Courtney B.
Yelp
Reluctantly and yet Excitedly, I share GOLD with all of you-- not because I enjoy giving my secrets away, but simply because I want to support the small businesses that truly floor me.
And Beso... is everything!
A delightful atmosphere- wide open space, comfy booths, roomy tables, and a nice-sized outdoor patio, great music (think: the Euro lounge version of Rick Astley... say wha?!?), sometimes even live music.
Great location, ample parking!
A menu that is DIVINE and priced RIGHT- The octopus and grilled veggie dish for around $22 grabbed me from the online menu, and once we arrived, portions and taste did not disappoint!
I SOO appreciate the complimentary bread and goat milk butter (it's the small stuff that has become huge, since so many restaurants in other cities that we've lived forego these niceties anymore!)-- foodie hint... mix in some red vinegar, olive oil, and s+p for a little tang with your creamy butter!
We started with the bacon-wrapped feta and strawberry jam appetizer, which was a perfect combo of flavors.
The octopus and grilled veggie dish was as delicious as I thought it would be, and we also ordered the lamb and potatoes with mushroom gravy. The lamb was PERFECTLY cooked at our "medium" request-- and seriously, NO gravy was needed (but the gravy in and of itself is rich and delicious too!) and the potatoes were crispy, buttery, dill-actible (see what I did there?!)!
I always test out the roasted eggplant salad-- I prefer it mayonnaise-y... and ohhhhh my, this was it!
(A major aside: Years ago one of my absolute favorite restaurants in North Hollywood, CA was called the Royal Garden. Their menu was a LOT like Beso's... and the food was just as scrumptious. It was an outdoor restaurant that also had all SORTS of critters romping around (hence the... Royal Garden-- fit for a princess like me), from turtles to pheasants to bunnies, koi and more... in fact, one time their bunnies had a litter and they kindly let me pick out what became my beloved Nesbitt bunny-- the greatest bun that ever lived. He was trained!! I digress... The Royal Garden closed down ages and ages ago, and I sometimes wonder where they all went. Beso folks... were you once Royal Garden folks?!?)
Our waitress was from Bulgaria, our waiter was from Moldova... there's a distinctive European flair to everything, JUST as I like it.
Lastly, my husband's latte was "the real thing" (his words), and we devoured our Nutella-Marscapone cake and the berrylicious creamy French Layer cake and somehow rolled ourselves out of the restaurant-- without breaking the bank.
This is our new favorite folks, so... please pile on in and enjoy yourselves, but save a table for the messenger!