BLT Market

After being introduced to BLT Fish last year by some friends and discovering BLT Burger on our own, we clued in to BLT Market (BLT, for the record stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel, LT being the chef's initials...not lettuce tomato) and went with our friend Julie, who we're planning to visit in Bangkok later this summer. After bellying up to the bar solely to take advantage of a free nut sampler that included de-shelled pistachios (can I say that until you've had the pleasure of eating MORE than one pistachio at a time, you haven't really lived), we got our table and were greeted, for starters, with a hot dog amuse bouche (pictured just below). Specifically, a beef-and-pork hot dog, wrapped up in a homemade Gruyère-flecked pastry and topped with sauerkraut and mustard. He had me at the hot dog. We started with a "mache" salad, with greens I assumed were watercress until a Google search identified mache as "a little known salad green with a mild lettuce like flavor." But screw the green leafy veg. The best thing about it and the reason we ordered it was for the tiny deviled quail eggs that tasted like truffle. There were five in all in the salad and out of pure stupidity masked as chivalry, I gave the last two to Alisa and Julie. It will truly be one of the great regrets of this week. Anyway. We also got a spice-crusted yellowfin tuna app that was entirely forgettable. As we waited for entrees, they brought out a narrow bag with a hot baguette, cut down the middle and filled with what we thought was pesto but tasted like creamed spinach but was fantastic whatever it was. Awesome bread seems to be a staple at BLT restaurants...at BLT Fish they have the best cheddar biscuits ever. Anyway. We immediately asked for another and the waiter, perhaps not quite understanding what we wanted, arrived with more of those amazing hot dog things. Score! A minute after that he came with another loaf of the bread. I was loving this place beyond words by this point. For entrees, Alisa and I both opted for a brioche-crusted halibut with a lobster curry sauce, a special on the menu that night. The fish was perfectly cooked, but I have to confess it was just sort of bland, not arriving tucked inside the big doughy pastry I envisioned, just flecked with some some bread-y stuff on top. Alisa begged to differ. Not wanting it to arrive suffocating inside some thick, doughy mass, she liked the combination of subtle flavors. She also enjoyed the heavily braised cauliflower. Too me it just tasted like burned veggies. Julie opted for a veal chop with morel mushrooms that seemed like the better choice. I feel like there's more I should say about the entrees, but isn't it so common to be wowed by everything but the main course? Anyway. To finish, we got two kickass desserts: a Mango upside-down cake with jasmine green tea ice cream that was really good but quickly upstaged by what Julie said was the standout of the evening and I may have to agree: Popsicle Sorbet with warm Orange Blossom Madeleines. The sorbet, topped with what I think was a raspberry sauce, brought you back to the sidewalk beside the ice cream man during the summer before third grade as your Big Wheel awaited another roll down the street. All in all, a great experience.