Bistro Milliard — Restaurant in Hallowell

The most disappointing aspect of this dinner was the fact that quality was well within arms reach . Last Friday evening for Valentines' weekend my fiance and I went )for dinner. I ordered the beet salad, gnocchi, and panna cotta as dessert.

The beet salad was what I felt was a safe option, unfortunately, it was lacking in salt and acid. I would pickle the fennel, this would vastly improve the lack of balance and increase the depth of flavor. The plating also made for a difficult dining experience because of the thinly sliced beet which was accompanied by thin slices of fennel. We were also served a bread that was defined as Foccacia but really was hard, cold, and served with olive oil that tasted more akin to cooking oil. This is all in all, not a very big deal but the most disappointing part of this meal (which is mostly why I could not rate my experience higher) was the main. The gnocchi was undercooked and bland. Laid on the sauce in an unharmonious manner with just one cherry tomato, leaving something to be desired in the garnish of this dish. The end result was bland and underwhelming as a main course. The tragedy of this all is how perfectly the gnocchi dough was prepared to be pillowy and soft but not cooked with the same care. All dished lacked salt and just a little bit of attention to detail. This is really where the 2 stars come from; the quality that is being left on the table and squandered right in front of you. That and the server seemed inexperienced and or disinterested in the experience of the patrons. This place has so much potential and things like the gnocchi dough are so well prepared to show that it is possible but just lacking in the final touches. The Panna cotta was however perfect. it was phenomenal and that is where the stars come from for...

My sister and I dined at Bistro Milliard last Saturday night with reservations at 5:30. We ordered "chef's-choice" style and let the chef-owner Tim with the help of our exceptionally dashing server Alex come up with a meal plan for us. I would highly recommend this option. We wanted to try everything so we thought it best to let them course us through the evening.

The dining room is small and intimate but even when every table was occupied we didn't feel cramped for space. The music fit nicely in the background well enough not to impede on our conversation. I'm a stickler about appropriate dinner music; no problems here.

We were given a bottle of Malbec "A Lisa" (I don't usualy drink Malbec, but I would recommend this wine to anyone who likes reds). The appetizer, second course pasta, filet entree, and panna cotta dessert were all very good. The dinner bread was a focaccia with olive oil and balsamic; a tasty alternative to the classic french bread option.

The one item that stuck out was our entree filet: cooked perfectly and surprisingly tender enough to cut with a butter knife. We shared the one filet and it was plenty enough for two of us after the previous courses. We both got our own pastas but could have easily shared one as well.

We sat at our table for just over two hours and never felt rushed. We talked the whole time, ate slowly at our leisure, and drank excellent wine. What more could one ask for in fine dining?

I don't usually write dinner reviews but I felt compelled from our great experience.

In short, we loved it and will be returning in the future. Thanks to Chef Tim and Alex for a great evening. Hope to be...

Funny how your response and tone of voice changed once I posted the requested screenshots. Had this been your approach in the first place we would have never had an issue nor would I have felt it necessary to leave a bad review. I’m sure the restaurant and food is lovely however your customer service is severely lacking. Secondly we were never asked to show our conformation I gladly would have. Third while we were there early for our reservation and completely understand having to wait a small amount to our reservation time, having to wait a while past that was not acceptable as we had a small child and the situation was not handled well up to that point. I understand being busy, I also understand having issues with third party services. What I do not understand was the lack of communication and appropriate customer service to reprimand the issue. Also I would have been more than willing to delete my review had I not been met with such an accusatory response!

Updated!!

I am more than happy to provide receipts! Will never ever eat here especially with that response!

Made a reservation via google for three of us tonight at 7. We walked in and were told we had no reservation. We were then asked if we placed one via google to which we said yes and had the reservation confirmation pulled up to show. We got told they had no space for us till 30-40 minutes after our reservation time if not longer! What is the point of allowing Google reservations if you do not honor them? We ended up taking our...