Il (Cheap) Bastardo

ABF & I made plans for this past Monday with our friends, That Sara and her BF, Mike. We'd bought tickets long ago for a comedy fundraiser which didn't start until 8pm. What to do between leaving work and going there? Why, eat of course! But where? ABF did a quick search of the area and found that Il Bastardo (yes, it means what you think it means) offered an 18 dollar prix fixe dinner until 7pm. Reviews we found online said this deal was real and still ongoing, so ABF, That Sara & I met up there around 630 for dinner.

Annnnd here's the thing: you pay 18 dollars for an appetizer, entrée and dessert. Sounds good, right? The rub is this: almost every pasta dish or entrée comes with a supplemental charge (an extra 1, 2 or 3 bucks). So....then it's NOT really an $18 dollar prix fixe, is it? It's more like a 21 dollar prix fixe. I think I would have been far less annoyed if they'd just said "$21 dollar prix fixe dinner." I mean, it's still a decent deal. When almost EVERY item on your list is extra, it's time to up the general price. This irked me considerably. But back to the food...

The appetizers looked pretty decent: salads, mussels, grilled veggies. Sara & I both picked the mussels, which came in a white wine sauce. These were decent: a good amount of mussels, mine were all grit-free and tender, decent sauce--I found the chiffonades of fresh parsley an unpleasant contrast, though. Could just be me.

ABF picked the Caesar salad and kindly let me try a bite. It was crisp, just enough dressing, and very tasty. The salty Parmesan shavings went perfectly with the creamy, tangy dressing. I didn't see any croutons, but I would have avoided them, anyway.

I ordered the Trout Livornese, which I was told was fish with a tomato and olive sauce. This was good, perfectly cooked, a little bit of breading but not too heavy. The tomatoes and olives were a nice touch. The side was just some steamed broccoli. They broccoli was perfectly crunchy, with a nice thin coat of butter, but way too salty.

Sara got the lamb shank entrée, which got very good reviews from a few folks already. I had a taste of this and it was definitely worth the extra 3 dollars. The sauce was earthy, just a touch of rosemary but not TOO much. I didn't try the polenta, but Sara seemed quite pleased with her dish. If I went back (and that's a big If), I'd get that.

ABF is on a skirt steak kick lately (ever since our trek out to Cabana last month), and he ordered the skirt steak with salsa verde. It came with a mess of mixed greens. He gave us each a sample of his dish and it was pretty good. Not York Grill or Cabana good, but still pretty tasty. He also cleaned his plate, so I think he was happy with it.

Dessert was the 'dessert of the day,' which in this case was strawberry sorbet. I think our server actually saw my face drop a story or two when he said that. Like seriously? He spoke very slowly, so when he first said strawberry I was thinking "Where is he going with this? Strawberry souffle? Strawberry cake?" Sorbet? In the winter? Okay, late fall. Whatevs. I was a little disappointed. Normally most prix fixes will give you at least 2 or 3 options. Not at the Cheap.. I mean Il Bastardo. The sorbet, to be fair, was very flavorful. It was just...odd. The service was okay, but I couldn't help feeling that they'd pegged us as cheap prix fixe people. Oh well. It was worth trying, but I will not be making any extra effort to hit the joint again.