Bezu- Saturday, July 31, 2010 9:30pm

He said:

Mutual Mastication take #1. Restaurant Week in Bethesda. When I first walked into this restaurant, I wasn't sure what to expect. They say not to judge a book by its cover, and just looking from the outside it actually looked like a decent place to eat, but there are nice places that look horrible outside yet serve great food. A great example of this is "Daddy D's" in Atlanta. Looks like a shack outside, but has the best ribs in the south. For my first experience with Bezu, French for "kiss", located in a tiny strip mall in Potomac, MD, "What the hell is this place doing here"? flashed through my mind. Classy from the outside, and as we walked inside, I noticed it was classy inside as well (the key to this is to look straight ahead and not at the ceilings, which reminded me of school classrooms. The type of tiles you could probably lift up and slip a dead rat in to stink up the room). The restaurant was half full, but we had a reservation, so we were seated quickly, but at the time, it probably wasn't required. It wasn't long before the server showed and he explained the menu and mentioned the restaurant week insert and took questions if we had any. I started the night off with a Ketel One/Club soda with a lemon - my drink of choice and when it came back, I was happy to see it come the way I ordered. I only say this because, most places end up giving me a lime probably because they think of the drink as a gin/tonic. If I had gotten the lime, I'd still drink it, so it's really not such a huge deal. Anyways, the drink was very strong and I actually couldn't even drink it like the other Ketel One/Soda's from other bars/restaurants until the very end when the ice had melted and took away the bitterness of vodka. After a few minutes the server came back and took our orders. For my 1st course, I ordered the Edamame Ravioli, 2nd course, I ordered the Hanger Steak with Garlic Fried Rice/Bok Choy (Steak cooked at medium) and for the 3rd course, I chose the Banana Caramel Lumpia. Here are a few details of my meal:

Sliced bread - May need to go back to figure out the ingredients in the dipping sauce. The bread came often, and they were definitely on top of it, likely watching like hawks. No complaints.

Edamame Ravioli
a. If I lived in a third world country, I would've been really excited about the amount of food, but I don't so, all I can really say is that the presentation was good. Two pieces of ravioli and 2 soybeans. Luckily it wasn't a party of 4, otherwise, we'd have to split each soybean in half for all to enjoy. Unknown contents inside ravioli (Riccota?)
b. Taste - Overall, it was okay, only after dipping it into the sauce (Mystery Sauce)
c. I probably won't order this again.

Hanger Steak, garlic fried rice with shallots and bok choy
When the steak was initially brought out, I knew I made the right decision. My mouth was watering more and more as they brought it to the table. Although, in most situations, the salmon would've been just as appealing.
a. Garlic fried rice - Good (brown rice used), and just as my counterpart noted, I could eat this rice forever.
b. I Will definitely order this again with an additional side of rice.

Banana Caramel Lumpia
a. Bananas didn't seem to be fresh.
b. Could've done without the powdered sugar.
c. I Would not order this again. I actually should've gone with the Chocolate Opra.

In conclusion, I was satisfied with the meal. I would definitely give this place another chance. As much as I would like to order something different off the menu, it's the hanger steak and garlic fried rice that will bring me back.


She said:

Bethesda Restaurant Week does not conjure up the same excitement or participation locally as D.C. Restaurant Week. For us Bethesda locals it gives us a great excuse to get gussied up and go out on the town to some of the fancy-schmancy places we usually reserve for special occasions. Somewhat ironic that my first review of a Bethesda restaurant is actually a Potomac restaurant participating in Bethesda Restaurant week.

My first impression of Bezu was whilst comparing menus and reviews online for other restaurants participating in restaurant week. The other restaurant we were considering had a review that mentioned someone finding a caterpillar-like insect in their salad. Truth be told, this was enough to convince me that Bezu was the right choice but after seeing Bezu’s absolutely gorgeous website http://www.bezurestaurant.com/, I was convinced.

Walking up to Bezu late on a Saturday night, the façade stood out in the neighborhood like a diamond in the rough. The décor inside was nice, although somewhat understated. We noticed some obvious wear and tear on the furniture around us. The restaurant was decently crowded for a late dinner, but I was disappointed that my request for a nice table to help celebrate a special occasion went ignored. Especially when it became apparent that the open tables around us in better locations were not going to be reseated for the evening.

Our server came over quickly after we were seated and helped to guide us through the menu. Although he was quite pleasant , I couldn’t help but wonder what was beneath this guy’s smarmy attitude. I found the wine list to be a bit unapproachable as there was a very limited selection of wines available by the glass. I settled on a Gabbiano Pinot Grigio. I would have paid more for a better glass if one had been listed but my only other option was to order a bottle.

We were sent over a goat cheese-potato croquette, compliments of the Chef, after placing our order. A nice touch. It was crisp, delicious and served its purpose well- afterwards I was hungry and eager to taste more. We were also brought some bread served with a garlic-mustard aioli type of spread. Interesting combination of flavors but a little quease-inducing in any large quantity.

As it was a three course menu for Restaurant Week, I ordered the opposite of my co-conspirator so we could maximize the amount of dishes we could try. In truth, I am a stickler for fresh mozzarella and tomato salads and generally lean toward fish over steak so it wasn’t much of a stretch for me anyway.

My first course, the aforementioned Tomato Mozzarella salad with an aged balsamic reduction, was superb. Initially it seemed a bit out of place on this menu. Perhaps I was just really buying into the whole Asian-French fusion concept but I swear the balsamic had a distinct and unique taste. Subtle soy sauce? The red and yellow tomatoes were at the peak of ripeness and the mozzarella tasted quite fresh. It was evident that the extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar were of high quality and the basil was fragrant and flavorful.

For my entrée, I chose a dish of grilled salmon. I wish I could describe its every last detail but truth be told, it wasn’t all that memorable. It was somewhat over seasoned and inconsistently cooked. Some parts were quite rare while others were nearly dried out. It was served with a buttery sauce. Delicious, but completely unnecessary for a good quality piece of fish. It came atop a medley of Asian inspired vegetables. Crunchy and tasty, though the baby corn seemed a little odd with this particular dish. The snap peas, on the other hand, were simply perfect. I tried some of the Hanger Steak entrée we ordered and was quite pleased. The steak was tender and juicy, served in a mouth-watering sauce and came with a divine serving of garlic fried rice.

The grand finale- a chocolate opra. I couldn’t help but snicker a bit at the name of this dessert, likening it to the famous talk show host. A quick google search of “opra” provided no clues into the origin of this name. It was a small square of multi-layered chocolate cake. It was not good. At all. Dried out and lacking in any of the rich, chocolatey goodness I had hoped for. A bite of my dining partner’s disappointing Banana Caramel Lumpia dessert confirmed my suspicion that dessert is just not Bezu’s forte.

All in all, a decent meal. The dishes we sampled all seemed to be hit or miss. Such big misses are a little hard to swallow when you’re dining in this price range. I would return but probably only if I happened to be in that part of town. And someone else was picking up the tab.