I certainly had not planned on doing two restaurant reviews in one week, much less separated only 24 hours apart. My cousin Sam had stopped by last night and had raved about Bistro 107. Since it’s closeby in Greer, I decided to give it a shot.
Atmosphere
This is the exact opposite of the meat-n-three places I’ve checked out in the area lately. The style is subtle opulence, with rich taupe shades, bas relief ornamentation, and track lighting to provide the perfect environment. Neckties by far outnumbered those unconstrained by nooses. There is a good-sized bar as one enters, and a grand piano occupies one corner of the main dining area.
Menu
The selections included "small plates", which were basically appetizers, and "large plates", which were the lunch entre’s. There were 10-12 selections in the small plate section, ranging from $6 to $10. This included some quesadillas, crab cakes, and a couple of salads. There were about eight selections of large plates, ranging from $9 to $15, which included several sandwiches, a steak salad, a couple of seafood dishes, and a wrap. All in all, a bit pricy for a regular lunch.
Food
I started with the soup d’jour – crab tomato bisque. It was excellent, with tangy tomato flavor off-setting the sweeter crab flavors. Not quite she-crab soup, but getting very close.
For my main course I had the Hawaiian chicken salad wrap. This featured chunks of chicken combined with tropical fruits and nuts, bound together with a curry mayonaise. I could tell there was chicken in there, and I could certainly taste the macademia nuts. However, the curry tended to overpower any other flavor. There was much more Asian flavor than tropical fruit. It was OK, but not quite what I was expecting. This was accompanied by a small salad of bitter greens topped with sesame balsamic vinagrette. With the soup and the wrap, there was plenty for lunch.
Service
Service started out well, and was efficient for the most part. However, it was hard to get a refill on my water once the meal was served.
Conclusions
If The Cookie Jar was ill-suited for a lunchtime read with my iPod, this is even less suited. Just carrying in my paperback an gadgetry made me stand out, as did my being by myself. I think I’ll save this one for a special lunch with Laura, or when several of my office mates want to try something different.