La Bonne Table + Kir Royales with cheese!

Last Friday Mr. TJ, La Ley and I went to the prom...

but before making a late appearance, we had dinner first at a French restaurant in Hillcrest recommended by Mr. TJ...

La Bonne Table has been around for about two years now and is located on the northeast corner of 5th Ave and Pennsylvania.  Pappalecco is a few doors south and Huapango's is right across the street. The restaurant looks bigger than it actually is. It's quite intimate inside and has a cozy feeling meant to evoke a real Parisian French bistro.


Like my crude drawing skills? I blacked out the lady's face using the "pen drawing" function on my phone. I wasn't that precise but didn't feel like doing it over. Heh.

It was quite dark in here. After this photo, I used the flash but took pictures sparingly so I wouldn't bother anyone around us although they probably weren't even paying attention.  The menu is very short (or shall I say "concise") which is good in a way. The kitchen can concentrate on a few good things rather than a multipage menu that's all over the place .  If you are a vegetarian good luck. The only vegetable offerings are the fries, the scalloped potatoes and the vegetables of the day.


Classic French bistro entrees.

Our table was served a demibaguette with butter. The first two were fresh out of the oven. The other two we got later were not.

Our frites which were quite good and served with ketchup in a fancy gravy boat.

Mr. TJ wanted to try the pate, which came in the racily named "Menage a Trois"  - this was a terrine of foie gras, duck liver mousse and sprinkled with mushroom and truffle shavings. Gherkins were served on the side with microgreens, a tiny dollop of what I think was French mustard (it's hidden) and balsamic.  The white stuff is fat (which is used to top off or seal the top of the terrine mold).  I didn't really care for this. The terrine was a formed and thinly cut slice of duck liver mousse with the foie gras embedded. The flavor was a bit too strong for my liking but my friends really enjoyed this.

We shared one entree between the three of us, the Beef Bourguignon (beef stewed with onions, carrots and potatoes in a red wine sauce). The beef came in a big but deep bowl and held quite a bit of stew in there. Amazingly enough, we three did NOT finish this entree and had to take leftovers to go. The meat was so tender and the sauce richly flavored. I would totally get this again. This entree can easily serve more than two people.


Earlier that evening, we met up at Mr. TJ's house where we had pre-dinner appetizers (crackers and cheese).  He also made Kir Royales, a popular French cocktail which is made traditionally made with creme de cassis, a black currant liqueur, and topped off with champagne. In this case, Mr. TJ used Chambord which is a raspberry liqueur. He also floated a few raspberries in our drinks which were pretty strong but fruity.


Cheers to the end of the school year!

Just a few more days and we can all sleep in!

Dinner was really nice at the restaurant. The service was attentive and I liked that it never got overcrowded despite being so small. The food was also quite good although I would probably not get the terrine again. This would be  place to go for a semi-romantic dinner date.

Reviews:
PreciousPalate February 2016
BorderlinesFoodandTravel April 2016
SoCalPulse May 2016

Articles:
"La Bonne Table open in Hillcrest" SD Reader, March 21,2014 (this was a bit of a nasty review so be forewarned)
+ a more favorable review, "It's like being in France" SD Reader, Nov. 30, 2015

La Bonne Table
3696 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 260-8039

www.labonnetablesd.com/fb page + reviews from you know where & tripadvisor

And to tie in the word "royale"  also also because we had cheese...I present to you one of my favorite scenes from "Pulp Fiction"...ROYALE WITH CHEESE:

"What do they call a Whopper?"
"I don't know, I didn't go into Burger King"

The next day I would try another French place, this time with Kirbie...