Bistro L'Hermitage in Woodbridge

[chowser]

I'm not sure if it's because few CHs seem to that far south but I'm surprised it's been so overlooked here. I first read about it from Tom Sietsema and then it made the Washingtonian Top 100 this year so we tried it out. It's in Woodbridge, a mile or so outside of Occoquan. It's not the best location but it's a wonderful French restaurant and great for us to have the option of a nice dinner without having to travel to Old Town (for anyone Alexandria and south or west). It's pretty but cavernous on the inside. They have a prix fixe menu, reasonable at $32 for appetizer, entree and dessert. We opted to order off the menu. I'm very picky about bread and it's the first thing I notice. It was great--nice crispy exterior, good crust and crumb, chewy, excellent. For an appetizer, I had the coquilles St. Jacques which came on toasted bread w/ a spicy peach chutney-esque sauce (unlike any coquille St Jacques I've ever had--it's also available as an entree but the appetizer size was perfect). Scallops were perfectly cooked and the sweet/spicy chutney sauce was a great combination with them. My husband had the lobster bisque, with creme fraiche. The creme fraiche came on the bowl, soup on the side and poured over it. Very nice flavor, though a little less creme fraiche would have been better. I had duck breast with cherry sauce and israeli couscouse and enjoyed both. The couscous was creamy, almost risotto like; the duck breast perfectly cooked medium rare, with crispy skin, melt in your mouth tenderness. My husband had a rack of lamb over a melange of thinly sliced vegetables which he enjoyed. For dessert, I had the red wine poached pear cake w/ vanilla ice cream and he had a lemon tart. Both good but definitely the weak point to dinner. The cake was made to order and warm but on the dry side. The lemon tart a little sweet. But they were good, just did not match how good the rest of the meal was. The weak point, I think was the limited wines by the glass list. The service was great. The restaurant itself a little loud, once it got crowded. I highly recommend the restaurant, especially for those who don't live closer to DC, Restaurant Eve, 2941, and that area.

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Bistro L'Hermitage
12724 Occoquan Rd., Woodbridge, VA 22192

[dpan]

We've been meaning to get down there one of these days. This just makes me want to go more.