Pistou Review

      On a brutally cold night, we decided to walk from Church Street down Main street to try a newcomer on the Burlington dining scene, Pistou. Opened by a young couple, Pistou serves French/American creative food. The space is dimly lit, and inviting, with a semi-opened Kitchen, ( you can see the chefs but not really the preparations). Perusing online, I noticed they have a very small menu that changes almost daily. I like that idea, as it means you are always getting the chef's freshest ingredients. Little did we know that, that very small menu shrinks even smaller on Sunday evenings, (we went before the Mama Mia show), down to 3 appetizer and 3 mains for a set price on $28.00 for one of each.This makes the Bluebird's 3 course Sunday evening meal for $30 a bit of a bargain, though you have NO choice in your courses, nor on this particular Sunday were they listing on their website what the courses were.

      Anyways, back to Pistou. We were seated immediately, DUH, as we were the only people there. In fact, the entire time we were there, 5:30 to 7:30, only one other couple came in. I think Sunday evening service may not last long. I will have to say, service was really lacking on this particular evening. Not in efficiency, our server was VERY efficient, but not a genuine note of friendliness was to be had. This is the type of server, who when he asks you how your food is, has already turned and headed back to the bar before you can answer. And considering how friendly I had heard the young owners were with previous reviewers, neither of them came over to the table to say Hi or ask what we thought of the food, again we were the only two in the place for over an hour.

      By now I am sure you are all dying to know how the food was. And here we hit almost all the marks. Food, preparation and presentation are all excellent. An amuse bouche of parsnip puree soup served in a shot glass was excellent, (Wife says best part of the meal and she wished it was offered as a bowl). Why don't more places start you off with an Amuse, this puts the diner in a great frame of mind, to get something from the kitchen as a prelude to the meal.  We started with a beet salad for the wife and a scallop and shrimp appetizer for me. Both had great flavors, the seafood was done perfectly and the burrata cheese that came with the salad was smooth and creamy. For our entrees, we both went with the seafood stew.  Again presentation and flavors were great. It came with a grilled piece of bread covered in a soft potato puree. The big problem with this dish was the amount of potato. Between the multi colored offerings in the stew (red, purple and regular) and the puree on the bread, this dish was 65% potato. I would of really liked more seafood and less starch.

      For dessert, the pain perdu, with chocolate ice cream and homemade peanut brittle. This was the one big clunker of the meal, the bread was DRY and flavorless, the ice cream cold and flavorless, the peanut brittle was GREAT. All in all, not a bad meal but once again closing in on $100 for two, is there no reasonably priced restaurants in Burlington serving great fresh food???

On a scale of 1 to 5;

Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     3.50  Very nice food , though a bit too heavy on the starches and not heavy enough on the proteins. Dessert was a total miss.
Beer and Wine,    3.0  Nice beer and wine selections, list is small and expensive.
Service,                 3.0  Is there some kind of class where servers are taught efficient but aloof. Come on people, be a bit friendly, it will help your tip tremendously.

Ambiance,             3.5  Nice space but the location seems to be a death knell for local places.
Price,                     3.0  VERY pricey, but the excellence in taste and presentation almost make up for it. Definitely a special occasion place.

Overall                  3.20 I really, really wanted to like this place. It's everything I can hope for in a Burlington area restaurant, locally produced food, innovative preparations, comfortable and stylish interior. BUT something just didn't set me on fire. Maybe it was the indifferent service, the extremely high pricing, or the lack of selection, but I just wasn't blown away. Maybe we will give them another chance at a later date and report back.

Three Penny Taproom Review

      This will be the world's quickest review, as really the Three Penny is a bar. Yes, they do serve a LIMITED amount of food, (on our visit it consisted solely of  two kinds of oysters, a sandwich of onions and cheese and a cheese plate). So you do not stop here for a meal but rather for the fact that they serve the finest selection of beers in the Montpelier area.

      A big sign proclaims "We proudly DO NOT server Anheuser Busch products" and that basically says it all. If your idea of a great beer is to order a Michelob ULTRA, then please do not stop here. But if you want a local, (or not so local), beer with great taste and flavor, then this is your place. IF you want to try something you have never heard of , then this is your place. Mike and I went with Foster by Hill Farmstead, who's beers are rapidly becoming my favorites in the whole wide world. Foster is a black wheat IPA with incredible flavors, Kris went with Edward also by Hill Farmstead, which is their American pale Ale and wifey went with a cider/mead combo which was interesting.

      Service started out not too friendly, but by the time we left the young bartender was joking and seemed a bit more interested in us rather that chatting with her friend. Stools are not the most comfortable, no backs so no place to hang your coat and being a long narrow space it can get quite cold when someone opens the door. But for a taste of beer you can't find elsewhere, these inconveniences wont matter.

      I give Three penny taproom an A rating and declare it a great neighborhood bar.

Ray's Seafood Review

      UPDATE: Since the first time we visited we have gone back a second and third time. THIS time we called in our order ahead and when we got there it was only a very short wait. Food was just as good , maybe even better and the portions still HUGE!! When we want fresh seafood, this is now our go to place. GREAT PLACE and highly recommended.

      I know what your thinking, why is he reviewing a seafood market? Well, as it turns out, Ray's is not only a market but a restaurant. Who knew? OK, everybody did but me I guess. Anyways, on this particular Saturday night, as we drove home, we realized we had made no plans for supper. And, since I drive past the sign for Ray's twice every single day, and had never bothered to turn down the street and check them out, off we went. Sometimes unscheduled and unplanned adventures turn out the best. And in this case it certainly did.

      Thinking we would make a quick stop, pick up whatever was really fresh and head for home to cook, we were stopped in our tracks when we learned we could eat in or get a to go order. So after perusing the menu, we stepped up to the counter, which is not as easy as it sounds, as the counter is way off to the left, and ordered a fried oyster dinner and the baked haddock special. Now the waiting began, allowing us PLENTY of time to wander around the market, look at all the cool stuff in the freezer (Calamari rings or CONCH anyone?).  Then we waited, and waited and waited. To be fair, there was a huge table of people that had ordered just before us, but MAN, it seems this really messed up the kitchen, as orders seemed to be in complete disarray and people were running around not seemingly knowing what was going on.

      This did not bode well and for $35.00, we were worried we wouldn't get what we ordered. Finally our orders were ready, and as soon as they were bagged up, we sped off for home ,as by now we were STARVING. We arrived home and lo and behold, the first thing we noticed is the orders were EXACTLY correct, all the sides were right and the meal perfect. Second thing we noticed, is the portions were HUGE!!! Hooray, the fish was unbelievably fresh and speaking from someone who can eat a TON of oysters I was stuffed, french fries were great, nothing was greasy, cocktail sauce had the right amount of horseradish. Only disappointment was the standard grocery store type roll but really who cares. Highly recommend, though I do recommend calling ahead or if you are eating there bring a book.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     4.5  Huge portions, incredibly fresh, fried foods are not greasy, a winner
Beer and Wine,    NO  No alcohol is served so no rating.
Service,                 3.0  Everyone was friendly but the kitchen seems to be chaotic because of the large group eating there. Wait time was excessive.
Ambiance,             3.0  I have been called out before for rating a take out place for ambiance. BUT, this is a restaurant and its not really attractive. Again, the main focus is on the market so think bright fluorescent lights and it can be very loud . Think cree-mee stand and you have the idea, not a romantic date night for sure.

Price,                     4.0  At first we thought this was rather pricey, never having been here before. BUT after seeing the size of the order and tasting the quality of the fish, we think this may be one of the best values for dollars in Northern Vermont.

Overall             3.625  Not much atmosphere, its a market after all. Service (or at least the kitchen) can be chaotic, but the value for quality is off the charts. We will DEFINITELY be back. I dare you to find fresher or better prepared fish outside of going to the coast. Save yourself a three hour trip, eat here instead.