Address: | 532 N Santa Cruz Ave, Los Gatos, CA 95030, USA |
Phone: | +1 408-560-9639 |
Site: | thebywaterca.com |
Rating: | 4.4 |
Working: | Closed 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–11PM 10AM–11PM 10AM–9PM |
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Bruce MacNaughton
A high-end riff on the food of New Orleans; its to New Orleans what PF Changs is to Chinese. The food is quite good though a little bit sweeter than I would like it to be. Ive been there multiple times. Now for some color on the food. The Pulled Pork Poor Boy - its a quite good with slaw and a spicy tang to it (though sweeter than BBQ should be). The Blackened Romaine salad - slightly charred heads of Romaine with wedges of citrus and Green Goddess dressing. Though generous portions this is one of the lightest dishes Ive had there and is one of my favorites. The bacon is thick-sliced pork belly; its not fried until crispy but cooked until rich and delicious in a, you guessed it, way too sweet coating. Its a side, not a main dish, but Its so rich that it is best shared amongst all at the table. Rich Mans Red Beans and Rice is an excellent dish. It has meat in it - thats why its the rich mans version. But it is a simple, reasonable portion with a fried egg on top. Its another favorite. Im not sure this is the exact name, but Shrimp in the Hole is a dish with crispy fried bread with a hole in the middle in which they put shrimp. Its the dish I have liked the least; the bread is too crispy and doesnt absorb juices and flavors; it almost turns into powder as you chew it. If the bread had a French toast consistency I think it would be improved. No matter what have the Bywater Beignets at the end. They come 6 to a plate and are hot from the oil, slammed with powdered sugar, and fantastic. Oh, and they are not too sweet! Its a nice yeasty dough and, while not exactly the same as youd get in NOLA, they are just different, not inferior. And if you think theyre too filling, think again. Theyre really quite light. Have some chicory coffee with them. And the service is consistently good. Not overbearing, not too formal, but the waters stay full and its timely. Update 2017-06-01 - The last time we went they had changed thier beignet recipe. They are smaller, dont have the excellent yeasty flavor they used to, cinnamon has been added, and they are fried too crisply. I dont know why they changed a star item but I no longer look forward to going back. They used to be that good.
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Walter Nissen
From beginning to end, a slice of New Orleans teleported straight into one the of the less busy parts of Los Gatos. Superbly shucked oysters of excellent flavor and freshness and theres one of the worlds great oyster wines, Pépières Muscadet, to go with them. The classic cocktails are always subtly tweaked, such as the ration of Armagnac slipped in place of some of the rye whiskey in the Sazerac. The clarified Ramos Gin Fizz (sans egg white) is worth trying as an interesting variation as well. Our helpful server, Rose, patiently explained many of the dishes to us, as the menu is annoyingly abbreviated. The menu is heavy on seafood, particularly oysters (the po boy was laden with them), and theres not much for kids, but I saw several there, as the casual atmosphere (theres a TV over the bar) can accommodate everyone. Hard to call out just one course as the best, but the desserts, including the resolutely authentic beignets, an intense, magnificently cream pôt de crème, and creative chicory ice cream "sandwich" certainly sent us out into the night on a high note. Yes, the prices are higher than a typical casual restaurant, but the conception, ingredients, and execution are more than worth it. Now that they take reservations (they were mostly booked up about a week before a Saturday night), theres no reason not to spend an hour or two in the Bywater. Disclosure: were known to the house at Chef Kinchs original restaurant, Manresa, so its possible we were treated better, but looking at the happy tables nearby it seemed like everyone was getting the same quality of food and service.
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Pearl Luo
I wanted to like this place I really did and I kind of did but there were definitely some unforgettable off moments in my dining experience. Reservation was made conveniently online and had no problem checking in and getting seated. It was a Sunday night, the restaurant didnt have a line out the door but, from what I can tell, it was 90% seated. The menu was concise and we wish it had more descriptions. Our waiter explained everything in detail and was very helpful in answering our questions but it was quite a bit of information to remember. Highlights were the fried green tomato, egg and anchovy, fried oysters, fried chicken and beignets. I have not had a fluffier beignet in the area and was definitely blown away. It didnt taste heavy at all. Now onto my not-so-fond-of moments... my entree was the gumbo yaya, which I had looked up on yelp. For some reason, the pictures of gumbo yaya were of all sorts. I couldnt tell from the menu how it was different from some of the other orders from different times. In any case, the dish was overpowered by the overly smoked sausage. After the first bite, I felt I could puff smoke, not to mention, my gumbo was bitter from the smokiness. Yea, not pleasant. Another entree (rich mans rice and beans?) also had the over-smoked sausage but it didnt affect the rest of the plate since they werent cooked together. I hope they spend sometime fine tuning the flavors, especially for the signature dishes. I would love to return and replace my smoky unpleasant experience with something amazing!
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Matt Marchand
This is now the fourth time I have been here - and the fourth time I have been extremely disappointed. I should start by saying I dont like giving bad reviews, but The Bywater has unequivocally earned this one. Future patrons and Bywater staff, my explanation is below. To start - the food: Its OK. Not REALLY good, just good. The first and second times I visited The Bywater I was expecting something more gruff, something more New Orleans... They do not do that here- They do smaller, fancy dishes where you pay 26 dollars for five bites. Normally Im ok with this because the food quality matches the price... Except here it does not. If youre going to serve expensive food, especially when its based on casual New Orleans fare- it had better be tastier than the cheap stuff. The service: ...Its OK. Again, if youre going to pay that much for a meal, the service should match. The feel: Feels great, nice atmosphere, good design on menu etc. The drinks: Great. Always a good selection of cocktails and beers on tap. Overall: 2/5 Save yourself the money, and go someplace else. Really missing New Orleans? Well, for only a little bit more buy a ticket and go in-person.
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Larry Wu
I had pretty high expectations for The Bywater. It had been on my list for months and I finally made it down there for my birthday dinner. 45 mins wait on Saturday night at 6:15. Okay, sure. We finally just grabbed seats at the bar as soon as it opened up. My friend and I shared the gumbo, fried chicken and oyster po boy. The gumbo...well, I was expecting gumbo and got something else. It appeared to be collards in some sort of thickened pot liquor. It wasnt bad but I was expecting...gumbo. The fried chicken was delicious though. We both could have gone for a few more pieces and then called it a night. Thank goodness for the endless supply of Crystal. The oyster po boy was good. My friend enjoyed it more than I did. The beignets. Well, they were a little too cakey for my taste. I feel like beignets should be light and fluffy. These were more thick, cakey and maybe over fried. Id maybe go back for the fried chicken but that I dont know if its worth the wait.