Bon Ami French Bistro — Restaurant in City of Canandaigua

First of all, this is Brian, Pam's husband who is writing this review.

Second, everything below is the same as my original review but I raised my rating from 3 stars to 4 because the owner replied promply to my review and acknowledged the issue.

I was inclined to give the experience a 4. My wife strongly suggested a 3. So we compromised and 3 it is. And while I gave the service only 4 stars, that does not reflect upon our waitress but upon what you will read below if you care to go on.

We've been to Bon Ami before and truly enjoyed the experience. I recall our first visit there with friends early on a weekend night. The food was excellent and the service attentive. We relaxed and had good drinks and wine with our food and spent a pleasant few hours.

Last evening was a bit of a difference. We had an early reservation, 6:15. For a weeknight, the restaurant was about half full at that time. And as with other comments you'll read here, there is clearly a contingent of older locals that the owners know and greet warmly.

As with our first experience, the food was wonderful. The farcous is always our favorite. I probably could make a meal of three of those appetizers. The branzino special was prepared very well and it's nice to have it served as a filet and not have to pick at tiny bones as is the case with so many other restaurants. I opted for the linguine picante and it was a wonderful dish. The pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauce accompanying the shrimp and mussels was spiced absolutely perfectly (the waitress did politely ask beforehand if it was okay that the dish was spicy).

So why only three stars? First of all, to catch the owners' attention so they recognize what they did not do well. We were rushed, plain and simple.. Instead of the relaxing meal we anticipated, we were in and out of the restaurant within an hour - that's with two drinks each, appetizer, salad, main course, and dessert (the Pistachio cake is to die for and I'm not a cake fan).

At about 7:10 when we left, all of the tables were full but there were still a few open seats at the bar. No one waiting for a table but our check was attempted to be picked up three times - once by the waitress and then once by each of the owners. It was clear that they were trying very hard to turn the table. In fact, when we got up to leave the remaining drink glasses were whisked away as I said thank you to the owner. There is something to be said for quick service. But this isn't Chili's . . .

I've spent time in my younger days in French bistros in France as well as imitations here in the U.S. and always relished the friendly atmosphere where you were allowed to linger and enjoy good food and drink. I realize that this is a small restaurant and that they have to do what they can to turn tables and make the most of a weekday evening but to rush a nice mean, over $110 per person with tip? That's simply not appropriate. I think we'll be going back to Kix sooner than I...

I was visiting my friend in town, we found this restaurant and I came first. We thought because restaurant have a 4.8 star that would be amazing place to spend night at, but I came in with my little baby and face rude lady with silver(or white) hair. I nicely asked if they have available tables, she said no. I ask if we can sit at bar table, she said no. She said we should have reserved a table. My friend showed up with her kid as well, I explained the situation and we decided to order food to go, because she lives only 5 minutes away, so food wouldn’t get cold and we can still enjoy it. The barman was really nice guys, he patiently waited for our order. He also recommended us a special and recommended me a duck. I love the duck , so I immediately agreed. All the time what we wait, that lady was keep giving us not welcome looks. We felt super uncomfortable. We got our food and immediately went to try it out. When I opened my box there was 5 little pieces of duck breast, 2 scoops of mashed potatoes and green beans ( all though I ask to replace them, because I’m breastfeeding mom and it’s affecting my baby) , they forgot. The other surprise for me was a smell, usually if you season your food and put some souses you would get a mix of smells. My food was smelling like a raw duck meat, I tasted one piece and didn’t eat anymore. The meat was raw. I decided to give a call restaurant and share my experience, because I paid $40 for that duck and I also stayed without my dinner do to smell and raw meat. To my biggest surprise I got to speak to the same lady, when I told her that I’m calling to share my experience, she immediately asked me what I ordered. Soon as I said duck, she interrupted me scream that their duck is amazing. When I explained to her what happened to me, she started to look for a reason to blame me, like what temperature duck was ( but nobodies even asked me that) . Then I heard that it was my problem that I ordered to go food, should have made a reservation instead. How I mentioned earlier. At the end she even didn’t think to apologize, just kept saying that their duck is amazing. That was my experience, so if you have a kid and didn’t make reservations, don’t waste your time going there, and of course never order to go food if you want to waste your money. P.S. forgot to mention about desert, I ordered macarons. They were coming in 4 little cookies, which was fine to me, but when I opened and try them it’s just regular cookies from store, which one you can get a whole pack for...

I may be suffering from recency bias, but I think I just ate the best tasting meal I've ever had. I don't have this feeling often, in fact I haven't thought this since I ate at "Shark on the harbor" in Ocean City Md in 2016, or "Pour Richards" in Bluffton SC in 2020. Everything was so delicious and perfect. The servers were friendly and professional, and the food and drink menus were expertly curated. This is what we ordered. Appetizers Lamb Lollipops Bistro: 3 grilled chops, port wine, red currant jelly, orange, Dijon, ginger, couscous.

Coguilles St Jacques: Scallops, mushrooms, shallots, brandy cream sauce, gruyere bread crumbs. This was probably the best appetizer I've ever had. My wife suggested we dip the Lamb Lollipops in it and it got even better. Of course, dipping the bread was amazing too.

Entree's Surf and turf special. Shrimp and steak were cooked perfectly.

Beef Bourguignon: Beef stew with carrots, onions, mushrooms, herbs, red wine demi-glace, soft polenta. This was one of the most delicious entree's I've ever eaten. The rich beef and flavorful herbs created a complex and delicious meal, which was rounded out nicely by the creamy polenta. The bread made it in there too.....yum!

Desserts Peanut butter chocolate cake (Sweet, rich, and exactly what you expect.) Vegan chocolate torte (Creamy torte with a nutty And delicious crust.) Both desserts were reasonably sized, not small by any means, but not excessively large either. Perfectly portioned in my opinion (I generally like...