County Bench

After Happy Hour at Bistro 29, we went to County Bench for dinner. This is a new restaurant that opened 2 months ago in downtown Santa Rosa and has been getting rave reviews. Their Executive Chef Bruce Frieseke and Chef du Cuisine Ben Davies hail from many Michelin-starred restaurants, including Applewood, Meadowood and Mireproix. They're located at 535 4th Street.

Deviled Brussel Sprouts--$4. I thought these were just okay while my dinner companions liked them. The deviled part didn't have much flavor.

Mary's Organic Half Chicken with Toy Box Tomatoes, Fennel, Cipollini Onions and Napa Cabbage. This was $24, which I thought was very reasonable. There was a half chicken, cut into 3 pieces. The meat was moist and the skin was crispy.

Our server recommended getting the Cast Iron Rice and Grains with Olives and Herbs to have with the chicken. This was $8. This was disappointing. The rice was too crispy, didn't have much flavor and this was such a small portion for the price.

Bowl of Grilled Mussels with Smoked Bacon, Garlic & Parsley--$11. This had good flavor but was a very small bowl for the price. The sauce had too much salt.

Our server suggested getting the Naan to go with the mussels. We did not get any bread at the table. There were 2 pieces of naan with honey and garlic butter to dip for $8. While the honey was delicious, it still didn't justify $8 for 2 small pieces of naan. This was way overpriced. Strike 2 for the server.

Double Bone-In Pork Chop with Roasted Corn, Shishito Peppers and Tomatillo Salsa Verde--$32. This was a huge portion and could easily feed 3 people. For the portion, the price was reasonable. The only problem is some parts of the pork chop were dry and didn't have much flavor. The bone was good though.

The wine list was overpriced for Sonoma County. Overall, we were disappointed. I might go back and have the chicken but definitely wouldn't order any of the overpriced sides.

2015 08 26