One of my favorite restaurants in Richmond is the chic
looking establishment at 203 N. Lombardy St. known as Balliceaux. In the past, they’ve had some of the most
creative dishes I’ve ever seen in such a small city, pairing together
ingredients I never thought could and would taste so wonderful together, as
well as throwing in ingredients I’d never heard of! They’ve changed their menu (dishes as well as
layout) several times since their opening a few years ago, and for every dish I
was sad to see gone, there was a new favorite to take its place.
However, my last visit to Balliceaux could be called nothing
but disappointing. And it PAINS me to
say that. I’m assuming this situation
only occurred because we chose to go on a Sunday. Balliceaux seems to be following a recent
trend in Richmond restaurants known as “Sunday Suppers”, which pretty much just
means a very limited menu. Whereas
usually we’d be handed a menu filled with options for cheese plates,
miscellaneous appetizers, entrees that cover the spectrum from vegetarian to
seafood to beef, etc., we instead had to look up at a very faint and hard to
read chalk board located in the middle of the main side wall in the front part
of the restaurant. Luckily our table was
right across from the board, but we still found ourselves having to stand up to
see it anyway because people kept walking up and standing in front of us to
read it.
The options were very limited: 3 appetizers, 4 sandwiches, and (my biggest
problem with the menu) only 4 main entrees.
They had 4 or 5 dessert options though, so that was ok. But the entrees were so limited and simple, I
couldn’t wrap my head around it. I guess
I had been too spoiled by the regular menu, because I went expecting the collage
of flavors and ingredients, but instead saw just sirloin steak, fried catfish,
duck, and salmon. And while I’m sure
they were expertly cooked and full of good flavor, I wanted my seafood
pasta! I ended up going with my safety
choice there: the natural beef burger. As always, it was cooked close to perfection
and was delicious. They even offer it
with cheese and bacon now I believe. I
got my usual truffle fries as a side (my happy place! :) haha) but my friend
got their mac ‘n cheese and it was DAMN good.
They seemed to have a lot more side options than usual that night.
My friends got the duck, catfish, and salmon, and they all
said that it was pretty good, but no one seemed incredibly impressed
considering the prices (the entrees ranged from $18-$26). My burger was just $8 so I had no
complaints. 
In fact, I think I lucked out all around compared to my
dining companions. For dessert, I got
the caramel crème brulee. Not only was
it delicious (like, oh-my-sweet-goodness, I will dream about this later
delicious) but it was huge! I’m usually
a stickler (i.e. brat) when it comes to sharing desserts, but in this case I
insisted because there was no way one person could/should finish that. However, my friend got a chocolate mousse
concoction and he was not impressed, to say the least. While we thought it would come in a ramekin
and be rich and smooth, we got what looked like a square piece of silly putty
that was chalky and flavorless. Even
though we knew our server, he couldn’t help but complain a little and send it
back. No one at the table wanted to eat
it.
I feel guilty writing anything bad about Balliceaux. The food has never disappointed me in the
past. I still highly recommend it. Just not on Sundays. (And beware of that mousse for dessert!)
