Carolyn T.
Yelp
After keeping tabs on menu changes for a few years, I finally found myself here for a lovely evening Thursday dinner date! We arrived close to 8 without a reservation and were seated immediately near the door.
Atmosphere: Even though there was a little tent outside the door in an effort to keep the cold out, I still got a big blast of cold air every time someone opened the door. The decor is very simple with a few eclectic movie posters adorning a wall and a tribute to classic movie stars on the wall of the women's bathroom. Our table was a little bit small, which would have made it difficult to fit food had we ordered more. The atmosphere might have been considered more on the romantic side, but with an almost full house, acoustics were pretty loud. We were lucky the crowds thinned a lot about halfway through our meal, making conversation much easier. It should also be noted that it's possible you may be seated at a communal table.
Service: Service was great! Our waiter was a little bit slow to get to us originally. By the time he appeared, we had already decided everything we wanted to order. Our waiter was really excellent, taking the care to explain the Mediterranean, French, and Spanish influences for many of the dishes. He even explained the meaning of Autre Monde ("other world," in French). He seemed genuinely passionate about the restaurant, which furthered our excitement for our meal. Major props also go out to the hostess, who we noticed opening the door for guests, helping guests with their coats, and stepping outside to the cold tent area to answer phones so as not to contribute further to the noise levels. When she finished her shift for the night, she said goodbye to us as she was leaving. We were very impressed! Our waiter also was sure to ask us how we liked our food after each of the three courses.
Food: Pita bread with white bean and pistachio hummus- The pita was exquisite and honestly the best I have ever tasted. They make it in house and it shows! It was hot, flaky, and just gently toasted, but not at all burned. Perfection. As we slathered our pita in hummus, we tried to decide which was better and couldn't decide! Our only complaint was that there wasn't enough pita for the hummus, so we ended up eating it by itself at the end. Highly recommend.
Grilled octopus- If you think you hate octopus, you're wrong. Octo-haters (like my boyfriend) can't deny that they cook the octopus to perfection at Autre Monde. This isn't your standard rubbery calamari octopus, but a grilled version that can easily be chewed or even cut with a knife. This was the best grilled octopus I've ever had, easily, and it was also my favorite menu item! Order this.
Three cheese gnocchi- I don't eat meat, generally, but I was willing to take a bite of the gnocchi with the shredded meat on top. It was really, really excellent. Vegetarians, if you're not picky, it's pretty easy to eat around the meat on this dish because the gnocchi just has cheese inside. This was hands down my boyfriend's favorite of our savory dishes. The gnocchi was clearly freshly made by hand and was outstanding.
Brussels sprouts- This was our least favorite dish of the night. The sprouts were pretty big and were a bit difficult to chew because they seemed a bit hard; I suspect they should have cooked a bit longer. The bits of pancetta were charred a bit more than we liked and there was not much. It still wasn't a bad dish by any means, though, and fulfilled our appetite for veggies. Next time, we will try something else. Skip this.
Hazelnut chocolate pot de creme- What a DREAM. This is probably one of the best desserts we have ever tried. It's basically a big cup filled with hazelnut chocolate (like nutella) that's a cross between pudding and fudge with cream on top. I don't like pudding or fudge, but this dessert knocked my socks off. Order this, no questions asked. No need to read any more.
Overall, we were really pleased with our meal. For two people, it cost a little over $60, which was pretty good. We felt like we for a good value. This is a place with outstanding food in Berwyn--of all places! I will definitely return in the future. I'm anxious to try the brown butter goat cheese ravioli, which wasn't on the menu when we came!