MAY 13 / 2002

La Boheme Restaurant - Nice Place, "But"…

In 14 years of restaurant reviewing in the Edmonton area, only twice did I ever leave an establishment with such inconclusive impressions that, to be fair, I went back on my own for a second time. One such occasion was reviewing La Boheme, located at 6427 - 112 Avenue.

Far from downtown, located in an older and well-established area of east Edmonton, the majestic renovated building boasts an interesting history, as well as one of the more renowned bed and breakfast offerings in Edmonton.

This high-end establishment is capable of hosting most private and corporate functions, and offers intriguing French and Moroccan menu selections.

While the quality of food is generally high, La Boheme has also been criticized for being too pricey and inconsistent. It also has been known for somewhat arrogant service, while bending backwards for those clients it knows well or for those with big pocketbooks.

Indeed, my own experiences there in the past left me with less than glowing feelings of the establishment. However times change and many restaurants I reviewed have changed, closed, expanded, deteriorated or improved greatly over the years.

My impressions of La Boheme, however, remain pretty much as they were before. There are traces of absolute brilliance in some of their menu offerings, while others seem to show the proverbial short-cuts.

The arrogance still abounds, unfortunately, which is one reason reviewers never reveal themselves, or make reservations in their own name. At the end of the dinner, I asked for a copy of the day's menu. An item most restaurants readily provide with pleasure.

I was told to look on their web site and was refused a copy. So be it. What is amusing, though, is that most of our menu selections didn't even appear on the web site menu.

My companion on this particular evening was Nora Bumanis, harpist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Accompanying me on a number of reviews over the years, she is certainly a knowledgeable Epicurean and a connoisseur in her own right. Her views were almost identical to my own.

As for the dinner itself, Nora started with the Brie Fondant, a delightful and tasty appetizer with copious amounts of warm brie - well presented and well garnished. This is an absolute must for cheese lovers.

My selection was the Coquille St. Jacques, one of my all time favorite dishes, either as a meal or as an appetizer. Coquille St. Jacques can be prepared in a variety of ways…but always with scallops and mushrooms (and usually shrimp) in a buttery white wine sauce, sometimes surrounded by whipped potatoes. It is a dish I make often.

My dish seemed very heavy on the whipped potatoes and very light on the scallops. There was no shrimp (not mandatory, though) and the sauce seemed rather thin. Bottom line, it was not the pleasure we were anticipating.

For the main course, Nora chose the duck special, which, quite frankly was not so special. Suffice it to say it is not something she will be ordering there again.

On the other hand, my Couscous Royal was excellent, reminiscent of the years I lived in France and regularly visited the Moroccan Couscous houses. Couscous is a granular wheat grain that expands when mixed with water. It is steamed and then mixed with various meats and vegetables in a stew. One dips the grain that surrounds a plate into the stew in the middle.

While the presentation at La Boheme was different, the taste was superb.

Dessert for me was very non-descript. Nora had the classic Crème Brulé. Neither did this measure up to the really fine crème brulés made by other establishments in Edmonton in terms of crustiness of the carmelization, sweetness or creaminess. Although it seemed to have the right ingredients, it tasted and felt more like a custard.

A week or so later, I went back with a buddy for lunch. Had I been doing a luncheon review instead of a high-end dinner, my thoughts would have been quite different. Service was far more polite, although slow. The chicken wrap and salmon pasta were great, and served in copious quantities. Space prevents me from doing two reviews; but there are certainly as many ups as there are downs.

BEST POINTS:
Among the best couscous in the city that I've tasted thus far, beautiful décor, good menu variety.

AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
As rumor has it… still inconsistent. Also, it would be easier to grant the benefit of the doubt in some cases if they could control their arrogance.

RATING CATEGORY:
Despite a number of faux pas, La Boheme is still a very credible upper end dining establishment that merits a 7.5 out of 10. That rating could easily go up if they choose to work at it.