Thing #43 – Date Night!

Hey, another Thing done!

And this one isn’t just a one-off thing, either – this was a big Thing.  THREE different “new” restaurants.   And obviously, since the last one was, uh, last year, I guess it’s pretty obvious that we don’t get out much.

See, here’s the thing.

Going out for dinner involves walking the dog a little early, dressing up, putting on makeup, doing something with my hair, probably even shaving my legs. . . not to mention staying up past our bedtime.  Hey, 4 o’clock comes early, you know!

But.

But sometimes, a couple’s gotta just get out of their rut and simply enjoy each other’s company, without worrying about setting the table or cleaning up afterward.  You know?

So back at Christmastime, I picked up restaurant gift certificates for my various siblings, and I decided to get one for us, too.

Hey, it was a good deal. . .

So we had a $25 gift certificate for this little jazz lounge place, and, since we’d been holding onto it for a while, we decided that our anniversary would be a good time to use it.

And off we went.

Bistro 135 is set in a storefront in East Rochester.  Though we didn’t actually take a tour or anything, it does appear to be a small restaurant, though there’s a “downstairs” (where we were seated), and, I understand, an outside courtyard, which, unfortunately, had a private party the night we were there.

Dining al fresco would have been cool, huh?

So we were seated in a small dining room, near the fireplace (which, mercifully, had not been lit!) and a stairway to the main dining room where there was live music.

Aside:  You don’t actually need to see live jazz to enjoy it.

We started our meals with an appetizer – Peeps chose a pair of of crab cakes with a creole remoulade sauce –  they tasted just as good as they looked, too!

Our entrees arrived very shortly after the bread, the appetizer, then the salad.

You know, it’s hard to decide sometimes.

I went with the Chilean sea bass – and yes, I KNOW, it’s on the “avoid” list.  It’s overfished and, um, in danger of being endangered.

But here’s my thing.

I don’t eat much fish anyway – with the exception of salmon and tilapia, which, as far as I know, are on the “have at it” list.

I’d even go so far as to say that MOST fish is on my “avoid” list – just on principal.

So anyway.  The parmesan-crusted Chilean sea bass with lemon buerre blanc was . . . quite lovely, even though it’s hard to tell that from the non-flashed photo in the candle-lit dining room.  (Believe me, the flash photo was just . . . harsh.  I should order food with more color.)

I had never had Chilean sea bass before, and I was surprised by just how moist and flavorful it was – no WONDER it’s overfished!

Peeps, on the other hand, opted for the tried and true – a rack of lamb.

There are no issues with New Zealand lamb that we know of – it’s delightfully flavorful and tender, without being gamey.

And, of course, the garlic mashed potatoes that were served with it were quite nice, as well.

We did, however, skip dessert this time – the portions were the perfect size.  We were able to finish them without needing to be rolled away from the table.  Why ruin that with dessert?

All in all, it was a great night out – the food was delicious, our waitress was attentive without being intrusive, and the setting, with the classic jazz playing in the background, was perfect for a quiet evening out.

And we’ve decided that we need to have date night more than once a year!