Bodean — Restaurant in Tulsa

Chef Swepston’s cuisine blends modern Cajun and creole influences, with a menu that evolves to highlight seasonal specials. During my visit, the featured dish was rabbit, showcasing the restaurant's creativity and range. Bodean’s aesthetic is a perfect blend of elegance, modernity, romance, and intimacy. The dark walls, painted in shades of black and gray, are accented by touches of blown glass and soft creams, creating a striking yet inviting atmosphere. Its layout, is reminiscent of a luxurious ocean liner. passionate and enthusiastic about Bodean.

Overall, excellent service. Our water glasses were full, silverware and plating was swapped between courses.

Chef’s Selection of Cheese & Charcuterie

Arguably, Chef Swepston crafts the best charcuterie board in Tulsa—perhaps even all of Oklahoma. This is the penultimate Cheese & Charcuterie board, with an absolutely perfect balance of selections. His expertly curated array of meats and cheeses balances floral, salty, sweet, and tangy notes. Highlights included the Negroni Italian Blue, with its sweet vermouth and tangy blue cheese notes.

Escargot Vol-au-vent

This dish opens with bold notes of boozy red wine and garlic, transitioning into slightly bitter middle notes of escargot and herbs, and finishing with the rich flavors of puff pastry and butter. The balance of salty, sweet, and bitter is an good appetizer.

Fried Calamari

The calamari featured a well-executed breading and a unique spin on traditional sweet chili sauce, which was the standout element of the dish. Only the body of the squid was used, cut into rings without tentacles. The fry was expertly done, achieving a tender texture without being overly chewy. It is a good dish not at the same level or caliber as the previous offerings.

Rabbit Confit with oyster mushrooms, kale, calabrese peppers, fig, and rabbit consommé

The rabbit leg is cooked to perfection, tender enough to fall off the bone. Its delicate flavor is elevated by the rich, salty, nutty butter it was poached in for hours. The addition of fig brings a beautiful sweetness that perfectly balances the savory rabbit, while the Calabrese peppers add a tangy acidity to each bite.

Seared Jumbo Sea Scallops with pomegranate, fried yucca, pickled fresno, butter toasted pecan, en nogada sauce

Chef Swepston knocks on the door of borderline transcendent. The dish is a masterclass of exploration and flavors. The scallops were cooked to perfection, their delicate flavor never overwhelmed by the dish’s other elements. Sweet, sour, nutty, salty, and buttery notes were expertly explored. A borderline pièce de résistance dish.

Stone Crab Stroganoff with house made egg noodles, duxelles, cream, sour cream, and parmesan cheese.

Our final savory course continues to knock on the door of pièce de résistance. The rich duxelle and cream sauce delivered an earthy depth, with tangy sour cream notes rounding out each bite. The stone crab claw meat provided the perfect protein, offering a robust sweetness that harmonized beautifully with the sauce's slightly sour, slightly salty, and decadently rich profile.A dish on the high end of excellent.

Chocolate Dome

A Bodean classic, this dessert is visually stunning. It showcases a delightful contrast of textures, from the light and airy chocolate mousse to the crunchy, slightly sweet-and-salty chocolate cookie crust.

Summary:

Bodean continues to be the quintessential fine dining destination in Tulsa. Its offerings are sophisticated without being pretentious, its atmosphere upscale yet inviting, and its seafood remains unquestionably the best in the city. When Chef Swepston lets his creativity run wild with dishes like the scallops, rabbit, and charcuterie, the heart and soul of a "raging Cajun" are on full display, and all of Tulsa is the...

This was our 1st experience at Bodeans. We were taking our in-laws out for a birthday dinner. There's a lot of hype about this restaurant, so we were excited to go. The excitement faded pretty much upon arrival. It was not good and extremely expensive so we won't be back. 1st - The actual building is lackluster. We went on a rainy Friday night, and trying to find the front door was frustrating. The building has its name on it along the roofs edge, but the door to the actual restaurant is blacked out. There are no potted plants or benches outside of it, no arrows, no managers name, no welcome - come on in signage. Nothing...so we questioned if it was even the correct door. We went into the meat market to confirm it was. 2nd- we had reservations but didn't need them. Inside, the restaurant is very dated. From the decor to the staffs uniforms, even the menu. A hostess with zero personality escorted us to our booth and fled. Our server arrived with rolled up sleeves, and she looked haggard. She was welcoming but wasn't super personable. Like she was just doing her job. Bare minimum. She didn't offer much in options of food dishes when asked, and to me, the menu was limited. We ordered drinks. I am a huge Margarita fan. No margaritas were on the menu. The server says we have a full bar - no problem. Both my husband and I order a margarita while my in-laws get wine. Hands down the worst margarita I have ever had. I didn't finish it. Took two sips to confirm that the first sip wasn't a mistake. My husband didn't finish either, and the server noticed but never said anything. Never asked how we liked it, never tried to offer something else, noticing our glasses were still full. Because we were there with my family, we weren't going to make a stink about anything, so we didn't ruin a birthday. Otherwise, I would have spoken up. 3rd- We ordered fried calamari appetizers. We talked about this choice with the server as we couldn't decide between that and another option. She promised no chewy calamari....we got chewy calamari. Same sinario, she notices we haven't really touched the calamari, doesn't ask how it was, and just moves on. 4th- dinner options & sides, to me, were very limited. Again, when asking about food, our server really didn't share much. My husband was not a fan of his meal AT ALL. His plate was barely touched. Mine was just okay. I don't know if my in-laws actually liked their food or if they were just being nice. Regardless, the server didn't really express any interest in making our over $300 dining experience any better than at a Red Lobster (which I can say would have been a far better meal). I understand having an off night but this was bizarre. Despite our less than stellar experience, the food could have saved it enough to give it another try. But that was probably the most disappointing part. I would never recommend...

First and foremost, Tammy was awesome. It was our first time there and she told us history of the market and the restaurant. She took the time to guide us through the menu. She was attentivec gave advice, and it was a genuinely great dining experience.

Normally, when places say fine dining, it’s an excuse for a high price tag but poor quality and/or service. This place was fantastic. Every dish we got was exceptional: -The pan seared scallops were perfectly cooked and not touch. The sauce was really interesting. It had flavors reminiscent of a southwest style corn mixture. It was just really pleasant. -The shrimp and lobster bisque was great. The only version I can remember that topped it was one at yankee lobster in Boston. If there’s a soup you’re gonna lose to, this is it. -The oysters were clean and fresh. The mignonette was exceptional. I love that they use seasonal fruits in it because normally, I’m not a huge fan of a basic mignonette sauce and this was a very pleasant surprise -The king crab pasta was just perfect. The mushrooms weren’t overcooked and brought in a great flavor. You didn’t feel like they were shortchanging you on the crab. The pasta was clearly homemade and made well. We make our own and our neighbor was a pasta chef in Italy. This was legitimately good pasta. -The chocolate dome cake was rich but light, which was surprising. It had an deep and crab flavor. -They left us with these coffee cakes to take home at the end that I thought was such a nice touch! I’m looking forward to that with coffee tomorrow morning.

Service: -Everyone did an amazing job and employed truly high end service (turning while pouring water, so we’re not splashed; pulling and replacing silverware accordingly; even presenting all dishes at the same time- I saw they did this on large tables and it was particularly impressive.

Drinks: -My French 75 was perfect -THE ONLY CRITIQUE: the old fashioned was not good. It has that name because it has a very specific recipe. It was really disheartening that such an exceptional place ruined this drink; right at the end they threw club soda in it. The only other place I’ve ever seen that done was as a cheesy airport bar in Fort Lauderdale. Bodean also took luxardo-style cherries and pulverized it through their muddling instead of leaving it whole or as a nice garnish. As someone who smokes their own old fashioned and goes out specifically to bars to get this drink, this was a big disappointment.

That being said, the service and food were incredible and this place still gets 5 stars even though I’m still peeved about that old fashioned. ;)

We’re still newish to Tulsa and this is our new favorite restaurant. It’s not a cheap restaurant but the quality and service are fair...