Bonefish

Being pregnant and due in early August and concerned that possibly the little tyke would want to arrive early, my husband and I decided to fulfill our New Year’s Resolution for the month of July as early as possible.  Our New Year's Resolution is to try a new-to-us restaurant in the L.A. area at least once a month.  We decided to try Bonefish in Northridge on July 1^st, which also happened to be lobster night.  Now, I usually think lobster is over-rated, but still, I mean, who can pass up lobster night?  It’s Tuesday, by the way.  Lobster Tuesdays at Bonefish.  Remember that.

We had made a reservation, but we arrived 15 minutes late (partly because it was so hard to find a parking spot in the crowded parking lot), and they had given our table away.  We were offered a table in the bar right away, or we could wait about 15 minutes for a table in the restaurant.  We chose to wait and look over the menu while we waited. 

Our waitress was friendly and answered any questions we had about the menu.  In the end, my husband ordered off of the “Tuesday Tales of Lobster” menu.  He decided to try the Steak Topped with Lobster Thermidor.  It comes with a 6oz sirloin, but he upgraded to a 6oz filet for $6.  The filet comes topped with (according to the menu) “sweet lobster, lump crab, a velvety sauce with a hint of sherry and garlic.”   It also comes with garlic whipped potatoes and veggies on the side.  I thought about ordering the lobster grilled cheese or the lobster roll sliders, but in the end, I knew that I really wanted to try the Tilapia Imperial, which is described on the menu as “stuffed with shrimp, scallops, crab meat, lemon caper butter, fresh seasonal vegetable + choice of one fresh side.”  For my side, I chose garlic whipped potatoes.

While we were waiting for our food, the waitress brought out fresh bread with an olive oil dipping sauce.  It was good.  I mean, it’s bread and dipping sauce.  It wasn’t amazing or anything.  I could list multiple restaurants where we like the bread better, but this was adequate, and we finished it.  We just didn’t ask for seconds.

It wasn’t too long before our entrees arrived.  I really enjoyed the tilapia, but the filling was a little too rich for my taste.  It was a really good fish entrée, but next time I’d try something else.  The potatoes were a little rich for me too.  What do I even mean by rich? Too much cream/butter, perhaps?  Once again, that’s just my taste.

My husband thought his steak was good, but we both agreed that lobster is still over-rated.  I mean, it’s only good if it’s dipped in butter or drenched in some sort of cream sauce.  There is other seafood that’s actually good all on its own (like salmon, for example, or tuna, or crab, I could go on).  So, he would order something different next time as well. 

We decided to splurge and order dessert.  Crème Brulee is my husband’s all-time favorite, so we decided to order that to share.  It was huge!  Once again, it was too rich for me, but my husband loved it and practically licked the serving dish clean!

We both decided that we would indeed come back.  We liked the food.  We liked the service.  We liked the atmosphere.  We wanted to try some other items on the menu and find something that we actually loved (besides the crème brulee…my husband totally loved the crème brulee and said he’d be happy just coming to Bonefish for that!).

So, we went back to Bonefish with my mom a few weeks later during Bang Bang Shrimp night, which is Wednesday, by the way.  We’d never had Bang Bang Shrimp before, so we decided we needed to try it, but not straight up.  We decided to start by ordering the Bang Bang Shrimp Flatbread.  The special menu (shrimp night) price was for a smaller serving of the flatbread, but that was fine with us.  We just wanted to give it a try.  It did not disappoint.  The flatbread was cut into four pieces and was topped with mozzarella, Bang Bang Shrimp, cilantro and a creamy, spicy sauce.  OMG, I loved it!  I told the waitress that we would definitely be ordering this next time. 

So, for our entrees, I decided to stick to the Bang Wednesday menu (shrimp specials) and order the Bang Bang Shrimp Sirloin, but I upgraded to the filet for $6.  It was basically the shrimp equivalent of what my husband ordered during lobster night.  It was topped with Bang Bang Shrimp and served with garlic whipped potatoes and French green beans.  OMG.  So, I totally found the item on the menu that I love.  I was so impressed with how much Bang Bang Shrimp was included with the meal.  I love the creamy and spicy sauce.  It’s NOT too rich for me.  It’s amazing.  I definitely need to come back to Bonefish on a Wednesday again.  Oh, and the steak was cooked perfectly too.  It was juicy and flavorful.  100% winner.

My mom was trying to eat healthy and low cal, which she was totally able to do.   She ordered the 6oz filet, which was basically the equivalent of my meal but without the Bang Bang Shrimp.  For her side, she chose asparagus, and it also came with mixed veggies, so she was totally super healthy.  She really liked her meal.  If you’re not trying to be super healthy though, and if you like shrimp, it’s totally a better value to get what I got.  My meal only cost $1 more than hers, and it included amazing, delicious, Bang Bang Shrimp!

My husband ordered one of the evening’s specials.  I really should’ve taken a picture of the special menu, but I didn’t.  I don’t remember exactly what the salmon was stuffed with, but it was like veggies and cheese and crab meat or something like that.  Plus it had an amazing sauce.  For his sides, he chose, jasmine rice and asparagus.  My husband really liked the salmon (I tasted it; it was too rich for me), but he said that next time he’d order what I ordered.   So, looks like Wednesday is our Bonefish night.

Oh, and I know, I know, this blog post is LONG overdue.  I mean, I ate at Bonefish a month ago, right?  I usually try to blog about recipes and restaurants the same day or next day.  Well, I went into labor the day after our 2nd visit to Bonefish, and raising a newborn is quite time consuming.  So, that's why this post is overdue.  Looks like we definitely did make a good decision to fulfill our New Years Resolution early in July because the little tyke DID decide to arrive early.

Happy eating!