BOhem (not a typo)

Recently, The Counselor came out.  I was really anticipating this movie, based on the great cast, the great director, and the great screenwriter.  Can't miss!  Well, it missed.  All the pieces were in place and some of those pieces even did a great job, but all together it just didn't work.

Cut to Friday night.  DB~ and I were supposed to meet our friends for dinner at BOhem in Seven Fields, but unfortunately they had a family issue and couldn't meet us.  When we walked into BOhem (short for bohemian, but not sure why the 'O' is capitalized too), we were taken back by how gorgeous the interior is.

Cut stone on the walls, funky chandeliers, interesting typography fonts, lighting fixtures made out of old wine bottles, and rough-cut wooden tables.  This is pretty much how we would decorate a restaurant if we owned it.  On this damp and chilly November night, there was a fire going in the fireplace right next to us.

Our first flag was the fact that at 6 pm on a Friday night, in the busy 228 corridor no less, there were only 3 other tables seated.  By the time we left at 7:15, it was more busy, but still.

The menu is billed as French rustic bistro, so again, it should have been right up our alley.  I went with the Boeuf Bourguignon and DB~ chose the Mac 'n Cheese with Shrimp added.  A rustic stew (with short rib meat, one of my culinary kryptonites) and mac 'n cheese?  Talk about a slam dunk to try a new restaurant!

Unfortunately, the meal was disappointing.  Not to harp on what is becoming a common topic, but my dish was overpriced ($18) for the amount and quality of what I got.  I counted six (!) half-dollar sized chunks of meat in my stew.  The stew meat, if it was short rib, was tough and chewy.  The carrots and potatoes were very tender (I even ate the mushrooms) and the sauce was extremely flavorful, but there wasn't even enough carrots and potatoes to make up for the lack of meat.

Where's The Boeuf?

DB~'s dish was also underwhelming.  Billed as macaroni with a cheddar gratinee and spinach, it was a pasta dish with a creamy spinach sauce.  This should have been a hearty dish, definitely not with a runny white sauce, with some prawn size shrimp on top.  Instead, the shrimp were tiny and the dish completely underwhelming.

So we're never going there again, right?  Well, not really.  Much like The Counselor, I'm willing to give it a second chance.  Maybe get some appetizers and treat it like a tapas bar.  The interior is too good to give up on.  What this place really needs is a chef that knows how to cook like a French bistro.