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L’Apéritif — a recent addition to Bangor’s international dining offerings — would be a great place to have a drink, catch up with friends and enjoy the atmosphere, but don’t have a meal.
The tapas bar and Eurolounge — which opened in July — sits in downtown Bangor on the corner of Broad and Independent streets, next to the Sea Dog Microbrewery and Restaurant.
The dining room — complete with a baby grand piano and pianist, modern décor, and panoramic windows — was elegant and dazzling. The entrance unfolds into a suave European-style lounge and bar, complete with houndstooth ottomans, voluminous black leather couches and extravagant chandeliers.
But the ambience does not reflect the service and quality of the restaurant; the first impression of the restaurant was its best.
The drink menu was exhaustive. From Hoegaarden and Framboise on draft to a range of cocktails, L’Apéritif has a beverage for any palate.
L’Apéritif is a self-proclaimed tapas bar. Tapas-style dining is a serving made up of multiple small portions meant to be shared. When questioned about the menu, the server’s limited knowledge was dismaying. Not only did the service detract from the atmosphere, but the one-page food menu was timid and unoriginal compared to the three-page drink menu.
First to the table was fondue. Although college students love copious amounts bread and melted cheese, L’Apéritif clearly disagreed. We struck rock bottom. There simply wasn’t enough cheese to cover the crumbling bread or the wafer-thin slices of apple. At $10, it simply wasn’t worth the cost.
Stuffed mushrooms with prosciutto were next, followed shortly by the eggplant rolls with smoked tomato and mozzarella. Last to the table were the gnocchi with parmesan cream sauce and truffle oil. The earthy flavor of the stuffed mushrooms was crowded out by the stuffing’s beef bouillon. Soggy filling, instead of a layer of lightly browned cheese, was found in the middle. The prosciutto was missing entirely. The eggplant rolls were overpowered by the vegetables and tomato sauce. The eggplant itself was weak and bitter.
The gnocchi with parmesan cream sauce and truffle oil, staying true to established mediocrity, failed to elicit praise. Truffle oil is a rare and expensive ingredient, well worth the cost of the dish. But the truffle oil was indiscernible, as if parmesan was the dish’s only ingredient. Gnocchi are traditionally sautéed until golden brown and crisp on the outside while the interior is soft and creamy. Of seven, only two had a truly crisp exterior.
Representative of the entire experience were the chicken angels with plum sauce. The chicken angels had the greatest potential for creative expression of the dishes served; they were also the greatest disappointment. Described by our server, chicken angels were coconut battered strips of chicken served with a plum reduction. In reality, the chicken angels were poorly coated and barely flavored. The plum sauce could have been a stand-out dish, but instead the chef played it safe.
This epitomized our experience at L’Apéritif as a whole: A great place to buy a drink, catch up with a friend or relax, but not the place to sit down for tapas. If you want a Eurolounge experience, by all means stop by. But if it’s just a meal you’re after, do what we did: Stop at Wendy’s on the way home.
Bangor Daily News