Bliss Restaurant — Restaurant in San Antonio

I rarely rave about restaurants but boy, does this place deserve it.

First things first, I loved our waitress Marcy! She was not only a fantastic personality, but she was also very credible in her recommendations. I told her we were leaving Texas and we have one dinner to eat something awesome-- which one thing should we make sure to try? She strongly recommended the duck foie gras as a clear first place winner. She also recommended the beef short rib, Mediterranean branzino, and scallops. She quickly told me to avoid the salmon, veggie bowl, and tenderloin-- not because they're bad, but because they're not unique to the restaurant.

The foie gras turned out to be so delicate in texture with a flavorful, crispy "crust" (of the maillard variety). Smooth, creamy, decadent.

My boyfriend got the prix fixe dinner with octopus, kale Caesar, and beef short rib. We've had the octopus before, and will never not get it if we get a chance to come back. I can't do it justice with words. Who knew octopus and potato go so well together?! How the chef was able to get the tip of the tentacle so crispy and flavorful without getting any sort of rubbery-ness, while keeping the thick end perfectly cooked, I'll never know. Also, those potatoes blew my mind...All of it was so amazing. I could easily say this is the best octopus I've ever had, but my boyfriend has had one better in NYC. Regardless, he absolutely loves this dish.

The salad is just a salad as you would expect, except for the crispy mushrooms on top. They were delightful! Amazing flavor, and of course, cooked to perfection. {EDIT: my boyfriend would like to correct that the salad itself was not good, "too tangy"}

Neither of us cared for the short rib that much but it was still very well done.

Finally! We make it to dessert. Butter and cake are two words that never would've gripped my attention but per recommendation by my now very trusted server, i had to try. It was definitely a rich dessert but it was not heavy not overwhelming by any means. The gelato served on top was made in house. My only complaint is that the strawberries didn't seem very fresh, per se, but they were soft and a fit texture for the dessert. I can imagine a rigid and too-fresh strawberry might not provide the balance the chef was looking for. This is a dessert that will make you not want to put your spoon down, even if you're on a diet ;)

Consistency? Yes. Flavor? Yes. Service? Yes. Experience? Yes! Forget your other options, come try Bliss out.

Thank you bliss for such a memorable birthday dinner, it exceeded my expectations.

p.s. I've had other dinners here before but this was definitely the best. I've had scallops, tenderloin, and something else unfortunately I cannot recall. Always thought it was pretty good but never blew me away like tonight.

Update: I took some friends here on a return visit to SA and it wasn't as good as it was before. The previous time was a 12/10 whereas this time might have been an 8/10. Still great and the group was happy but I was sad they didn't get to try the dishes at their best. Crowd favorites this time around: branzino, pork belly app, tuna...

My husband and I had an amazing dinner at Bliss! We went to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. We thoroughly enjoyed our server, Bret’s knowledge and recommendations. He shared fun facts about the specials and perfectly described the dishes we were interested in. His drink recommendations were also perfect!

We started with the hamachi tostada and octopus. Both were incredible. The hamachi is really bright and flavorful. The octopus was so tender! I enjoy octopus when done right and Bliss does it right! We cleaned this plate off. My husband who is not an octopus fan loved it as well.

We then had the arugula salad. I loved the combination in this salad.

Our main course we split their special - 17 oz akaushi steak. If they have this during your visit, I highly recommend it. It was incredibly juicy and flavorful.

Topped our night with the butter cake, which was warm, delicious and not overly sweet. With Bret’s recommendation, we took a lavender goat cheese cheesecake home and so glad we did. The goat cheese and lavender weren’t overpowering at all. So I think if you weren’t a lavender person but like goat cheese and cheese cake, it’s worth a try.

We’re definitely going to come back and try more of their regular menu items. I was eyeing the scallops but couldn’t pass up the akaushi beef 😋

I think the only things that left me disappointed were that they asked if we were celebrating anything and didn’t do anything special. I see they sometimes write sweet messages on your desserts, but that didn’t happen for us. And lastly, we were sat by the wall under a vent. So the condensation from the vent would hit me occasionally which left me to wonder if it would get in my drinks or food 🫣 I looked passed it though as I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner and a very rare night out with my husband. It was also a busy night and didn’t want to bother asking for a new table, but that’s completely on me. So can’t complain.

Overall, this was the best meal we’ve had in...

Such an amazing restaurant! I put down the reason for our reservation was our anniversary, and the waiter congratulated us on our anniversary and even put a candle on our desserts for us to blow out and celebrate! It was a small detail but it made our visit so personal and intimate. Our waiter was also very good at making sure all of our questions were answered and helped us chose wines to pair with our main courses. I would recommend this place to anyone who wants to try amazing food with a great atmosphere!

Review of the food: -We had the arugula salad and charred octopus for our appetizers and they were both DELICIOUS! I’ve never liked octopus until I had theirs! It was so tender and perfectly seasoned! The arugula salad came with dried figs and they were such a great addition to the appetizer and gave it a sweet note to the peppery arugula. -We ordered the braised beef short ribs and scallops for our main course and they were just as amazing! The scallops were buttery and so well cooked, and the ribs were so tender and juicy! The ribs came with buttery mashed potatoes and mushrooms that were pan fried to perfection! The scallops came with cooked spinach and grits that were seasoned perfectly as well! For dessert we had the butter cake and chocolate bar and it was a perfect end to our date! The chocolate bar was rich and smooth with mousse and some sea salt sprinkled on top to make the dark chocolate flavor pop, and it came with a scoop of coffee ice cream as a palette cleanser for when the chocolate cake got too rich. The butter cake was like an apple pie cake and came with a scoop of ice cream on top which made it the most warm and cozy...