Bistro 5

Great food, service and outdoor seating! Every time we walk by this restaurant we always tell ourselves that we NEED to try it out. Well, tonight, we finally did. Our server Gabriella was friendly and efficient. Outdoor seating was really good and allowed for private conversations (there is a commuter rail across the street but it’s not too frequent). The gnocchi was fantastic - love the truffle oil and mushrooms. Oysters were only a dollar each so that’s a great deal. The appetizers were a little underwhelming for our tastes. Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves and will definitely be back!

My experience dining in here and ordering out was nice. It’s simple food done very very well. I’ve had their cheeseburger, steak, and calamari at different times and they were all excellent. I was extremely impressed by the way the octopus was cooked in a pasta dish I tried. I’ve only had dessert once ordering the cream puffs. Despite being loaded with chocolate, it was somehow bland and the cream puff was bread-like rather than airy. I would pass this next time and try something else.

Ah man, I really wanted to like this place. The interior is somewhere between an ornate tea room and an English pub, all dark wood and lovely ceiling molds and interesting chandeliers and cloth-covered light fixtures. Neither too dim, nor too loud. My dinner companion and I were seated at a nightstand-sized two-top and were bummed to learn that there would be no chef’s tasting menu and wine-pairing option tonight. Our server suggested this was unexpected, but offered no further explanation. Oh well - I’ve ordered off of menus before, no worries. We began with all four of their small plates, including sourdough crostinis, mushrooms & beans, pickled vegetables, and olives. As these began to come out, our server asked if we were ready to put in more food. When I told her I was worried about our limited table real estate, she assured me that they would time things for us. So we asked for the next round of calamari, golden beet salad, and grilled shrimp. These came out nearly immediately in comically oversized dishes. To compensate however, they did wait to fire our entrees of veal and salmon until roughly 15 minutes after our table had been cleared of the previous dishes. So, the food - The small plates were outstanding. The giant beans and mushrooms were eyes-roll-back-in-your-head delicious. The pickled vegetables were bright and crisp and the crostinis covered in ricotta and truffled honey were an immaculately complex balance of savory and sweet, crusty and smooth. Things took a dip with the appetizers. The shrimp took an unexpectedly nutty flavor from the coconut lemongrass broth and alfalfa that was definitely engaging, but less transcendent than the previous round of plates. The calamari was unremarkable. Slightly overcooked and over-breaded and served with a hint of tomato chutney at the bottom of the bowl. The golden beet salad was outright disappointing. The name was a bit of a misnomer as the salad was comprised of about 3/4ths of a single golden beet, topping an EXTREMELY salty pile of cooked kale. Look, I love salt. We’re biologically programmed to love it. I use it in everything. But if someone told me that the top of the salt dispenser accidentally fell off while they were seasoning this kale, I’d wonder how the other pound of salt got in there. The Veal Milanese came slightly overcooked and over-breaded and the frisée was also salted to near-death. The salmon was quite good as were the beluga lentils that came with it. The fermented lemon & turmeric emulsion was an exciting pop of flavor and the presentation was lovely. Finally, the cocktails we had were excellent. The gin thyme was fabulously fresh and the el bandido had the perfect level of dry heat from the muddled jalapeño. The wine list was surprisingly uninspiring. The prices were on the high-side of typical restaurant markup and the selection was no different than you’d see at a Buca di Beppo. Safe and boring. Had we just come in for the small plates and cocktails, this review would be flirting with five stars and if you’re in the area and not particularly hungry, I wholly recommend stopping in. Maybe not if you’re out for more than just a nibble.

I had a bad experience on Saturday night. Disappointingly, my meal was mediocre at best, uneatable at worst. I take some blame for ordering a steak (the first I ordered out in almost 3 years) rather than another meal, however the steak that I was given was full of gristle, hard to cut and cooked too long as were the green vegetables. Though the wine (a chianti) and my companion's meal (a veggie burger) were quite good, the sourdough crostini and the focaccia served seemed to have been unfrozen and rather tasteless as well.The waitstaff and manager avoided my complaints. When she appeared at the end of the meal, our server said that she was going to inform the chefs about the lousy steak. My bill stayed the same with no offer of any good will or timely replacement. The only thing that the manager said of note was that it was "a learning experience for his staff." Personally, I learned to not recommend Bistro 5 or to go back there again.