Cafe Absinthe - Very Disappointing (Chicago Area Restaurant Review No. 89)

After a meeting Lisa attended for one of her non-profits, we decided to go to a nearby restaurant that we had heard good things about, Cafe Absinthe. We shouldn't have bothered. Our immediate problem with Cafe Absinthe was its smell. The place smelled very musty, and noticeably so, thus casting a pall over the meal.

We started with a bottle of Turley Zinfandel, which we liked because, typical of Zins, it was light and fruity. We very very psyched for the cheese course, but were again disappointed. There was more bread than cheese, and the only really good cheese was the goat. All the others were blah, although Lisa liked the olives.

Steve then had the hearts of romaine salad, which he liked, particularly the caesar dressing. Lisa's mixed green with feta and artichoke was too sweet and spicy for her. Steve's filet mignon was not charcoaled enough for him (although too charcoaled for Lisa when she tasted it). All in all the dish could have been better. Lisa had horseradish crusted salmon. She liked the salmon alot, as well as the accompanying mashed potatos.

For dessert, Lisa had the lava cake, which was okay on the chocolate end, but the ice cream was too sweet. Steve's bread pudding with cinammon ice cream was bad in all aspects (but he ate all the ice cream anyway because he had actually left most of the other dishes partially uneaten).

In addition to the musty smell, the service here was very uneven, and the staff in general seemed somewhat uninterested.

The bathroom was a small but pretty unisex that was clean BUT had no hot water whatsoever (which is very scary since the waitstaff probably had to use it), and a questionable lock.

Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was $160 and would have been $140 with wine by the glass. This is reasonable if the food was good but here since it was only average seems somewhat pricy.

Our ratings for Cafe Absinthe, 1954 North Ave., Chicago

5 of 10 Steak Knives; 1.5 of 3 Bathroom Brushes