So, I found myself with a day entirely on my own. As someone who is fairly meticulous about word counts, loads of laundry, and future planning of all varieties, a day without any real schedule is a luxury. After accomplishing my goal of driving from Indianapolis to Chicago, I first opted for a trip to Target (!), then a haircut and color (!!) and finally, decided to treat myself to lunch. After a quick walk around adorable downtown Wheaton, IL (on a Monday, unfortunately, when not everything was open), I decided to give The Cellar Bistro a shot.
At the recommendation of the waitress, I opted for the Honeydew martini (made with the fresh juice of the melon – yum).
For a starter, who was I to pass up a bacon wrapped date? For an order of six ($14USD), the bacon wrapped dates were topped with bleu cheese and contained chopped almonds (which gave the perfect amount of crunch). The plate was dressed with a small salad and topped with a bit of balsamic. For the price point, I feel like maybe a serving of 6 would be better, but I cannot fault the appetizer on taste.
For my main, I ordered the chili lime lobster salad, which from its description looked like it would be exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately, the salad fell quite flat of where I wanted it to be. With a lack of acid I was expecting in the lime and no chili to speak of, I’m not sure why this salad has the title it does. A better name might be something like ‘southwestern’ given the bit of guacamole, tomato and inexplicable tortilla chips (honestly, when I order a salad, I certainly don’t expect a ton of chips on top). This plate was a big miss for me.
While the location is cute enough, and the drinks menu looks great, the completely off course salad didn’t give me a lot of confidence. Additionally, walking out the door for $50USD felt a bit expensive for a mid-Monday lunch. The service and timing were all on point, but I can’t say I would recommend a second visit.
So, diners of Wheaton, where did I go wrong? Would it be worth another trip to the Cellar Bistro?
