San Chez Bistro
Kristen and I postponed Valentine's Day one week.
When we did celebrate, we went to San Chez Bistro.
San Chez Bistro serves Tapas foods. What's that? A long time ago Spanish bartenders started putting food on top of the drinks they served. Tapas is the cuisine that developed out of that idea.
They don't balance it on top of the mugs anymore, but it is interesting. The portions are small. You order several different dishes and find that you're full faster than you'd expect. That's the good news. You also spend money faster than you'd expect. It's one of the more expensive restaurants we go to.
That being said, it's cheaper than good sushi.
San Chez serves a mixture of Spanish, Carribean, and Mediterranean food.
Here's what we had:
1. A black bean, corn, red pepper, and cream salsa.
2. Pheasant and snake sausage.
3. An asparagus cassorole, placed on toasted bread.
4. Flan (for dessert)
I don't know what kind of snake was in the sausage. The server may have said rattlesnake once, but the menu wasn't specific--and the crowd was noisy, so I may have been hearing things.
Oh... And to drink... double chocolate stout.
It was all good.
One cool thing about San Chez is that the waiters actually know what they're talking about. They can intelligently talk about the effects of different types of containers on beer. They also know about the food and can explain what certain things are.
I recommend San Chez to all--assuming you aren't bringing kids and assuming you're willing to try foods you've never heard of before.
Comments
Yes, this comment is about a year and a half late. While browsing the web looking for San Chez’s phone number (to call and make reservations) I discovered this review. Even having just returned from lunch, it’s making me hungry.
I just felt the need to reassure readers that San Chez Bistro is just as good as it has always been. This unfortunately cannot be said about many of the local Grand Rapids restaurants. Also, they no longer take reservations, which is also unfortunately as I have a party of 10… on a Friday… “Celebration” weekend.
And Jim, if you still know of a place to get good sushi, expensive as it may be, let me know!
-Vey
Posted by: Vey | September 9, 2005 2:24 PM
Thanks for the comment, late or no.
As for sushi, I can recommend three different places.
Marado Sushi (downtown on Monroe--which I've also reviewed)
Mikado (on East Paris and 28th Street)
Shogun (28th and Breton--often voted best sushi in Grand Rapids)
I like all of the above.
Good luck on finding a space in San Chez. That being said, I've found that you can find seats in just about any restaurant if you get there between 5-6pm--not that that's particularly convenient with a group.
Posted by: Jim Zoetewey | September 9, 2005 2:58 PM
Ah, yes Mikado is a personal favorite. Very close to work, and they usually have nice lunch specials. Plus they have my favorite tempura in town. The sushi is good, but the selection a bit limited.
I haven’t been to Shogun in quite some time. I remember the food being a bit disappointing, but that was perhaps 5 years ago, perhaps more, and I don’t even remember what I ordered. I’ll have to give them another shot.
Marado… I think I’ve passed by. I’ll have to give them a try too.
And yes, with a big group it’s proving quite difficult to get them there before 7 pm. It is going to be a late dinner.
Battlestar may have to wait (thankfully I have a DVR).
-Vey
Posted by: Vey | September 9, 2005 4:52 PM