Bailey's Backyard — Restaurant in Ridgefield

June 2023 -  Bailey's was back to 2020 in terms of menu and food. Offering a choice of small tables for two, we thought it would be memorable to sit in the one on our first visit here.

Best dish ordered: Roasted Copps Island Oysters. Melted in our mouths like warm butter. After dinner, I said we should have ordered six of these. The cornbread is no longer served table side but still complimentary. We enjoyed the "Diver Scallop Paella" and "Prime Seared Skirt Steak." Expensive but worth it.

Ed. Note: my last review of Bailey's after writing a long update online and not saving it as I do regularly now, disappeared before posting and naturally I wasn't too happy so I left some details out.

Second visit here was good. Same pleasant atmosphere, service and complimentary corn bread and warm syrup. Two nice special menu drinks: Gin in Pink with Empress gin and Ballard. No new apps called our name as the prior visit's scallops with cauliflower. They were out of the salmon and duck.

The star dish was the braised beef short rib. On the first bite, my mouth exploded with flavor. The rabbit dish wasn't what my partner ordered and enjoyed before. We didn't bother to look at the new description of this entrée, as we assumed it was the same. It's now braised rabbit Pappardelle - shredded meat with a broth, more like a pasta dish or stew.

2/2020 - This was a real find that my partner chose before a show at the Ridgefield Playhouse nearby. Everything was absolutely delicious. Friendly service. The interior is intimate with two rooms, wood floors, tables and black leather booths.

We had a choice of getting the chef's four course dinner for $40. PP on a Wednesday, with the option of adding a bottle of wine for $20. or ordering from their regular menu. Looking over the chef's choices, which were fine, we chose to order from the main menu, mostly because we wanted to try the soup our waitress said was really good.

It was chowder with seafood sausage. The creamy base coated the pieces of lobster, sausage and slivers of crisp slab bacon perfectly. This is definitely one of the best soups I've ever had in any restaurant, or home for that matter.

A tin bowl of bread was brought to the table and the waiter told us he was pouring a mix of warm molasses and butter over the three slices. I was disappointed at first, not sure if this was what I wanted, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was like eating a little warm bar of French toast. Not sure if it was cornmeal or a mix of flour and cornmeal, but it was the perfect choice. We loved it.

Our scallop with cauliflower puree starter was another dish that just kept wowing us as the meal continued. The braised scallops had creamy interiors with crisp exteriors. I didn't know if the cauliflower was the right vegetable to pair with the scallops, but like with the bread, the chef surprised me with how well it complimented them. Using both purple and white cauliflower gave the appetizer the right contrast in terms of presentation. This is now my third favorite scallop dish here in Connecticut.

My entrée of pan seared salmon on saffron risotto with butternut squash was equally impressive. The salmon was incredibly moist and tender.

My partner was thrilled they had rabbit on the menu, as it's a favorite of his and hard to find on menus these days. The loin was wrapped in bacon and the leg was served along side it. Squares of tiered carrots decorated the plate. He said it was perfectly cooked. My bite made me think maybe I could eat rabbit!

Our drinks, one from the special menu with gin, St. Germain and a lemon twist served in a martini glass, and the second from a small batch local rum with club soda and lime served in a mason jar, were well made. Good pours and the martinis very flavorful.

We passed on dessert but the manager said the Smores cake was his favorite. There also was a pan baked warm chocolate chip cookie, sorbet and a few other unique choices. We will absolutely enjoy dining here again when we're in the neighborhood. If we lived closer, it would be a...

I had high hopes for this establishment based on other reviews, but I left feeling rather meh about the experience. I brought my mom here for Mother's Day brunch last Sunday. She lives in nearby Redding and was not familiar with this restaurant, likely because it's off the main drag a bit (a selling point in my view - that thoroughfare in Ridgefield is the absolute worst. Just a perpetual traffic jam of Stepford Wives). Parking was a little tricky, as you have to rely on the general municipal parking lot nearby, which was teeming with vehicles. We actually had to go to a lot a bit further away from the restaurant because of it.

The brunch menu was pretty standard. I went with their soup special of the day, which was my BFF the lobster bisque - very solid with plentiful lobster. For my entree, I opted for the eggs benedict, which was also perfectly fine though I thought they went a little heavy on the hollandaise. My mom went a little off menu (which believe me happens more often than not) and got a side of grilled chicken and the potato soup. According to her, the potato soup had "no discernible potatoes in it" and was watery, while the chicken was overcooked. Because it was such a plentiful helping, it was immediately decided that a portion would be brought home for her ill-behaved cat Aloysius, who did not deserve it. She did love the ice cream, which I believe was provided by a local farm/dairy (definite plus in my book - heavy reliance on local businesses for the food).

The winner of the day was the strawberry rose sangria. Absolutely delicious, with the perfect blend of crispness and sweetness, as all sangria should be. If I wasn't driving, I would have cleaned them out of that. And unfortunately, it was the only item that was received promptly upon ordering.

As alluded to, the big issue with this place is the service. From the minute we got there, every employee we encountered (though perfectly civil) seemed harried/just trying to get through our exchanges as quickly as possible so they could get to the next customer. You're probably talking about an extra 10 seconds per interaction, which isn't a huge deal but over the course of an hour plus is very noticeable. And in their defense, every member of the waitstaff I saw looked extremely busy, constantly moving and shuttling dishes and orders; it wasn't like they were texting on their phones or anything. An extra worker or two would have likely alleviated this issue, especially since its Mother's Day brunch - there should be an expectation that it's going to be a little busier that day. The long gaps of time without a visit from the waiter dampened what would have been a strong brunch performance.

I'd stop by again, but probably only to the bar to reacquaint myself with the sangria...

Unfortunately, I do not think the price our party paid for food is worth the flavor and dining experience we got out. Of the six total dished we ordered, most of them had major flaws.

The tofu scrammble was made with mixed veggies and red miso. Red miso is the most rugged and pungent of all types of miso. The presence of red miso in this dish was overpowering making the tofu taste sour and too salty. Moreover, it left a very unsatisfying "fermented" taste in my mouth after each bite.

The vegetable panini was fairly good; the bread was toasted really well with a subtle char and satisfying crunch. But there was too much vegetable volume in the sandwhich which ended up making it hard to eat and a bit soggy. The vegetables were also a little undercooked which left it tasting a bit raw.

The Burger was great. My brother, who ordered it said it was good! but who can really mess up a burger?

The eggs benedict with lobster was flawed as well. The english muffin was not toasted enough and slightly freezer burned, and they got very soggy. The lobster was outstanding, but stood out by itself.

The chickpea and Cauliflower soup was also very good. It's poured over a small garnish of diced apples and pine nuts which enhance it's texture wile eating. There was also a small hint of truffle oil (which I hate, but that doesn't mean it's not an objectively good dish).

Finally, the butternut squash soup. This was also outstanding! It was presented with the apples and pine nuts like the other soup, and had such good flavor. Every taste was balanced and every spoonful was amazing.

That being said, a $130 meal for four should be outstanding across the board. The soups, as good as they were, had an abismally small portion size which I personally think is not worth 12$. Overall, I do not recommend this place, especially if you are on a budget, but if you decide to go here, there are a few dishes that are definitely worthwhile. This restaurant gets very good reviews, so I hope I have sufficed my arguments as to why I did not...