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Bistrot Margot

(bistrotmargot.com)WHAT: Bistrot Margot
WHERE: 1437 N. Wells St.

OUR RATING: Do It!

Located in the heart of Old Town lies Bistrot Margot, a Chicago foray into French cuisine. We soon discovered that you don’t need to travel to France for good French food, and in fact, Bistrot Margot provides more genial service, and comparable cuisine to many French restaurants we’ve been to.

(bistrotmargot.com)

(bistrotmargot.com)

Alicia: The French experience starts even before you walk through the doors, as I warmed immediately to the black and white tiles outside the entrance that spelled the restaurant’s name. As you walk inside the red walls, mirrors and black and white photography continually provide a warmth, and I really did feel like I was back in one of the more upscale eateries in Paris. The only thing I felt missing from the ambience was the music, which was relatively absent, or perhaps was just completely overwhelmed by the very boisterous table next to us.

Salade Nicoise (bistrotmargot.com)

Salade Niçoise (bistrotmargot.com)

I’d actually been to Bistrot Margot once before with my co-workers for a more casual holiday lunch, and thoroughly enjoyed their pâté maison (country style pate and chicken liver mousse) and my order of salad niçoise with beautifully seared rare tuna. This time, I wanted something a little lighter but still French as hell, so I went the moules marinières route, a dish I have only ordered once elsewhere at chain restaurant Léon de Bruxelles in Paris. Knowing that this dish was an appetizer, and that French plates tend to be smaller, I also ordered the Salade de Betteraves: watercress with roasted red beets, goat cheese and a tarragon vinaigrette.

Moules Marinières (bistrotmargot.com)

When the mussels came to the table I was completely overwhelmed, as the portion was gigantic! The huge bowl of 30 mussels came with bread (of course) and a beautiful white wine, beurre blanc, shallots and herbs sauce that was other-worldly and completely decadent. Luckily the mussels were deliciously fresh and filling, as the salad left much more to be desired. For a whopping $9 I was delivered the saddest plate of over-dressed watercress with a mere two mini slices of beets, but it also came with a generous portion of creamy goat’s cheese. A small miss, yes, with the salad…but ultimately the mussels were a win!

(chicago.eater.com)

(chicago.eater.com)

Adam: I am most accustomed to good French cuisine and, after trying several other spots around the city, I can categorically say that Bistrot Margot ranks amongst the best and most authentic in Chicago. Depending on where I am in the world, I tend to expect different things from Gallic restaurants: if I’m in Europe, I will generally order traditional steaks and ducks, if in the US I tend to go with calf’s liver, fish or veal. This is a well thought-out policy that never seems to fail me. But, tonight, I felt like broadening my horizons and bucking the trend.

Filet Mignon (foodspotting.com)

Filet Mignon (foodspotting.com)

Going all-out traditional, I ordered the filet mignon du boeuf grille, served with golden potatoes, grilled asparagus, and a wonderful bordelaise sauce. This is unusual for me: filet mignon is a harder dish to prepare well and only worth the cost at the best of restaurants. I was most pleasantly and absolutely surprised at the quality and quantity I was served. Even at medium, the filet was juicy and tender in such a manner as is unusual in America. The bordelaise enveloped the whole dish with a fantastic deep rouge that brought out the succulent nature of both the meat and sides. I highly recommend this entree, as it is certainly one of the most accurate representations of French cooking one can have.

A word of warning: these are not French sized plates. Large portions leave little room for dessert or appetizers, so don’t feel sheepish in asking to take some of it home with you.

Final Thoughts: This quaint and romantic spot is perfect for a night out with your loved one, and even has some great nightly specials and very fairly priced pre-fixes on Wednesdays. They also have a quite affordable brunch and lunch menu if that’s more your style. Authentic and quintessentially French, Bistrot Margot makes for un très bon repas.

Public House Chicago

WHAT: Public House Chicago (Sports Bar / Contemporary American)
WHERE: 400 N. State St.

OUR RATING: Skip It!

(publichousechicago.com)

(publichousechicago.com)

You can’t go too much more American than at Public House Chicago, where contemporary American cuisine mashes with the flavors of a smokehouse and plenty of beer. Brought to you by the same folks who run sister bar Bull and Bear, not only do they have 25 beers on tap, but they include beer in many of their dishes and even some of their sauces, and it’s no surprise their small claim to fame is their beer tasting and pairing menu.

Quite honestly, this place is very much your average Near North Side sports bar, attempting to match the trendiness of the area with higher priced semi-gastropub food.

(publichousechicago.com)

(publichousechicago.com)

That’s not to say that Executive Chef David Blonsky’s food doesn’t taste fantastic. We tried two of his flatbreads at a special event there, the Wild Mushroom (goat cheese, caramelized onion, fresh spinach, white truffle) and the Mediterranean (lamb merguez sausage, roasted garlic hummus, roasted cherry tomatoes, la clare farm evalon cheese, shaved red onion, house made tzatziki). Their decadence was all too apparent from the above ingredients, but we don’t feel they are anything special, and dressing standard food in fancy flavors doesn’t equal good food automatically.

(publichousechicago.com)

(publichousechicago.com)

$16 for a relatively petite flatbread is kind of high anyway, and the staff here aren’t the friendliest. The female bartender was ambivalent, and when we asked the male bartender what company produced the wine, he hesitatingly told us, shrugged, and then stated, “I don’t really know, don’t care.” Hmm.

(publichousechicago.com)

(publichousechicago.com)

Their draft beer selection is quite admirable, however, and although they only have a single white and red wine available, La Terre is definitely a good call. Although we didn’t take a seat at one of their booths, we noticed that they had two beer taps and one customizable liquor tap at each of them, which is definitely fun when going with a small group of friends (we’ve seen this design elsewhere and it seems to be the “in” thing right now). The most unique feature of the place is their “Walltender,” taps inside little alcoves in the wall where you swipe your credit card and pour yourself another draft. These guys don’t cut you off.

The crowd here is definitely an after-work crowd, so if you’re in the area it might not be the worst place to drop in with a few of your co-workers.

But ultimately Public House Chicago is just average, and although they add pieces of character here and there and try to make their food sound special with the beer additives, there’s plenty of places in the area to patronize after you’re finished with the upscale pretense with its confused hustle and bustle.

(publichousechicago.com)

(publichousechicago.com)

As for the decor, it seemed a bit, well, all over the place. While most walls are decorated in a semi-rustic style, the wall at the far side of one room was a confused mess of cream and tan with random pictures frames scattered across it. Such a work would be more at home at the MCA, and even then it would be one of the more annoying pieces.

That being said, it does make for a nice, central location for a party or fundraiser, but, in all other respects, Public House Chicago is too normal to waste your time with it. Try a more eclectic locale in the future.

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