Aperitif Bistro Bayside
| Address: | 213-41 39th Ave, Bayside, NY 11361, USA |
| Phone: | +1 718-215-6470 |
| Site: | aperitifbayside.com |
| Rating: | 4.2 |
| Working: | 12–10PM 12–10PM 12–10PM 12–10PM 12–11PM 5–11PM 11:30AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
PE
Peter Salzman
Beautiful indoor decor. I like that Bayside has something like this.. one might even call it "classy", which is pretty cool because the prices are pretty reasonable. Service is excellent. Im giving Aperitif Bistro 5 stars, although its slightly difficult because one of my favorite restaurants in NYC is Balthazar -- a restaurant you need to make reservations at least a month, and sometimes, 3 months in advance. The problem is that 5 stars is not the same thing as "as good as it gets". Obviously, there are better French restaurants out there, however, in terms of food, ambiance, and service, Aperitif is *very* deserving of 5 stars, easily!!! Escargot: A+ I love escargot, and these were one of the best Ive ever had. They were unusual in that theyre embedded in "mini-toastlets", which is brilliant. I wasnt sure at first, but soon realized brilliance in the idea. It smooths out the intensity of the garlic and cilantro. They arent the most garlicky escargot, but are certainly plenty garlicky! Zucchini Pancake: A Not overly soggy, delicious flavoring, great consistency. Very much like a potato pancake, but made with zucchini. Firm outside, pudding like inside. Nice!!! Shrimp & Avocado Tower: A If Aperitif wanted to be a cheapskate, they couldve loaded this up on the frisée, which would make the salad boring and dependent on salad dressing. Instead, the salad strikes an unusually harmonious balance between the frisée, hearts of palm, and shrimp. The lime vinaigrette, instead of being necessary for the salad, serves to complement it, and that is the sign of a PERFECT salad. The mixture is crafted into a shape of a mini-tart, its shape being held together by the avocado. Filet Mignon Sliders: B+ Well cooked, but a bit bigger than we were expecting. If you want real sliders, just be aware these are more like mini hamburgers than sliders. It was like a little steak sandwich. No sauce or anything to flavor it a little differently. Still, steak sandwiches are good. Mussels Provenales: A Marinire: A The kind of dish where the sauce is so good that you spend the second half of the meal sopping up the sauce with the bread. The mussels themselves were fresh. No bad ones in the bunch. Soft. Provenales: Very nice strong / aggressive tomato sauce. Marinire: Very flavorful wine and garlic sauce, perfect for mussels and bread. Both sauces are PERFECT for sopping up with the A+ table bread! Delicious! Coq Au Vin: A+ If you like French cooking, this is the very epitome of French cooking! Ultra-smooth red wine sauce with chicken thats so soft you might call it "chicken pudding". The chicken had been seared before cooking, so the skin has a slight crispiness and brilliant flavors. This is the PERFECT coq au vin. Pork Osso Buco: A We dont normally think of veal as having a "bold flavor", but its difficult not to use this verbiage when comparing veal and pork osso buco. Pork osso buco is the "mushroom of the meat world" in that it has a very neutral flavor -- it takes on the flavor of whatever frames the dish. I firmly prefer veal osso buco, but the pork is also a fine cut of meat, and the offering at Aperitif is as soft as meat gets and smooth. The accompanying mushroom risotto is perfectly cooked, and both are flavored with a marsala jus. French Onion Sandwich: A Reminds me of a French banh-mi sandwich. Copious and intense onions: its like "sandwich, meet onion soup. Onion soup, meet sandwich!" French fries are terrific shoe string fries. If youre not into intense caramelized onion flavors, youll hate the sandwich, but if youre a fan of that sort of thing, this sandwich has very sophisticated "grown up" flavors. The chicken breast was remarkably tender and juicy: this chef has mastered the art of cooking chicken breasts. Crepe Suzette:B Im probably the wrong person for this since Im not overly fond of sweet orange flavors in my desserts. It was OK. Cappuccino: A Unusually strong. Bold and intense. A coffee-lovers cappuccino.
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Shdj Dhd
Love this place! Now one of my new go to spots on Bell Blvd! I like coming here because eating here reminds me of my trips to Europe. The decor is just lovely just like a French bistro should look like. Honestly perfect place for a private event too which I think I might just have to plan in the future. Their food is pretty good, I always default to the steak frites medium rare.. so good!- I mean how can it not be good when cooked to perfection and topped with a generous portion of truffled butter? As for appetizers: - the risotto fritters are pretty good - Calamari is good but not really memorable - Steak tartar (I didnt eat this but everyone else at the table enjoyed it) As for wine I recommend Notre Dame, Lirac, Côtes du Rhône, Grenache/ Syrah, Rhône France- Ive been defaulting to this red when I come, its just so delicious! All in all... Apertif Ill be back! perhaps this time to try your brunch! Au Revoir for now!
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Jennifer Han
I went for a birthday dinner and I was very impressed! The scallops were perfectly cooked. There is a pretty good beer selection and I like that you can come here for a nice night out or a casual family dinner. The only complaint that I have is that the waitresses and management could be more strict about customer behavior. This is a family friendly restaurant and the workers accommodate family needs. However, kids shouldnt be running around and sticking their noses into other peoples hairs. There was both parent and management responsibility to maintain the restaurant safety and experience. All in all, I cant wait to come here again!
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Steven Lam
We came here for an engagement party for a friend of ours. The party was held upstairs separate from the rest of the guests. Ambience is casual and the decor is vintage I would say. They had an open bar that served mimosas, bloody marys, and champagne with punch. The champagne with punch was pretty tasty. For the food they served eggwhites with spinach, feta, and mushrooms. They also had steak with plum sauce, baked ziti, potato hash, crepe with nutella and banana, and a spinach salad. Everything was great. My friend highly recommends this place for brunch. We will have to come back another time to see for ourselves.
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Vicky Seo
I liked their deco and staffs but did not like their food. I tried their escargot. It had slight fishy taste. The green garlicky oil was not great either. For entrees, we tried Moules and steak frites. The steak was tough and somehow tasted bitter because of burnt searing even though it was cooked medium rare. The mussels were tiny. It was simply not a good quality. Some still had mud and not debeared enough. The restaurant is not a high end or expensive one but I would not try or recommand this restaurant to others. You can spend similar amount of money and have a great dinner in some other restaurants in the area.
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Werner Buhler
Good (so-called) French restaurant overall. I have been there several times and most of what Ive tried was good. Great risotto (I know, weird for a French place, isnt it?). The only thing I would not recommend are the escargots. Its usually all in the sauce and they could not pull it off. The place is on the expensive side and typically loud.
PE
Peter Hsieh
Romantic atmosphere makes this restaurant an excellent spot for a romantic date night. Food is tasty and the pork osso buco was fall-off-the-bone tender, not an easy feat to accomplish. The service is friendly and welcoming. No parking lot or valet but plenty of parking space on the street.
