b'stro on the beach

Miguel was a great waiter and very friendly. Breakfast was great!!!

Very good cheese platter for $15.00.  Great selection of cheese and very tasty.  Perfect amount of bread, crackers, grapes and almonds.  I'd get again.  

I stayed at hotel and didn't eat here once for breakfast as there is a Starbucks and Publix over the bridge on Sunrise Blvd.  

The Galleria mall and CVS are also in walking distance.

Hotel dining has an unfortunate reputation for inconsistency, and my experience at the b'stro did little to help change that notion. Convenience and curiosity drew me to dine here twice during a four night stay at the B, and this review reflects both lunch (four star food and service) and breakfast (two star food and service).

The "b'stro" has a clean, light and airy design which contrasts with the nightclub appearance of the lobby. A self-serve wine wall seems like a rather trendy addition, but it was nice to look at, as was the elongated dark wood dining table that really grounded the airiness of the room.

**

Part I:
The first meal was a late lunch - around 3pm. We had the entire place to ourselves and a pleasant server. He didn't know what on earth I was talking about when I asked for the B's house-made ginger soda, so I had to explain that they served it at the pool bar. It's really quite delicious, but probably something few people appreciate - I'm definitely one of them.

They have a quasi-celebrity chef (Holli Ugalde, winner of Season 7 of Hell's Kitchen) whose "signature" menu items are denoted on the menu. I chose the sweet potato gnocchi, which is described as "mascarpone and cinnamon tart diced green apples, dandelion greens, shaved reggiano" ($18) and my dining companion chose a croque madame and French onion soup (offered as a half sandwich + soup or salad combination, $9).

The gnocchi was very tasty but also very, very heavy between the "lead balloon" gnocchis and the mascarpone based sauce. This contrasts with David's review, who noted the lightness of the gnocchi. You can tell the difference by looking at the photos. The "half" croque madame was excellent, and to my eyes, appeared to be a full sized sandwich; the French onion soup was above average.

There was a surprise in store for us that I really appreciated. When our server brought us the check, he also informed us that because we reached a certain spending threshold, we were entitled to a $20 wine card. I didn't get a chance to use it, but was told it's valid for a year - I'll certainly stop by on my next trip.

Upon inspecting the bill, my gnocchi rang up at $4 higher than the menu price, but there was no $2 upcharge for the egg on the croque madame and my ginger soda was billed as a Sprite - even though they could easily charge twice as much as a fountain soda for my ginger beer. No charge on refills either, apparently.

Our server was also happy to have valet retrieve our car, so it was literally ready when we signed the bill and walked out the door.

**

Part II:
Breakfast on the morning of my departure left something to be desired. Our server seemed to be as airy as the dining room's decor. When I asked what the B's "signature" breakfast item might be, I practically had to wrestle a suggestion out by explaining what I meant by "signature" and then finally offering my top two choices. I ended up with the lemon crunch pancakes ("lemon zested batter blended with crunchy oats," $12). My dining companion ordered the oatmeal brûlée ($5), since he immensely enjoyed a dish with an identical title at the W several days earlier. We also ordered a side of applewood smoked bacon ($4) to share.

So, my pancakes arrive - three of them - they're enormous and fluffy, and reminded me of a slightly more dry version of the pancakes you might get at, say, Perkins. I couldn't detect the lemon zest in the batter, but they were topped with some kind of lemon-walnut-oat mixture. They weren't what I'd gather from the menu description, and certainly I would expect anything with nuts to be specified on the menu (I'm not allergic to nuts, but my dining companion seated 3 feet away is). The raw walnuts were merely chopped and the oats may have been merely run through a food processor and sprinkled. The portion was way too much for one person - I'd say it was the equivalent of nine pancakes that I'd make at home, and three or four of those would be more than enough.

The oatmeal brûlée at the B wasn't brûléed (or if it was, I couldn't tell). It was merely standard oatmeal topped with dried fruit (raisins) and brown sugar, and the portion was actually smaller than the W's. If you noticed that I said "merely" to help describe the dishes three times in a row, that pretty much says it.

The bacon was pathetic. Four greasy, limp slices thrown onto a dinner plate all by themselves. The bacon at the W? An entire heap - about three times as much - of crispy slices twice the size.

My advice? Skip the breakfast menu and do the buffet instead, or just walk to the W. You'll pay slightly more but get greater quantity and much greater quality.