Bistro 18
“It is BYO, so stop by the liquor store on your way to dinner.”
“My entree was outstanding; tender Filet Mignon medallions with seasoned asparagus and delicious mashed potatoes.”
“The one thing that really stood out was the lobster quesadillas and the braised short ribs.”
Bistro 18
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
7 reviews
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My first time here I had the lamb chops special with spinach mashed. The lamb was cooked perfectly at medium rare and had nice flavor.
I went back here a few weeks ago with an Amazon local deal ($40 for $20) and ended up ordering the duck breast, which was served with brussel sprouts, sweet potato mashed, all of which sat in some type of sweet reduction and was topped with figs. Wow! A lot of sweet notes in this dish, but it worked to perfection. I've eaten a lot of duck, but this might have been my most memorable experience.
The service here is excellent and we gave praise to the owner, George, at the end of our meal.
A plus: BYOB
Some downfalls:
-Parking
-Really tight seating inside and really awkward seating outside. The seating just outside the restaurant is pretty much in front of other businesses which are closed during the dinner hour, but don't let these downfalls discourage you from going here!
This Montclair BYO is a bit of an enigma to me. The location is fine…a stone's throw from the hustle and bustle of Church St and Bloomfield Ave and there is a small parking lot across the street, which is definitely a plus given the challenging parking situation in Montclair.
The digs are nice…sort of unique in that the front space of the restaurant is a fully glass enclosed area that spans across the other boutiques and stores in the multipurpose building. The other dining rooms are quite small and are divided so that they actually appear as two distinct restaurants. The puzzling part was that in spite of some really tasty food, the restaurant was nearly empty on a Saturday night at 8pm. Granted, it is the summer but I just couldn't understand why the ghost town experience. That did deter from the complete dining encounter since atmosphere was certainly lacking. But they made up for it in simply prepared well seasoned cuisine.
There were a nice variety of specials..appetizers and entrees alike. Between the four of us, we enjoyed the Mediterranean seafood salad, the tuna tartare, the Zuppa di clams and tricolor salad. We also had the capellini, crispy big eye tuna which was a definite standout and a special swordfish over quinoa that was also quite good.
I sure hope this place garners more attention at other times of the year because despite its somewhat small menu, the food is delicious, well priced and the servers attentive and aiming to please. In a crowded sea of dining options in Montclair, this restaurant is a lovely low key eclectic Contemporary dining experience.
I liked the idea of this place, local, sustainable etc etc.
Service was solid but the food was just average. I can see why we were able to so easily get a table on Saturday night.
Had a greek salad that was blah, followed by duck that was decent. The little lady had tuna that was also sorta blah.
You could do much worse, but you could much better in town.
We had our Valentine's Day (actually 2/13) dinner here and had a very pleasant time. I will agree with other Yelpers that this is a good place for a special occasion since the entrees are close to $30. There is a different set up at Bistro 18. There are two small dining rooms next to each other, but also a hallway with seating. Its hard to describe.
My seared tuna dish was excellent. The middle was tender and raw (just like sushi) and the outside was crispy! The wasabi cream sauce was also really delicious. For dessert the salted caramel chocolate cake was a decadent treat.
The service was very attentive. I would go back for a special evening.
Went here last night for dinner. Had the scallop and salmon combination special with kale. It was amazing! The portion size was perfect, and the service was very good. I also love that, like most places in Montclair, this restaurant is a BYOB.
Weird setting. Most of the tables are along an enclosed sidewalk in front of a bunch of stores that are closed for the evening. Apparently during the day, the restaurant does not go beyond it's own boundary but at night expands down the block. For example we sat in front of a wedding photographer's studio. No real big deal but to me, this was "different". This was beyond an al fresco place setting up tables outside because we were inside. Unfortunately the place was extremely noisy. The restaurant itself has a small but charming dining area.
The food was a 4. I ordered a beet and goat cheese salad and was disappointed by its bitterness as I like that salad sweet. However, I took another look at the menu this morning and saw that it was with watercress and fennel. That would explain the bitterness. Funny how I didn't recognize either item on the plate—-but I am real not a foodie in that sense. On the other hand, the beets were really nothing special. Alison, my Caesar Salad expert, said hers was a good one.
The main courses were all very good; tuna, snapper, seafood pasta, and the country farmhouse salad. Rob wanted me to mention how much he enjoyed his snapper. As noted by many others, their bread service with the eggplant spread was great.
Service was OK. Nothing special nothing bad. No offer of crushed pepper for the Caesar or our entrees unless I missed the pepper grinder on the table.
There is a parking garage is located right behind the restaurant.
So we have 4 for the food (5 for our company Shelly & Rob but I can't factor that in), 3 for service, 2.5 for a noisy and "different" setting that others might not mind comes out to a high 3 on the Lenny scale. Really a 3.5 not a 4. For Yelp a 3.
Had a slightly disappointing dinner here after reading some very positive reviews below. The restaurant is very a uninspired (and uninspiring) space, and we sat in a glassed-in area just off the sidewalk that reminded me of those diner-type restaurants on the UES of Manhattan. Blah.
We brought a very nice bottle of red wine with us, and were really looking forward to it. Sadly, their wine glasses are of the K-Mart variety, very thick-rimmed and totally unsuited for red wines.
The bread basket was pretty uninteresting, just some crusty white bread and some kind of crunchy toast. Instead of butter or olive oil, they serve a weirdly sweet eggplant marmalade.
For starters, we got the seared scallops and the crab cake. The scallops were sweet and fresh, and were cooked nicely. The red pepper sauce on which they sat wasn't half bad, either. Sadly, the crab cake was cold in the middle, and we sent it back. It returned a few minutes later cooked but oddly misshapen.
Our entrees were a sirloin steak and seared duck beast. Both were fine, but nothing spectacular. Cooked nicely, decent sauces, but nothing that would make us return.
We chose not to stay for dessert.
Service was lackluster. Polite, but detached.