Le Bilboquet — Restaurant in Dallas

So, my wife and I had an awesome experience. The pace of service was great, our server, Sohail (not sure on spelling so forgive me if that’s wrong) was awesome - he recommended wines and was just all around awesome. What follows is some critiques I have as a professional chef specifically regarding the food and they are intended to hopefully provide both the guests and the restaurant with more value. Bottom line, if you want to eat here, do it.

To start, my wife had the mushroom risotto. It was cooked really well, just al denté. Flavor was good, but it needed just a little bit more salt and some sort of vinegar or citrus to balance the flavors. Overall, they nailed the texture, maybe having someone taste it before it goes out would help the kitchen navigate the salt and acid thing.

I had the foie gras, which I loved. The foie is obviously a purchased product but honestly, to a point, that doesn’t really matter. Same for the jam. It worked and it worked well. In my experience, it is less expensive to prepare foie gras in house if your cooks have the ability to do so, and I think most ECs and owners know that. That being said, it’s so rare to find actual foie on the menu these days so don’t pass it up!

My wife had the roasted chicken for her main course, which she enjoyed and I did as well, and I just wish they had taken the time to either wet or dry brine the chicken. For one, a brined chicken is so much more forgiving when roasting. I will say that the herbs and other seasonings they used were perfect, but it would just have been so, so much nicer if the chicken was evenly seasoned throughout. I’m a huge stickler for this. Brining/dry brining helps to tenderize the meat and causes it to retain more moisture. More importantly, it evenly distributes salt throughout which improves the overall flavor. Plus if herbs and citrus are added - even better. None of it was bad, this is just my take to make a good dish great.

I have similar feelings for my entree. I had the duck confit. The legs were made very well, the à l’orange sauce was delicious and seasoned perfectly. I could do without the spinach but if you’re someone who needs the bitterness it’s a good choice. I will say that two whole leg quarters of duck is a LOT of food, they might be better served by reducing the portion. I saw the menu price and was not expecting two leg quarters. I also have the same critique as I did above. Brine the duck before confit so it is evenly seasoned. Beyond that, I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I did ask them to sub the sweet potato purée for white potato purée. This is where I actually have a small - albeit probably negligible - complaint. On the menu, it says “pommes purée” or “sweet pommes purée”. When you put that, I believe the expectation is French style pommes purée; thus it should be completely smooth and somewhat flowing; almost a sauce.

Ultimately, service was great. We spent probably a little more on alcohol than we did on food - which is a big statement. The most expensive bottle of wine I saw was $16,000. We probably spent about $250 on booze (for about 8 drinks) so even if you’re not a fancy wine type, you’ll be comfortable. But the food is good, could use some refinement, but overall, we’re definitely going back and if nothing is different, we’ll...

Visited for the first time tonight with my wife on our anniversary (22 years ... how time flies). Being European (Irish) and loving traditional French food, I was really looking forward to this. The reviews were great. First impressions were that it was a lovely restaurant with the atmosphere very reminiscent of Paris Bistros. The staff were fabulous. Friendly and accommodating. Here is 'the kicker' ... the food was below average. I ordered 'Foie Gras' (one of my all time favs) as an appetizer. On the Menu it is listed as "Foie Gras Fig Jam & brioche". What I got was Foie Gras PATE, Fig Jam and triangles of poorly toasted bread. The pate was tasteless and was no better than store bought 'foie gras pate'. The beauty of proper fois gras is the flavor, the sear, the butter and fat and the melt in your mouth warmth. This had none of that but was simply cold pate. My wife ordered Warm Goats Cheese Salad and was likewise disappointed with the lack of flavors. I ordered the 'Duck Confit a l'Orange' for my entree but made the mistake of not reading past 'Duck Confit a l'Orange'. It was served on a bed of mashed sweet potato (which I hate) as described on the menu (mea culpa). The problem here is that the l'orange sauce is sweet, the sweet potato mash is sweet. The sweetness totally overpowered the confit duck legs. It tasted like the confit duck was bland against an over-sweet and overpowering background. As a recipe, a really bad combination, in my opinion. Sweet potato is not a traditional French dish. Traditionally duck confit l'orange would be served with traditional scalloped potato or peas. I will give the restaurant a pass due to my negligence in not reading the menu properly BUT a fail on flavor combos. My wife ordered another appetizer as her entree, "Beef Carpaccio arugula, citrus shallot vinaigrette, parmesan, baguette chips". All sounds good for what is really a traditional Italian dish BUT the Citrus vinaigrette was WAY too heavy on the lemon which meant that the star of the dish ... the beef tasted of nothing but lemon juice. Very disappointing. They treated us to a lovely chocolate mousse dessert with sparking candle for our anniversary which was a nice touch and very tasty indeed. We ordered a bottle of Chateauneuf Du Pape which was one of the least expensive wines on the slightly disappointing (and highly overpriced) wine list and it is probably the first time I had a Chateauneuf Du Pape and did not enjoy it. Very poor quality wine. I do not take any pleasure from writing this negative review because the staff were great, the service excellent, the company and atmosphere perfect BUT the food was far removed from what one should expect from a highly priced French restaurant....

The service is pretty horrible. I was pretty excited to try this place for brunch, but I was disappointed. It took almost an hour to place our order, it was hard to get drinks refilled and the food was slow coming out as well. This isn't a huge place and all of the tables weren't full, so I honestly expected great service.

I tried the mimosa and the bellini and enjoyed them both. They were smooth and not overly juiced. The bread they place out as a start is soft, however the butter is rock hard and not spreadable at all. I ordered the Brioche French Toast and my friend ordered the Norwegian eggs. We split the meals in half, so we each got something savory and sweet, or so we thought. The Brioche French Toast is advertised to have some sort of Crème Brulee to it, which is did not have that flavor or crispness. The bread was great, and the fruit was fresh, but overall it was mediocre French toast at best. (I will say the blueberry pancakes looked to-die-for) The Norwegian eggs were not cooked to medium like we requested, they were over easy. The salmon was flavorless, which was a huge disappointment. It needed lots of pepper to help it out. The potatoes served with the eggs were completely undercooked and hard. They brought French fries out in replacement of those and they were great. The fries were crispy and fresh.

If you must go here, try the blueberry pancakes maybe and cross your fingers for great service. I hope to see this place improve as it's charming and unique, but lacks quality...