Eating at a restaurant for the first time is a lot like a first date.  Both may have come as referral from a trusted friend.  You can usually do some digging on the Internet to get an idea as to what each is all about.  You have high expectations going in, but more often than not there are usually a few areas of incompatibility where you realize things were not meant to be.  This is how my Valentine’s Day dinner with Light Bistro went.

As a combination Valentine’s Day/Birthday dinner for my wife we left the bambino with my mother-in-law and headed downtown to Light Bistro. We were both excited to try Light as it has received some great reviews around the Internets and we’d heard from a number of trusted sources that this was a great place to eat.

For Starters

The old house turned restaurant provided a cozy atmosphere for a romantic dinner with a small front seating area and dim lighting. We ordered a couple of drinks and we looked over the menus, one of which was a special Valentine’s Day price-fixe menu.  While we almost bit, we were interested in trying some of the tapas that weren’t offered on the special menu, so we started off with ordering a mushroom medley ($6) and smoked chicken cream croquettes ($8). 

Our waitress brought our drinks and the instant my wife tasted her margarita I knew that something was up.  She took a sip, pulled her mouth away from the glass and looked at it as if she had just drank bleach.  And that wasn’t far off, because she let me try it and apparently the bartender was unfamiliar with this drink you call the margarita.  It could have stripped the paint off a Mercury.  Not wanting to waste it, I tried to drink it, but after another sip I decided that I’d rather let it go to waste than ruin my entire meal.

The mushrooms and croquettes arrived at the table presented very nicely on immaculate white plates.  The mushroom dish was essentially a mix of chopped cooked mushrooms, garlic and herbs, a perfect start I thought.  However the dish wasn’t seasoned properly (a constant theme of the evening) and a few of the mushrooms were cooked too much on one side.  It was a very bland dish, certainly not worth ordering. 

The croquettes were very good although the order of four too could have used a bit of salt.  Biting into their crispy exterior gave way to a warm and gooey center that filled your mouth with a rich creamy goodness.  After trying those we both mentioned that we would have loved to have tried the ham and cheddar croquettes on their tapas menu.

Pork Chop with Cheddar Risotto

For our main course we both ordered the pork chop with Dortmunder glazed onions and Tillamook cheddar risotto topped with crispy ham.  Our waitress confirmed with us that our chops would be done medium and we both agreed.  The monster chop came resting on a ceramic cup containing the cheddar risotto, yet another beautiful presentation.

The pork chop was fantastic, it had great flavor and was seasoned perfectly, especially when eaten with the onions.  A great combination. Unfortunately, a good portion of mine near the bone was severely undercooked and we witnessed a neighboring table have a similar problem with a piece of pork tenderloin.  As odds would have it, my wife’s chop was overcooked, but given the choice she would have taken it that way as opposed to the alternative. 

The Tillamook cheddar risotto was simply magnificent. Creamy, rich and smooth, just the way it should be. Although it too could have used a little salt, the crispy ham garnish provided plenty when broken up and mixed in to the risotto.  This is one of those dishes you taste and say to yourself, “I must learn how to make this.” 

All things considered the pork chop was a very good dish and the few little bumps certainly didn’t ruin it. 

Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

As we were eating our dinner we overheard a waitress talking to another table about desert offerings.  I heard he mention chocolate chip cookies and I looked up to find my wife’s face glowing like someone had just informed her that she’d won some type of chocolate lottery.  When the waitress came to collect our plates, I’m not even sure if she was able to finish the word dessert before my wife requested the cookies.  Not that I was complaining or anything.

Ah yes, Light Bistro’s homemade chocolate chip cookies, made to order we were told.  What could be a better dessert than some cookies with warm chocolate chips?  The waitress brought our 5 cookies out and we each dug right in to the hot out of the oven cookies.  Errr, wait.  Hot out of the oven?  Half of the cookie was warm and toasty, the other half was ice cold!  So I touched the other cookies on the plate and they were almost completely cold.  How sloppy and lazy!

That really left a bad taste in my mouth to end what was an up and down evening.  I don’t know if the kitchen was rushed or lazy, but either way I had expected a lot more out of Light Bistro.  Seasoning food is the most basic of things you learn when learning how to cook, but Light had trouble pulling it off.  Even the guy next to us asked the waitress if he could get some salt or pepper for his soup because it was “so bland”.  And she had the balls to ask if he wanted some “Tabasco too!”

Like most first dates, this one won’t be resulting in a second.

• The Sawyer House – Mentor, Ohio
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• Valentine’s Day – Last Minute Ideas
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• Mayfield Catering and Restaurant – Go! Bistro