TS Tries Abby Singer’s Bistro

In a cosmic fluke, the members of the TS team were both in the downtown area the other day, and dropped by Abby Singer’s Bistro for lunch.

Located on the second floor of the incredibly awesome Robinson Film Center, the Bistro offers lunch, dinner and a variety of cocktails to both the Center’s patrons and the downtown crowd. We were excited to try this obviously eclectic eatery, and we are always interested in supporting all downtown establishments; we hope that current restoration efforts will help revitalize this historic and important part of our community.

We arrived relatively early for the lunch rush, and had our pick of seating. The décor of the Bistro reflected the hip, urban location, and we felt like we were finding a semi-hidden gem of the Shreveport restaurant scene. As for the food, the lunch menu featured a limited selection of sandwiches and salads, but the spectrum of offerings was diverse enough that we felt anyone could find something appealing.

Unfortunately, the tantalizing promise of the Bistro soon wilted under the weight of spotty service and mostly mediocre food. Given that the restaurant was practically empty, we anticipated a fairly brisk service, perfect for our workday lunch. However, shortly after taking our order, our server parked herself at the bar to visit with her coworkers. As a result, our drinks remained mostly empty, and a couple of other observant servers finally stepped in when even they realized that we had been abandoned. While we give those servers credit for going above and beyond, we felt that our service should never have fallen so obviously far, especially with management clearly observing.

As for food, both N and S were underwhelmed with our selections. N ordered the pulled pork barbecue sandwich with a side of fries.  N felt that the pork was bland, overly sauced, and had the taste and presentation of a prepackaged product that had been scooped and reheated. The bun was chewy and tasteless, and his fries were poor quality and no better than a local fast food joint. While N didn’t feel that the food was bad per se, it was still something he would not order again or recommend to others. In fact, his common description throughout our meal was, “Meh…”

S ordered the chicken salad sandwich with a side of sweet potato fries. The chicken salad itself was a bizarre mix of unidentifiable ingredients, but S conceded that she is pretty dang picky about chicken salad. So, while that assessment should be taken for what it is, she maintains that this dish certainly falls last on her list of Shreveport chicken salad sandwiches.  The sweet potato
fries were nothing special, and were seasoned with some type of cinnamon-sugar, which made them taste more like a dessert than an entrée accompaniment.  Again, this may be a preference issue, but for the TS team, it further illustrated the disconnect between the “bistro” façade and the short-cut food we experienced. The outward appearance sets a standard to which the fare simply doesn’t live up.

While the TS team hates to write off a place that epitomizes what our downtown area could be with a little creativity and ingenuity, we won’t be back to Abby Singer’s Bistro any time soon.  However, we still support the Robinson Film Center, and encourage everyone not to let the Bistro’s failings reflect on the Center itself. We’d still catch a film there any day.

TS Tries Monjunis and Strikes Out

During a recent hectic work-week, the TS team decided to take and break, and grab a rare weekday lunch. Not wanting to stray too far from downtown, we decided to give Monjunis a try. Though we’ve eaten at Monjunis before, our last visit was many, many years ago, so we came to the table with fresh eyes and no preconceptions.

Upon our arrival, the restaurant was absolutely packed for the lunch rush, so we grabbed a table on the patio. Like many of Shreveport’s long-standing restaurants, Monjunis has a small, hole-in-the wall atmosphere, with plenty of “Italian” décor…if you call dusty plastic grapes décor. The restaurant certainly has a feel of local tradition and history, but the over-the-top plastic grapes and decorations made us wonder how often all those tchotchkes get cleaned, especially since many of them hang above patrons’ tables.

From the get-go, our service was bad. We gave the waitress plenty of patience because of the noon-rush crowds, but after the fourth time she walked up to our table and realized she had forgotten to bring our drinks, bread, drinks, bread and finally food, we became worried that we’d never make it back to our respective offices.

For our meals, N. ordered the special of the day, which was the Cheesy-Chicken Spaghetti. What he got was neither cheesy nor chickeny (and yes, we know chickeny is not a word). N’s dish looked like a plate of dried-out noodles that took a brief run through a substance unknown, and the spaghetti appeared to be a dry, grayish mess. N took one bite and found it to be practically inedible. N. also ordered the Italian Sausage appetizer, which was simply an Italian sausage on a plate, with the “signature” marinara sauce dumped on top.

S., on the other hand, ordered the Shrimp Aurora (a signature dish) off the main menu, which was labeled as mounds of pasta and shrimp, baked with a blend of marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce and cheese. Though her plate appeared to be far more appetizing than N’s, S. felt that the dish tasted no better than under-seasoned pasta tossed with jarred sauce, with a few frozen shrimp thrown in. The TS team wondered if maybe, this is half Monjunis’ problem. Now that their key sauces and ingredients are packaged for mass distribution at grocery stores, perhaps their kitchen is simply constructing dishes from a handful of pre-packaged items. Looking at the menu, nearly every dish is some variation or combination of their “signature sauce,” and if what the TS team suspect is true, Monjunis is charging upwards of $18 for meals that are 95% out of a jar. Nothing we ate even had a hint of fresh, unique taste. In this economy, high cost better be offset by quality, freshness, service or overall experience, but Monjunis failed to deliver on all counts.

After waiting interminably long for our check, we were out nearly $40 for the most disappointing lunch we’ve had in ages. Overall, we really wanted to like a place that has such an obvious history in our hometown, but after this experience, we can certainly say that we won’t be back any time soon.