The Baker's Wife Bistro & Bar — Restaurant in Hampton

Exploring different restaurants during Hampton resturant week. Made a reservation and rounded up my friends to give this place a try. My experience was not a good one. The staff can be trained to be more friendly, attentive, and forthcoming especially after disclosing this is our first time patronizing the resturant. We were seated with drink menus, but had to ask for food menus, and then again for a resturant week menu, so that was time that was spent just waiting after ordering drinks. The waitress walked passed several times and did not bring food menus, so we asked again for food menus. I have never been seated at a restaurant and have to ask for a food menu, so this was different.

The dish that I came for specifically was sold out, I really wish things like this are communicated upon being seated, and not 20-30 minutes in, but again, did not have a food menu to even have the conversation and had to request menus twice. After ordering a drink that I have never tried before but wanted to explore the options that they offered, it was not to my liking and I immediately informed the waitress, I was told that I was stuck with it and the policy is on the menu and the website. After asking about where the policy was on the drink menu, because I would have noticed and ordered accordingly, the waitress pointed out the policy on the "food menu", again we were seated with drink menus and had to request a food menu twice, it would be impossible for me to know about a policy that is printed on a menu that I didn't have when ordering the drink, or on a website that I had no reason to visit while in the resturant. The waitress explained to me the ingredients in the drink in a snarky manner as if I were a child and not capable of comprehending (as someone with 3 engineering degrees and currently pursuing a PhD, I felt offended) and asked me if i wanted a coke to pour the drink in, or an iced tea. I told her I dont drink soda and I don't want to reconstruct the drink, I just want to try something else. She followed up with the comment that "she's not going to argue with me" when I was simply having a conversation to resolve something that I did not like but was told I would have to spend money on, trying to reach common ground. Unneccessary comments like this definitely set the tone for a bad experience when you are out trying a new resturant for the first time.

I cancelled my desert order as I felt offended and as if I was a "bother" because at that point, there was no need for me to spend my money at a restaurant where my enjoyment and a good experience does not matter to the staff. There are too many other resturant options in that area to even bother a $60-100 bill with lackluster service. The food option that they advertised for resturant week that fit my dietary restrictions was not available, the waitress was rude and combative (probably irritated because they were probably short-staffed, yet no excuse to take it out on me), and it ruined a Saturday night out with friends exploring new restaurants. She said she would get a manager, a manager never came. It wasn't until my friends finished their desert before the waitress came and collected the drink from my table and said she was removing it from my bill, hence me sitting there with no food and only water for over an hour and, again, my experience and enjoyment meaning nothing to the waitress. She came back to the table and attended to my friends several times but did not bother to offer me another drink or a resolution, and again a manager never came. I regret even inviting my friends, making a reservation, and driving from Norfolk to Hampton to be provided service like this.

The only good thing is that my friends enjoyed the bread pudding desert, because that is all they decided to order after food options on the menu that we came for were not available. Even the desert options they initially ordered was not available.

Will not return for another visit and happy I did not spend my money here. The waitress with the white glasses should definitely...

First off let me say that the decor and ambiance is wonderful. I don’t want to rate the service because it was our waiters first night. As for the food, gosh I really wanted to like this place. The idea is good but…we started with crab and grits and beef tartare. We were lucky that we had already agreed to share our appetizers because the beef tartare did not show up to the table until 20 minutes after we had finished the crab. The crab was sautéed in a miso butter and garnished with nasturtium oil. Unfortunately so much miso paste was used, we could not taste the peppery undertones of the nasturtium oil. It was a very salty dish. The grits were coarse ground and well cooked. The dish would have been a true joy if a little restraint had been used with the seasoning. The beef tartare needed acid. The menu listed pickled cauliflower as an accompaniment, but we received chopped raw cauliflower. The accompaniments that normally come with tartare (egg, chopped shallot or onion, capers, mustard) were not there to be mixed in. Instead, it comes in a stack with crispy potato slivers and raw cauliflower. It was already dressed with too much Worcestershire, and again just really over-seasoned. No crackers or baguette was served with the dish so we ordered rolls for $10. The rolls came with a coconut compound butter which was just strange. For our main course, we both ordered the Scallops with a strawberry vierge sauce and orzo with black garlic. Let me first say the scallops were seared perfectly and were tender and sweet. The sauce was delicate with strawberries taking the place of the tomatoes typically used in this sauce. The sauce needed more acid to counter the sweetness of the strawberries and scallops. The orzo with black garlic was a jarring counterpoint of flavor rather than complementary to the main. The black garlic flavor was so strong that it was just short of bitter. The flavor profiles of the two dishes just didn’t belong together. The “Truffle Fries” consisted of the weirdest dish on the menu, which does not contain a description of what you will get if you order this monstrosity: nicely cooked fries drowning under a literal mountain of “snow”. From the photos, I assumed the “snow” was very finely shredded Parmesan, but my first bite proved me wrong. When asked, the waiter did not know what the snow consisted of, so brought the front of the house manager to our table. She explained the snow is maltodextrin infused with truffle to keep the fries from being greasy. Give me good old truffle oil and Parmesan any day. Maltodextrin is a highly refined starch used in highly processed foods. No thank you. We did not finish the fries. The desserts were the highlight of the meal. The strawberry-lemon semi-freddo tart had a nice crust and was both tart and sweet, creamy and refreshing. The S’more consisted of a large square of homemade marshmallow lightly grilled with chocolate pot de creme, bourbon ice cream and a ginger crumble. Very well executed and the flavors married very well. I wish I could say that I would return to this restaurant because I adore the idea of a French bistro in Phoebus. But it is almost as if they are unsure of which restaurant they would like to be. The heavy seasoning goes against the basics of French cooking where individual flavors are encouraged to shine through and good fresh ingredients speak for themselves. The menu covers dishes one expects from a decent bistro: steak frites, duck, rabbit, seafood. I had hoped to return but doubt I will unless I hear through the grapevine they have changed chefs or someone is tasting the food before it leaves the kitchen. There is so much...

The Baker’s Wife Bistro is seated on a quaint corner in Phoebus Hampton V A.. We have passed this locally owned restaurant several times when we bring new crystals to our friends metaphysical holistic healing store a few doors down (Ginger VooDoo). Today we stopped in to have dinner.

Atmosphere: on a Wednesday night is calm and soothing with a lovely jazz band. It’s also “wine night” with a great discount on full bottles of wine. We were seated at a high bench type table. That was a unique experience for both my husband and I. It would appeal to the young crowd that loves sitting high. Not to despair- there are plenty of regular tables. Each table was properly set with basic flatware one would expect for an anticipated multiple course meal.

The service: we were early - as they opened - so plenty of seating. However, I would advise making reservations if you were planning a weekend or later meal. We were nicely greeted and seated with an extensive wine and drink menu. However, my tastes were definitely off menu so the bartender was challenged to create a high end rum drink for me and he did not disappoint. Our server Amy was excellent- doing the work of a sommelier and wait staff person all in one. My husband reacts to high tannin wines so she consulted to find a red selection that would work well for him and we took advantage of the wine discount and got the full bottle.

The meal: we started with the charcuterie board selection we made from the diverse tasting available of appetizers. We were delighted with the selection of shaved cured meats, pickled selections and spicey nuts ( but passed on nuts).

Our main menu selections were a classic upscaled Waygu burger and fries (topped very very generously with truffle powder) while I took on the chefs special of the day- a flounder with fingerling potato’s caramelized Brussels sprouts and a sauce which escapes me.

A nice bread service with rosemary ciabattas and French bread (baked there) alongside whipped butter and olive oil made a good companion to the meals.

Finally, for desert i had a lemon and blueberry crème brûlée with a perfect crackable crust- while hubby enjoyed a dark roast French pressed coffee.

Overall a great relaxing experience. Rating a 5 star but also have some lower notes-

the plating on the chef’s special was not attractive.

-the plate may have sat a little long because the food was just about room temperature- not hot as would have been enjoyable.

typically truffle dusting is a dusting- the amount of the truffle topping on my husbands fries was excessive.

this is a high end setting so be sure to pay attention to prices as you make choices- I was certainly surprised at the...