Bistro Provence
| Address: | 4933 Fairmont Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA |
| Phone: | +1 301-656-7373 |
| Site: | bistroprovence.org |
| Rating: | 3.6 |
| Working: | 5:30–9PM 5:30AM–9PM 5:30–9PM 5:30–9PM 5:30–9PM 11:30AM–2PM 11:30AM–2:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
BR
Bradford Castro
I went here as my last meal in Bethesda when I moved as I hadnt been yet and figured that I should try to end on a high note by going to what had been regarded to me as the best restaurant in Bethesda. Of course I was wary, having been told that before, when Id first moved there with places like Blacks that ended up being completely abhorrent, so I reserved my judgement. Bistro Provence fully lived up to, and even exceeded my expectation - it is the best restaurant in Bethesda. Our food was simply unbelievable, from the salmon tartar topped with the most exquisite caviar imaginable (for someone who has not acquired a caviar taste to say that speaks volumes), to the veal chop that was sized for Fred Flintstone but cooked for Fred Astaire (the size was just a nice bonus, I wasnt expecting what I got). The Bordeaux was amazing, full-bodied, and not overpriced; it needed a few minutes to open up and Im so glad that I didnt send it back because it was completely worth the wait and risk. We finished with a lava cake that was prepared to perfection and accompanied by the smoothest deliciously subtle ice cream to clean the palate; of course I needed a cognac to accompany it, and given the damage that Id already incurred on my wallet, opted for the house cognac - what a great choice it ended up to be. Bistro Provence has tied Cafe Renaissance (Vienna) for my favorite restaurant in the D.C. area. These bad reviews are completely unfounded, its possible that I just got lucky on a good night but I really dont think so. It seems like the tastes of these individuals are quite elementary, and I dont think that they realize that the staff in a restaurant like this are probably better educated and more worldly than they are; not having patience for people who wont (actually, cant) fully appreciate the experience. Paris would tear these people to shreds.
J.
J. David Miller
In value, given the high prices, the food is only fair; food as good or better is available for 30% less at many local restaurants. The decor is pleasant enough, especially the patio, which was closed because of rain, but inside the tables are far too close together and the noise level requires shouting. At a recent visit, the service was amateur/pretentious and the waiters manner was disdainful: e.g. when I asked if any of the wines by the glass was a Chardonnay, since none of the four whites was labeled as such, the waiter snottily said, "yes, the Chardonnay," as if I was an idiot for not knowing that the Sancerre was a Chardonnay. The waiter was awful (no knowledge of the cost of the many specials, more numerous than items on the menu, for example), and, to paraphrase the joke about the bad food, there was not enough of him: since he was serving at least 20 people, waits were long between his invariably unpleasant appearances. Near the end of the meal, as the four of us were reminiscing about movies, he snarkily said, "Now its time for movie trivia, eh?" At least he didnt start the evening with "Hi, My name is X, Ill be your server tonight." Otherwise, the service was more suited to a diner than an expensive bistro.
A
A Private User
What can you say about a great chef, but one who is so mercurial his entire wait-staff, including the maitr d, are terrified of him. This statement was confirmed by the dining room staff. The result is a dining room full of unhappy patrons. Yannick Cam is unquestionably one of DCs best chefs, but he will run this place of great food into the ground because of the miserable service. On a Friday night we had an 8:30 PM reservation and sat directly opposite the kitchen. We waited 10 minutes to have a waiter approach, then waited another 50 minutes before we got appetizers. An apologetic waiter said "Let me get you another round of drinks," which we erroneously assumed were on the house because of the terrible service. VERIFY SUCH OFFERS. The Chef himself stepped in and REFUSED to honor what had been offered to us. On the food end, delicious, but my wife, whose salmon came out more than 5 minutes later than other dishes (by now we were timing it) and instead of a slab of salmon as we had seen on other plates, she received about 4 trimming pieces of salmon. We would have sent it back, but it was already after 10:00 PM and the kitchen was closing. If we sent it back we wouldnt have seen it til breakfast
BI
Billy Raoufou
I went there for a surprise dinner with my date on a Sunday evening. The items on the menu were all delicious sounding and the atmosphere was very relax. They had a lot os specials that day. We went for the lobster appetizer special, the "Lobster Purse", which is like a wonderful version of lobster dumplings. For the entrées, my date had one of the seafood special, which consisted of scallop clam and lobster (called the Branzini), and I had the meat special, which was a giant 16 ounce veal chop. The seafood and veal were so fresh and I was pleasantly surprised they tasted so good on a Sunday evening. We had a glass of wine each (the Sancerre and the fruity Cote du Rhone Red.) The dessert (we picked the cherry one called the "Amaretto Parfait") was delicious and a fantastic way to close our dinner night. My date is a big seafood and cherry person and she absolutely loved it. It was pricey but everything was cooked very well and the staff took good care of us. It was my second time going there (the first time was a work related lunch) and I will be going back. It was nice to exchange a few words in French with the chef himself. Merci beaucoup!
DA
Damian Maseda Caballero
The experience was quite bad overall. The service is untrained and they really do not know what they are doing, to the point of lacking manners some times and not understanding very simple rules of the service industry (e.g. like not taking the dish out of your hands when you asked them not to do that.... and they still keep pulling). The oversize plates (not the food, the actual dishes themselves) made it quite uncomfortable to even place everything on the table for 7 people that we were in. On top of that, they tried to rearrange the table every single time they brought a new dish.....like 5 times at least, which was very annoying. Forgetting the service, the bathroom wasnt appropriate for this kind of place, not clean and in a horrible location. We were of course expecting at least that the food would be good to compensate for all the bad stuff. Not at all. Mediocre at best, and very much not French cuisine anyways. Definitely not worth the price by far. A very disappointing experience and waste of money. When you go to a place like this and pay those prices, this is simply intolerable.
A
A Private User
Just got back from our Bistro Provence, completely underwhelmed. The food had some bright spots, the asparagus soup was nice, but proven local establishments like Grapeseed, Assaggi and redwood (the new improved version) all beat this one. Worse yet, the staff cant handle the location. Service was in general poor and inattentive and getting the bill at the end was awful. Our waiter disappeared, the bus staff when asked couldnt help, and 20 minutes later when the hostess came and saw we were upset, still no luck in getting the bill. Not until we got up and went to the bar to pay could we get out of there. The couple next to us did the same (and overhearing their conversation had an overall similar experience). We left 10% on a bill of $225 for two (with wine). Some of the worst money weve spent out in Bethesda in a long time. When we brought it to the attention of the manager on exit, he recognized the bad service but did nothing to make it helpful. Looks like lots was invested, but if tonight was an indication this place will not last.
