Bouchon: Why Thomas Keller restaurants really ARE must visit!

The place:  Bouchon – Yountville, CA

Website:  http://www.bouchonbistro.com/                Twitter:  @BouchonYV

                Lunch – December 1^st, 2011

So there are a few restaurants that you just “have to” go to when you are in Napa…. And this is absolutely one of them.  We had made a considered decision to make as many of the Thomas Keller restaurants that we could on this trip (French Laundry was out based on both price and inability to get a reservation) and picking Bouchon for lunch was a master stroke.  As you can see from the pictures, this is a terrific place both in and out and the fact that we arrived in the early afternoon (and it was a weekday) made a huge difference in our ability to simply walk in for lunch.  The dining room is much smaller than I expected , but with the sun shining in the front and the both the attentive service and (as you read below simply amazing food), this needs to go your list of “must dos” on your to do list for Napa

The food:

Lobster Bisque

Crouque Madame

The Results:

To say that the Lobster Bisque was crazy good would be the understatement of the century.  I’d had bisque on a number of occasions (one in particular worth mentioning is the lobster bisque that they serve at Charthouse… which you can get with Sherry on top but I digress), but this bowl all of those to shame.  For some reason, the cream level in this soup was above anything else that I had tasted before (and at $16/bowl it should be!), and couple with my sandwich made for one of the most amazing lunches I’ve ever had.

So what about that sandwich you ask?  My first clue I was moving in the right direction was when I ordered my Croque Madam, the server’s reaction was a simple “great choice”  As you can see from the shot below, this plate gets delivered with a mound of fries, but it’s gotta be by far the most amazing ham and cheese sandwiches I’ve ever had…. Don’t believe me?  Here’s the description right off the menu:

Croque Madame:  Grilled ham and cheese sandwich on brioche with fried egg and moray sauce served with french fries

Simply  put…. This was easily one of the best lunches Laura and I have ever had … and we paid for it.  This place is not cheap, but if you want to experience what is arguably one of the best restaurants we’ve ever been to… treat yourself like we did… at lunch!