Le Bouchon Du Grove - Coconut Grove French Restaurant Review

There are quite a few restaurants in Coconut Grove, so it was hard for Barb and I to decide where to meet. I deferred to her love of the French and we ended up at Le Bouchon du Grove. It looked promising...

Le Bouchon is small, as are most places in the Grove, but looks very Bistro-y. Kinda dark yet lively. Tables too close together yet friendly enough. Waiters bustling happily about in their pressed white aprons... You know the place.

We sat down and promptly tried to place our drink orders. She wanted bottled water. The choice here? An Italian brand. Say what? Yep. No French waters at all, and no fountain for seltzer at all. Italian water is the only choice here, folks. In fact, there is no soda fountain either. Everything is canned or bottled. I wanted mine in a glass with ice. He said nope... I got a bit of a weird look from him when I asked for a glass of ice and a coke. Hey, seemed fairly obvious to me...

We both debated between omelets or the Lobster Salad. The Salad won out at about $14 each. We shoulda went with the omelets at about $10 each. It's not that the salad was exactly bad, but it was not a $14 salad. There was a fair amount of lobster mixed in with the greens, but well, like I had an additional small thin strip of steak in mine, Barb did not. I think there were tomatoes on one and not the other, too. She recalls this. Who knows. I was too busy being amused.

The salad was sprinkled with some kinda wine dressing that could have been a bit more flavorful. Oh hell, I'ma go ahead and say it: It should have had some flavor to it, but it did not. There. Dull. ick. She asked for some other dressing before it arrived and was told This is a French restaurant, we don't have that... to which I replied yeah a French place that only serves Italian water... He wasn't amused.

They brought us sliced bread (cold) and butter, but we had to request little bread plates. That also got us an annoyed look from the waiter. heh heh heh. I was actually beginning to have fun with this guy.

Truth is, the Le Bouchon menu isn't all that French. I mean, aside from the Escargot, it all looked pretty ordinary to me (the usual steak, chicken, etc.). The place is pretentious and over priced, in my opinion.

I do give Le Bouchon du Grove a few props for opening back up quickly after Hurricane Wilma and grilling for the hungry masses, and the dessert we had (some wonderful cake concoction) was fabulous. Too pricey to be bringing the kids, but there were a few things fit for a Vegetarian.

Lunch: $49 for two, plus tip (also incl. 2 cappuccinos).

Irritating the pompous Waiter: Priceless

Final Determination: 2 stars for Le Bouchon du Grove.

3430 Main Highway
Miami, FL 33133

305-448-6060