Buchon, Santa Barbara, CA
Let me preface this review with the fact that this dinner got started off on really the wrong foot. We spent the day wine tasting in Santa Barbara all morning, and our party returned to the hotel and took a “nap”. Now my wife and I are shifted two hours from Central to Pacific time, and we are early risers (4:15am regularly). The other half of our party is, well, LA. They probably don’t own an alarm clock, and they eat dinner at 8pm. After our “nap” we wake up for dinner at a time we would be well asleep at home, and I am quite dehydrated from drinking too much wine in the morning and not enough water. We get ready and try to get ahold of the other couple, but they aren’t answer their cells. We are in the lobby and my wife sends me to their room to check on them, and still no response from knocking. I return to the lobby, both my wife and I are tired and a little upset. We walk to Buchon, and I don’t know the cross street, but it is only 5 blocks away. After I am sure we have walked past it, I get my wife to pull it up on her iphone and we back track a block to the restaurant.
At this point, my dining companion is in such high spirits, I would really rather be dining alone. She is radiating “pissed off” quite visible, although she denied it then and will probably deny it now.
Even after all that, we still went sat down to have dinner, because I was really excited to try Buchon.
The service was mediocre for this kind of establishment.
The wine list was great, with a focus almost exclusively on California wines, with some excellent options by the glass. I had a wonderful Pinot Noir.
The food on the other hand…
I ordered the braised pork cheek and sage ravioli to start. The asparagus was good, but everything else was amazingly disappointing. The heirloom tomato ragout was thin and tasteless, the pork cheek was somehow dry in texture while still having a gelatinous fatty feel.
As the main course I ordered Bourbon & Maple-Glazed California Duck Breast, it was better. It was a decent dish, but there was no contrast to the sweetness. The succotash was sweet, the glaze was kinda non existant, the duck was breast was rare and didn’t contribute much to the dish flavor or texture wise, and their was a duck leg confit, that was easily the most boring duck confit I have experienced. The vegetables were again the best part of the dish, and they were just good.
At this point I asked my wife what her opinion was, and she said everything was ok. I gave Buchon a fair shake, with two dishes that should have been interesting and tasty, but was disappointed in both. I finished my single glass of wine, paid the check and left Buchon disappointed.
I don’t think the circumstances tainted the taste of the food, but it is possible, but highly unlikely. I have tasted good food under worse circumstances.