Tryst — Restaurant in Boca Raton

I visited this restaurant as part of a table of 4 at 4 PM on a Saturday in Sept 2024. Our bill with tip was $320.00 before tip was about $265. We did try a couple different specialty cocktails, a few appetizers, an entrée each and two desserts. The first round of drinks was okay at best. I didn't order a second drink because I was not impressed with the "Talk to me Goose", it was good enough just great. I went back to my diet coke instead. My friend enjoyed her first cocktail called the "Bayou Breeze". The second one was not made the same, we both tried the first and second, the difference was incredible. She took a couple sips and didn't want to finish it and she didn't. They were out of the root beer another one of the guests at our table ordered but it is on the menu. The mac 'n cheese bites are different but good. Like mini pasta cups filled with cheese and topped with panko crumbs. None of the other apps were worth writing home about. We tried the biscuits and honey butter, the biscuits are not the soft delicious buttermilk biscuits you would expect from a southern biscuit. They missed the mark on both the biscuits and the butter, which I doubt was made with real butter. It didn't melt like it and the mouth feel was not like creamy honey butter. We also ordered the rock shrimp and escargot. Meh... For dinner the vegan option with oyster mushrooms was reportedly good. The chicken and biscuits were not. The breading on the chicken was like a cornmeal breading without the added panko crumbs and seasoning you find in NOLA. Maybe on catfish you would find that. The biscuits were the same hard and dry buttermilk biscuits that were served as appetizers. The muffaletta sandwich came out as two pieces of the typically round sandwich. Having eaten this in NOLA at central grocery and deli and feel in love, I can say this was not close. The olive tapenade was almost none existent and not flavorful at all, I could taste the provolone over the olive mixture. The bread was not crusty enough and the inside of the bread was not able to absorb the oilve oil without getting mushy (see images). The flavors were off balance. The roughly 10oz strip steak was $60 and did taste pretty decent. It was cooked to the correct temp or close enough and was seasoned okay, I would however add a little more salt. We also tried the beignets and a slice of bananas foster cheesecake. I did not taste the cheese cake but it looked good. The beignets were definitely not Cafe Du Monde but fried dough with powdered sugar can't taste bad. Our server was a sweet young lady. She did a great job, only one small error kept being made though, she kept refilling a sprite cup with water (for the guy who ordered rootbeer and couldn't get it). We thought it was funny. The biggest complaint is that we were sat right next to the door inside the establishment and we were literally sweating through the entire dinner. I do not think their AC was working and sitting by the door made it so much worse. Ice in drinks even melted almost immediately, you can see no ice in one of the pictures attached. It did look really cool inside. The pictures changing were pretty entertaining. The bathroom was also decorated well. If I'm being honest, I wouldn't go back. The management and chef has some improvements to make if they are going to be successful in the foodie area they...

We had a 3pm reservation at Penelope for Mother’s Day today and were severely disappointed. Our server, Niko, was probably the only redeeming factor of the whole experience. First, we were met by what i can assume was a manager? Clearly, he wasn’t having the best day and we caught the other side of that. Eye rolling, dropping plates on the table after I complained about one of the dishes being dirty, no greeting, not welcoming at all. One thing to note, they had the doors and windows open. It was 86 degrees outside. We sat inside and were STILL sweating. Add velvet cushions (very pretty though) and it was a recipe for disaster. Not to mention the flies. We got a round of mimosas and a red rose for each mom as a celebration of Mother’s Day, which was nice but unnecessary if they had put that much thought and effort into the rest of the experience. We ordered the crab cakes and the rock shrimp as an app which were the best part of the meal. If it’s standard to have dishes brought out as they’re ready, I would have appreciated knowing that in advance instead of waiting around awkwardly waiting for the rest of our family’s meals to arrive. Both my mother-in-law and I got the moules frites. I promptly returned mine. Very little seasoning and the mussels were quite briny and bitter. After a few mussels my mother in law also sent hers back, neither of us wanting a replacement. I ordered a (TWENTY FIVE DOLLAR) shrimp cocktail which was fine. Hard to mess up shrimp cocktail but the shrimp were so tough and over cooked. My husband ordered the chicken po boy which was soggy and had a very strange flavor? But the worst was my mother’s shrimp and grits. The coffee mousse was so gross to put it frankly. The grits were under seasoned and yet again, the shrimp was wildly overcooked. The server only took one of the mussels off the bill but that point, we were so ready to get out of there that we didn’t even fight it. Over $100 for a...

Lets me start of by saying I loved every moment here. this place is just exquisite. So perfectly situated in mizner park at the original location of Kapow noodle bar. It’s only been open for a little over a week but they have their food and service down already! We had an app and two entrees. Since I’m on antibiotics, I didn’t get to enjoy any of their cocktails but the next time I go, that will be a focus.

We stated with the Bone Marrow Escargot. The flavors were so incredible. The escargot was perfectly cooked, not chewy. On top of the bone marrow with the roasted cherry tomatoes was absolutely mouthgasmic and truly a wonderful primer for our main dishes!

My date feasted on the fried chicken and biscuits. The chicken was so moist and flavorful. I asked what they used for their coating and they told me it was a mix of several things, including semolina flour. It really looked gorgeous like fried catfish and the crunch was similar to that. Not overpowering and as someone who has a gluten intolerance, I’ve suffered to try this, and it was worth it. The biscuits were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside with a spicy maple syrup. That was a wonderful accompaniment to the other flavors.

I decided to get the shrimp and grits since I had oral surgery on Monday and I couldn’t have anything too hard to eat. The dish came with three huge, and I mean the size of my palm huge, shrimps that were seasoned to perfection. The shrimp was tender, the bacon lardons were crisp and JUICY, then the finishing touch of subculture coffee foam in the middle just set the dish apart from any other shrimp and grits I’ve ever had.

The menu is perfect. I am excited about going back to try some of the other items! Even being gluten intolerant, there’s plenty that I can eat! Next time I’m going to enjoy every drink on their specialty menu. Looking forward to...