for, there was quite the time delay between our drinks, our starter, and main course! However it was valentines, so they were pushed to the limit with a full house, so a margin of forgiveness is expected.

Overall. Well done all the team at San Martin We hope to see...

They graciously accepted us without reservations, although maybe if we had made reservations they wouldn't have forgotten about us. The decor was very eclectic for what seems like a higher class establishment. We sat next to a very colorful wizard toy, a wicker vase stabbed through with an antler and other odds and ends. The bread we received was okay, but the crust was very hard. They brought in my wife's salad, but they brought me a Caesar salad as well. I later found out that the salad I didn't order, didn't come complimentary with the meal. That was an extra surprise on the bill. The staff went by with the water quite often, but they rarely stopped at our table. My wife quite liked the pear salad which the server recommended and the key lime martini, which she found quite sweet. She thought the duck tasted like a cornish game hen though, and was not impressed. I ordered the flank steak, which was quite good, but not $29 good. I have had better steaks for $9.99. The manager did stop by to apologize for the service, letting us know how hectic it was, thus confirming that we were receiving poor service. After finishing the meal it took a while for anyone to notice we were done, even with my credit card resting on the table. Finally someone stopped by to fill my water, so I let her know we were ready to cash out. She went and got our server who did bring the bill, which was expensive, but not worth it. We left the tip minus the price of the salad we didn't order. This review is more negative than I would normally leave. If my $10 order is messed up? Meh. If my $100 order is messed up, well, I...

We've been wanting to go to Bistro San Martin for a while now, and last night we finally had the opportunity to do so. I wish we would have come sooner because this bistro is a hidden gem in historic Downtown arlington. The inside is very nice, the tables aren't crowded, and the kitchen is exposed so you can see the chefs working real time. The menu has a good variety of dishes and there's always specials that vary from time to time. Our waitress was so nice, answered all the questions we had about the menu, and always made sure our drinks were topped off. And she gave us extra bread, we didn't even have to ask! The dipping oil was high quality and the bread had a crunch flaky crust with a super soft interior, truly impressive bread. We got the gnudi ravioli for an appetizer, and it was like eating soft pillows with a delicious red orange sauce and crunchy breadcrumbs. I got the corn bisque soup, whihch was impressive. For entrées, the lamb was slightly overcooked, but the quality of the lamb chop trumped the doneness with its incredible tenderness and flavor.y wife got the filet mignon, and she was accommodated with replacing the Bleu cheese butter with garlic butter. Our vegetables were slightly Al dente (perfect) and the mash potatoes were a nice texture, albeit it not as salty or buttery as I like. The lemon creme Brule was awesome to cap off the night! Clean bathrooms as well, we'll...