Blu Bistro

Enough already. All during the holidays I was repeatedly asked if I had eaten at Blu Bistro. Now I have.

Located at the intersection of Bit and Spur and Old Shell Roads, Blu is deep in Old Mobile, Early WeMo territory. Previous restaurants in the space were rather predictable, with the exception of a French restaurant many years ago (when I was in high school).

I went with no expectations, but for the fact that I had seen a menu and it looked rather “pricey.” I had also been told the chef and owner, Michael Blukus, came from the Mobile Country Club.

Several years ago when I ate at a previous restaurant that inhabited the space, I found the room to be tarted up with knick-knacks. But now the vast ceiling, low lighting and one large dining room bring hushed conversations. Everyone was rather quiet, but for a couple behind us who later could not stop using the superlative “wonderful, it was wonderful” to the visiting chef. I stopped counting, and my wife admonished me to stop eves dropping after I count 19 “wonderful” filled statements.

A narrow entry serves as greeting space and a repository for a tiny bar. Blu serves only beer and wine at this time and has no liquor license. Our waitress was as quiet as a mouse, but nice and provided prompt service. Blu has generously sized tables. While this does well for tables of six or four, the two tops are rather odd. My wife and I felt as if we were Ferdinand and Isabella. We had to lean toward each other to have conversation.

The wine list is small, but decent. It is made up of current popular choices and a few choice selections. We just ordered a glass of wine as we were on our way to a Mardi Gras ball. Our entire meal only took an hour, which was great for us so we could make it to the ball on time.

As we reviewed the menu, a small platter of crudités with either ranch or blue cheese dressing was brought to the table. I could not discern a strong taste of either type. The menu brings forth several courses—Starters, Salads, Entrées, Accompaniments and Desserts. I wanted to focus on a meal, so did not order a starter, but a few appeared unique for our area. These two were Baked Brie in Puff Pastry with Cranberry Orange Glaze ($7) and Fried Green Tomato with Herbed Goat Cheese and Shrimp Remoulade ($9).

A salad does not come with your entrée but they do offer a house salad with a choice of four dressings. There are two others - Caesar ($6) and a Gingham Salad ($7). Had I been hungrier, I would have ordered the Gingham. It is a field green salad with sliced strawberries, toasted almonds and pecans, crumbled blue cheese with gingham dressing (sorry, I forgot to ask just what this was). I seem to remember this is similar, if not right off of the Mobile Country Club menu. I ordered the house with creamy garlic. It was pedestrian - too much iceberg for my taste.

The entrees are all enticing and challenging. I will mention a few beyond our choices. First, the special was a veal rack that I must honestly say I paid no attention to, but it looked impressive when being taken to another table. Two others that made my choice difficult were—a Pan Roasted Breast of Free-Range Chicken with Conecuh Sausage and Smoked Gouda Stuffing ($18) and Molasses Glazed Tenderloin of Pork with Creole Mustard Jus ($18). These were also the cheapest items. Oh, every entrée comes with a choice of two accompaniments. I will address this later.

The Fresh Gulf Fish of the day was grouper. I overheard the chef say he had picked it up that morning from Southern Fish and Oyster. I like the fact that he buys local and often. It shows me he is not keeping unnecessary inventory around. This is attractive, and he can no doubt do it because of the restaurant’s small size.

You can get the fish special either with jumbo lump crabmeat ($27) or without ($21). The fish can be prepared sautéed, broiled or blackened. My wife ordered it with crabmeat. It was buttery, flaky and mild. The crabmeat was generous, sautéed in the same manner as the fish.

I chose the Filet – pan-seared, eight-ounce with herb butter ($26) or with sautéed mushrooms ($27). It was delicious. The filet was cooked perfectly medium-rare, with a thin film of butter on top and a shallow pool of butter that ran into my mashed potatoes.

Regarding the accompaniments, there are six and you can choose two. I of course chose the Yukon gold mashed potatoes, which were fine. My wife chose garlic and herb cheese grits that were heavy on herbs and just funny tasting. We both chose the spinach Madeleine. I did not like the texture of the spinach, and it did not have the “kick” that is found in most spinach Madeleine.

The chef came around to all of the tables to ask about our meal and chat a little bit, which is rarely done these days. He is an affable man who spoke warmly of his venture. We shared crème brulee, and it was the best and most perfectly prepared either of us had ever experienced. It was cold and creamy on the inside with a hard, burnt sugar shell. I had to whack the shell to get into the dessert.

My opinion? I think that with a total check of over $80 including just one glass of wine, Blu Bistro did not meet the mark, but my wife felt differently. The entrees are fantastic, but the spinach and grits could not keep up.

WeMo and Springhill have a dearth of fine dining. With a little polishing on the finer points, Blu Bistro could be very successful.

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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