Exploring The Area: Bloomsbury Bistro Restaurant

Check out this article from a chiropractor! Located at 509 W Whitaker Mill Rd, Raleigh, NC 27608. Friday night, my family along with some friends dinned at Bloomsbury Bistro in Raleigh NC. Bloomsbury Bistro is a French Restaurant and has a 4.6 star rating on Google Maps. The restaurant is located in the Five Points area on Whitaker Mill Rd. It uniquely sits in a shopping plaza next door to a drugstore, which provides more than enough ample parking.

There was no outdoor seating available. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a host and immediately seated with our party who had already arrived and were sampling the wine list. The tables were socially distanced and the restaurant was filled at around 25% capacity.

The French restaurant is known as a solid locally owned neighborhood restaurant with great food at a reasonable price. Bloomsbury Bistro has obviously been impacted by COVID-19 as when we dined here last year the restaurant was packed full with little to no available seating.

After being seated our friendly waiter came right to the table with the menu for the evening to ask if we would like to have anything to drink.

Menu

The appetizer menu included classic French dishes section such as

  • Charcuterie
  • Champagne Steamed Mussels
  • Bistro Truffle Fries with Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • Heritage Bacon
  • Black Truffle Oil & Herbs
  • Some traditional appetizers like chicken wings

We decided to share the Seasonal Salad with Arugula & Frisée Mix, Roasted Beets, Red Wine Poached Pear, Goat Cheese, Seed Crunch & Dill Vinaigrette.

Fresh French bread was brought to the table soon after and we began to review the main course section of the menu.

The dinner menu included several traditional French meals with a twist like

  • Chicken Basquaise
  • Fried Cordon Bleu Sandwich
  • Miso-Soy Duck Breas

Other notable selection included pecan-crusted fried Catfish and a New York Strip.

Three out of four in our party decided on the New York Strip Steak with Roasted Garlic Whipped Potatoes, Vidalia Onion-Creamed Kale, Green Peppercorn Cognac Sauce. One other in our party chose the Short Ribs “Bourguignon” Black Pepper Spaetzle, Glazed Carrot, Exotic Mushrooms, Lardons, Red Wine Demi-Glace.

The meal arrived around 20 minutes later. The New York Strip was cooked to perfection covered in a delicious peppercorn cognac sauce. This delicious sauce also served as gravy for the mash potatoes.

Everyone in our party found the food to be excellent. By 9:00 as we finished our meal the restaurant was around 15% capacity. After finishing our meal our waiter came to the table with the dessert menu.

The dessert menu included:

  • Apple Cranberry Cobbler-Baked with Pecan Crumble & Vanilla Whipped Cream
  • Key Lime Crème Brûlée with Graham Cracker Crisps
  • Warm Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Hot Fudge
  • Lemon Sorbet

Both of our parties decided on sharing the chocolate brownie with vanilla bean ice cream. The brownie came out hot enough to melt the vanilla bean ice cream perfectly into the hot fudge black cherry sauce at the bottom and sides of the plate.

Overall, the dining experience was excellent. The food quality and service was exceptional. Locals who live in and around the Five Points area of Raleigh NC during normal times pack in this restaurant to full capacity during the weekend and we were glad to have found a table on short notice.