Brasserie Mon Chou Chou — Restaurant in San Antonio

“On 6/6/24@2:50pm traveled solo downtown San Antonio to the Pearl area district. Parking was available but forced to pay $3.56 for 24hrs. Area is absolutely beautiful see pics walking up to ChouChou. On purpose & as expected Restaurant wasn't busy at 2:50pm & chose to sit at tables to the right of entry which was likely my 1st mistake as the woman bartender attended. Took a while before being attended asked for water along with soda. Chose app: Baked Bay Scallop in Shell, with Lobster in a Champagne Beurre Blanc & Thursday special: Bolognese Style Pasta, Slow Braised Beef and Pork, Mirepoix, Tomato. The meal was also supposed to include house salad & tea or coffee & petit fours. Reasonable wait for food from kitchen which was delivered by different staff. While eating had to catch the lady bartender passing by to remind her of the soda she failed to bring. Atmosphere was very pleasant yet the inside dining area isn't for large occupancy which provides a delightful quaint feeling except for the fact their bartender couldn't seem to accommodate the very few tables assigned occupied. Interesting while eating heard crashing of broken glasses coming from behind the bar again bringing attention to the seemingly deficient lady bartender casually laughing off mishaps. Pic reflects by red arrow the lady bartender assigned to my area which should be avoided if expecting reasonable service. The appetizer was amazing!! Unimpressed salad & the meal was delicious regardless that the lady bartender was absent the entire time. After finishing meal simply waited & waited yet no visit from server. Spent 90 minutes dining & had an engagement to attend & Since server didn't exist while not serving the dessert decided to go up to the bar to pay for meal & said I had to leave for commitment & couldn't wait any longer. Reminded lady bartender meal was supposed to have petit fours dessert which she seemed oblivious to & provided invoice & disappeared again supposedly to get the dessert to go? but while waiting a bit more, I had to leave for commitment. I would say the meal although good the experience was pretty much ruined by the complete lack of service in an empty restaurant. Solo cost $47.95 should expect a lot better service than was provided. If staff is limited where service is seriously compromised then folks should reconsider Mon Chou Chou. Especially noting that I sent an internal concern on ChouChou's website after my meal (see pic) which confirmed "Thank you for your inquiry. We'll be in touch shortly." Yet as of today 7/17/24 over a month later absolutely no response from management on their deficient service & not providing the entire meal as expected & paid for. Clearly business owner Jeffrey B. only responds to publicly noted reviews while ignoring issues presented internally which I had hoped for a response from over a month ago before having to post my review publicly. Seems owner Jeffrey B & the lady bartender are similar in ongoing deficiencies. Bad service is hard to forget when experienced & this restaurant obviously isn't interested on deficiency improvements. Sorry Mon Chou Chou but wouldn't recommend revisiting downtown inconvenience during non busy hours if restaurant can't accommodate very few occupied tables for elevated $ dishes when there's many other choices in San Antonio. Mon ChouChou management clearly doesn't care except trying to save face with only public reviews as seemingly insincere etiquette. Ciao Mon Chou Chou.“ lol, Taco Bell likely has better customer service than Mon Chou Chou’s...

Jan. 2023: Restaurant Week started today and I made reservations through Open Table for @brasseriemonchouchou for lunch. It was just Dad and me since my husband was playing golf today.

Ryan saw us as we were checking in at the host stand and he was so happy to see us. He brought us to our table outdoors and he highly recommended the Lamb Parmentier Gratin on the Restaurant Week menu. I ordered a Lemonade for Dad but before I could finish ordering my drink, Ryan had a Kir Royal for me and a mocktail for Dad on the house. He really treats us so well! Philip, the owner, stopped by to say hi.

Dad and I shared the Gratinee Lyonnaise/French Onion Soup. It’s the first time Dad was trying this. He really liked the cheese and the soup! Ryan had shared about the preparations for the soup and preparations for French food being labor intensive. So much love in a cup! The first course was the Chicken Liver Mousse Tartin. So generous on the liver mousse and oh so good with the jam and bread. I wanted to eat the whole thing but knew there were more courses to come. The second course was the Lamb Parmentier Gratin which is a French version of shepherd’s pie. Cheesy top layer with a layer of mashed potato then ground lamb. Yum! There was no way for Dad and I to finish! Dessert was Choux a la creme/cream puff with strawberries. It was the perfect ending! We still have leftovers to enjoy at home.

This was only our second time to visit and definitely can’t rave enough about the food and service (Lane frequently checked in on us). If you haven’t checked them out, make your reservations soon! Free 2-hour parking in the Koehler Garage.

Fall 2022: It's been a while that we've been wanting to try @brasseriemonchouchou. When I checked Open Table today, I saw availability for outdoor seating and took it.

Ryan spotted and recognized Dad and surprised us with a round of cocktails on the house - Blackberry mocktail with tequila, French 95 and Pink Fairy. What a treat! We started the meal with a half dozen East Coast Oysters. So fresh, plump and sweet! Dad and I shared the Lupe de Mer/branzino, which was cooked perfectly My husband had the Crispy Duck Confit. I had a bite of the duck and it was a perfect bite! We even got to meet Chef Laurent. Although we were full, we made room for the Mocha Pot de Creme. Excellent from start to finish! Cody provided fantastic service. 5-star experience!

We finished the meal just in time before the rains came. If you haven't stopped by, make your...

From when you step in to when you step out, the experience makes you feel like you’re in France, dining at an upscale restaurant that makes your taste buds go wild.

The interior design of this restaurant is historic yet inviting. From the outside, you are just drawn into this kind of place because of how different it looks compared to the rest of the restaurants here. The windows allow a lot of natural light in so that when your food comes, you’re sure to get a nice picture.

Number one thing to get (no exceptions) is the Sandwich au Fromage Raclette. Yes, I realize you’re paying $21 for cheesy bread. However, it is an experience everyone who dines here should experience. You are not only getting a table side service where they scrape the cheese from the wheel directly on your bread, you are getting some of the finest cheese (And they don’t skimp on the amount). Forget Dominos, Pizza Hut, and any other place you may have had cheesy bread, the raclette cheese that they use is out of this world when it comes to flavor. It’s so rich and flavor-packed that you will want more but realize it’s another $21 bucks for one. I decided to try their Lobster Bisque next. Not as impressive but the puff pastry was intricate and delicious. The actual bisque was a bit too strong on the salt. My entree was the duck confit with potatoes on the side. The duck was cooked to perfection. A delicious crispy skin encases the tender duck meat inside. While the potatoes were a bit mediocre, the overall dish made me very happy. Ordered a baked macaroni and cheese on the side. While I don’t think it’s the best I’ve had, it was definitely unique due to the cheese blend coupled with the spices used.

Pricing for everything is going to be on the higher end. Well of course it is. But you get top tier service with top tier food. Their menu has so many unique options to choose from. And while they make each dish delicious, they also make sure that it’s presented beautifully so that it remains ingrained in your memory.

Overall, I’m glad I was able to experience this place. And I can’t wait to come back to try some of their other menu items. Oh…and of course, get the raclette...