Bon Appetit Restaurant & Bar

Reviews 4

WA

Walt P

This was my second time dining at Bon Appetit. The first was this Valentines day, where they pretty much ruined our evening with very poor food (my gfs was literally inedible), the worst waiter Ive ever had anywhere, and just a general bad experience. I did contact the manager the next day however, and they apologized and sent me a gift card and free dessert in the mail. This second visit was because of that gesture. We went on 6/3, a monday, at about 7:30. We had to wait at the reception desk for about two minutes before anyone acknowledged our presence, which worried me, because there were only two tables occupied in the whole restaurant. The person who greeted us had been talking a short distance away the whole time, and just wanted to finish her conversation apparently. However, when she did finally notice us, she greeted me by name (from reservation) and brought us to the table we had requested. I wish I could remember our waiters name. He greeted us promptly and took our drink orders. He was a very nice guy, even offering to take our photo with the beautiful sunset outside our window table overlooking the water. A large part of why Im writing another review is because of this waiter. He was one of the best weve ever had, in stark contrast to our last (terrible) experience. On to the food. We both had the Bon Appetit salad, which was good, if a little weak on dressing. Nice mix of ingredients though. For entrees, I had the Osso Bucco with mashed potatoes topped with onion strings, and green beans and turnip slices. It was all great. The mashed potatoes were excellent, they stand out for some reason. The meat was perfect, tender and flavorful, and literally fall off the bone. My girlfriend had the Petit Filet Mignon with the same green beans and turnip mix, and a fried sweet potato cake. The filet mignon was cooked correctly. She liked the green beans and turnips as much as I did. The sweet potato cake was fried, with a crispy outer shell and soft, almost a little gelatinous, inner texture. It was good, but extremely sweet. I would say that, even as a dessert, I think it would have been too much. It was good in little thin slices though. If you really like sweet potatoes, you may find this is just what youre looking for, although the sweetness is cloying. For dessert, we used the coupon the manager sent, for a Mini Pastry Sampler tray, with coffee. Our dinners also came with little shot glass deserts. She picked chocolate mousse, I got raspberry pudding/jelly stuff, cant remember what it was actually called. The pastries were all great and the presentation was fantastic, drizzled with a berry syrup and powdered sugar, with strawberry slices in the center around whipped cream with a sugar cane stick on top. There was more chocolate mousse on the dish as well. The mousse was actually my favorite part. The raspberry stuff was also great, and quite tart if you like that (I do). The waiter recommended we mix them, said its his favorite. This was a great combo if you like berry/chocolate flavors together. Overall, this was a great experience with great food and an excellent waiter that made the night. In my eyes, Bon Appetit has redeemed itself, and we will most likely go back again now. I plan to call the manager again, this time to find out who the waiter was and put in a word for him! I wish our Valentines dinner had been like this one, we both left happy and satisfied with the whole experience.

DE

Dee Marino

Bon Appetit was recommended to us by a family member that lives part of the year in Dunedin. We recently spent a wonderful weekend in the condo there and went for dinner at Bon Appetit. I was a bit hesitant, even after the recommendation from my family member,after reading some of the reviews. Well, I neednt have worried. We arrived around 5:15pm and were greeted immediately and seated at a table for two,outside, along the water. The view was spectacular-! Our waiter was prompt,and greeted us warmly.He took our drink orders and we received them in a timely manner.Our waiters name was Robert,and he is from Paris,France and New York.After tasting my cocktail, I asked Robert if he could take it to the bartender and have it sweetened a bit more. He did so,and also brought me a small jar of simple syrup to add on my own if needed. We relaxed with our drinks for a bit and then ordered appetizers. We ordered Mediterranean Octopus and Salmon Poke. Both were fresh and delicious, and beautifully plated. Robert stopped by periodically to check on us;attentive,but not intrusive. For dinner,we ordered the Greek Salad and the Veal Chop,both were outstanding-! Large portions,very fresh ingredients,delicious, and,again,beautifully plated.To end our meal,as we watched the incredibly beautiful sunset,my darling surprised me with a Creme Brulee complete with berries,real whipped cream and a birthday candle.Robert warmly wished me a happy birthday. By the way,both of us are not novice diners;my better half is a chef and I,myself,am an excellent cook,we know good food and good service.Bon Appetit gets 5 Stars from us and were eargerly looking forward to returning. This restaurant delivers on all counts; excellent service,food,ambiance and value. Can not wait to return-!

BR

Brad Schulz

We ate there tonight to watch the sunset. We had stone crab for an appetizer. It was very good, but the sauce they gave with it was not good at all. Far too much garlic and lemon. Three hours later Im still tasting the sauce...yuck. I had the Mahi-Mahi special entree. It was served with a garlic crust, over a corn with crawl-fish. The fish was over cooked, and the corn mush did not go with the fish at all. The crawl fish did not compliment the fish at all. My wife had the petit filet as part of the 3 course meal. The house salad was funky...the flavors did not go together. The steak did not look like a filet cut of meat...it looked and tasted strange. The waiter never asked what she wanted for the desert...we had to hunt him down. The waiter took forever to wait on us. He never asked if we wanted more drinks, never asked how we liked everything (he knew). Bottom line, we will not go back. The food and service was horrible. The owner must have retired and sold...it was nothing like what we remember from a few years ago. NOT recommended.

JE

Jennifer Kessler

A wonderful place! I went there on a saturday night with my 3 girl friends and we had a wonderfull time. We had nice seating outside at the water and the view on the ocean and on the boats is soo romantic and feels a bit like in St. Tropez. There was a girl singing live some "easy listening dinner music"... The flair was just amayzing. Dresscode was relaxed, you could dress up, but vacation and Florida like, you do not get any harm if you come in shorts. The food was excellent, the prices surprising low and the waiter super quick on her feet. I was a difficult customer at that night - I ordered a drink, which I did not like at the end and I kind of miss placed my order and let the dish return (hands up, it was both my fault). The waiter was so super kind even after all my difficulties. She did neither charged me for my missordered dish, nor for the drink, which was not tasty for me (but super tasty for my friend) AND keept the nice friendly relexing atmosphere. The restaurant is quiete a drive from Tampa (45 min) but it is absoloutely worth it!