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La Perla Bistro - CLOSED
Category: Restaurants American (New) American (New) [Edit]
6530 Fair Oaks BlvdCarmichael, CA 95609
(916) 977-1877
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Dressy
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
4 reviews for La Perla Bistro
4 reviews in English
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Review from Sunny K.
Sacramento, CA
12/17/2008
Wonderfully prepared meals catered to your home using the freshest and finest ingredients-- Chris is a fantastic chef! Thank you!
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Review from Ann S.
Sacramento, CA
12/1/2007 ROTD 1/29/2008
It's Friday night. After a long week of heating up Trader Joe's frozen entrees, mom needs a break from cooking. We have our usual discussion: 10 year old boy wants pizza from Wenelli's, mom wants to go to Bandera for the "chicken" (aka known as an extra dry Bombay martini, straight up), dad wants meat. As happens every Friday, we come to a stand-off, so we grab the paper to find something new.
Hmm....a restaurant called La Perla is on Fair Oaks, just up the street. I've driven by it before, and naturally, I assumed it was an expensive lingerie shop. I'd even planned to stop by sometime to see what a $70.00 bra looks like in person, but never got around to it. Good thing, as I'd have been sorely disappointed in their lingerie offerings.
Because it has the word "Bistro" in it, I tell the kid that they probably have burgers, and we head off. It's winter and dark, but the outside of the place looks like every other little building on that street - pane glass windows facing the parking lot, shabby. Once inside we were surprised at the elegance. The low lighting, the white tablecloths, candles, and the jazz band playing softly in the corner was a clue that may not be the best choice for people with a ten year old boy.
Another clue was the black-suited maitre-d who took one look at us and handed us a menu, telling us we might want to look at it before we sat down. A quick glance made us realize he may be right.
But then he asked my son a fateful question, "Do you like gnocci?" My son, nodded eagerly and said, "Yes, I LOVE gnocci!" And, he does, he's had Trader Joe's frozen gorgonzola gnocci many times and eaten it heartily. The Maitre-d pointed out that one of the small plates was gnocci with veal sweetbreads and greens with ten year old balsamic vinegar. I look at him in horror, and he smiles and winks at me. My son said that sounded good, so we were seated, with mom now having to keep a secret.
Now, my son is extremely mature for a ten year old, and took to fine dining like a pro. My husband and I were uninterested in a starter, but my son wanted to try the roasted butternut squash soup with apple compote. The soup arrived and was thick, creamy and beautifully spiced - like liquid pumpkin pie. The kid ate almost all of it.
For the main course, my husband chose a "pork chop with sweet potato something or other." Meat, basically. He said it was very good only he thought that the meat was too rare. (He still believes that pork contains trichinosis and needs to be cooked until it's gray).
I chose a beef wellington small plate, with new york strip. The wellington was oddly flavorless. The meat was much more well-done that I would have expected, barely pale pink in the middle. However, it was very tender, with a flaky wellington crust. There was no pate or anything to top the meat, which left something missing. It came on a bed of greens that were absolutely delicious.
My son did order the veal sweetbreads with gnocci. And, he really did like the sweetbreads. The gnocci wasn't quite up to Trader Joe's standards but still he enjoyed it. He made a very insightful comment - that there was way too much vinegar on the dish. I tasted it, and he was right. It was wonderful vinegar, don't get me wrong. Aged to perfection, the right amount of sweet and tart - but his meal was drowning in it, with the exception of the sweetbreads.
A tense moment came. The maitre-d came by to ask my son how he liked the sweetbreads, and my son asked what part of the veal it came from. The man answered, that it was a gland called the thymus and said he liked it because it had a very creamy texture. My son, knowing perfectly well what a thymus is, didn't throw up, make a scene, scream at me that I'd tricked him or make gagging noises. He nodded thoughtfully and said, yes, the texture was creamy. But, he thought there was too much vinegar in the gnocci.
We also ordered a dessert, which was a chocolate cake with espresso creme anglaise. The piece was very small for three people, but was absolutely delicious. The creme anglaise had a bit of a sour flavor. I don't know if it came from the espresso bean or if lemon had been used in the base. A small matter as we licked it all up.
We got a lot of compliments on my son and his behavior. The maitre d said that they never saw kids in the restaurant and he was pleasantly surprised to find one so interested in food. I explained that we were fans of "Top Chef." Without reality TV, there would be no sophistication.
I wish I could compliment them back with five stars, but they aren't ready. The menu was adventurous and interesting, with fresh ingredients, but each dish missed the mark just a bit. The inside was attractive but cold. The live jazz band was a lovely touch, but it's always awkward to want to clap but need to eat. However, it may have just been an off night and we will definitely go back. It's worth a try. -
Review from Michelle B.
Sacramento, CA
Updated - 9/24/2008
So... we went back. And believe it or not we received an immediate apology from the waitress we had the horrible service from before. We truly appreciated her apologizing, so we decided to give her another chance instead of requesting a different server. The service was much improved and she made up for the poor service from before with an appropriate deduction to our check.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/18/2008
We used to go there every Friday night because we loved the food. Now this place is very expensive,… Read more »
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Review from Jamie B.
San Francisco, CA
5/2/2008
Truly fabulous- they have a lot of employees from the local culinary school, and it shows. Everything I've ever had was textbook perfect, and the servers are always knowledgeable and warm. The quality of their meat and produce is always superb- my favorite thing on the menu is their burger, done rare, for those days you just need some bleeding, ruby centered meat. My favorite fine dining restaurant in Sacramento, and a bargain to boot. Go. Now.
