BO Beau Kitchen + Bar (Ocean Beach)

It was my friends’ birthday, and one of them requested to try something special and different after having been to several birthday dinners with other friends already. I was scratching my head, trying to find a special place that has great food and a great atmosphere for the birthday girl and boy. We were originally planning  to go to the Himalayan, but they weren’t accepting reservations, and could not guarantee us a table. Then I came across BO Beau Kitchen + Bar in OB. I’ve never heard of it before, but it seemed like a nice place, so we decided to give it a try.

The restaurant is located in the residential area of OB, and it was renovated from a house. The nice thing is that they have a small parking lot right next to the restaurant, so you do not need to worry about parking.

The little restaurant claims that their cuisine is Mediterranean meets South of France. With the help of Philippe Beltran, who also designed Bleu Boheme, you step into the restaurant  and it immediately brings you to the country side of France. It is cozy, warm and romantic, perfect for a group of friends, family or couples.

They have quite a big collection of wine for your enjoyment. This is just a part of the wine menu. They also have specials throughout the week that offer glasses or bottles of wine accompanied with entrees or flat breads and desserts for two.

We wanted to try most of the popular dishes, so we decided to share.

Heard that this is a must-try dish at BO Beau.  The Brussels sprouts were just the most crispy, flavorful and delicious pairing with balsamic vinegar and Parmesan cheese I could ask for. It was a magical dish to me, with only a few ingredients, that made the impressive flavors come alive. Even for those who hate vegetables or sprouts, you would not have a hard time with this one. It is indeed an interesting and must-try dish!

Because of the palatable appetizer, I was so ready for more great food. The Flat breads arrived.

All their Flat Breads were baked in a woodstone oven, and they were very crispy.  I first tried the Braised Short Rib Flat Breads. The short ribs were well-marinated and cooked, and it went well with the smashed potatoes. The smashed potatoes were smooth and airy. Yum.

Then I had the Shrimp Flat Breads, which came with avocado, garlic lime aioli, almonds and ancho chile(poblano). There were a lot of shrimp on the flat breads, and big scoop of mashed avocado; again I really like restaurants that give the good amount of ingredients instead of an  itty bitty amount to help them save for making more servings. The avocado complimented the shrimp, and it does not make you feel greasy or heavy eating them.

For the Roasted Beets Flat Breads, it has jalapenos, crushed red peppers, goat cheese and curry onion jam. All these together add interesting taste to the Flat Bread. First you taste the sweetness of the red peppers and curry onion jam, then as you continue eating, you taste the spiciness of the jalapenos. It was a reviving dish.

We ordered mussels with the white wine, so as with Apple Cider and Red Curry, because we all wondered how the combination would taste.  I didn’t take a lot of pictures of the mussels, as they basically looked the same in the pot. But they are completely different in terms of flavors than I was used to.

The Moules Au Cidre – apple cider mussels were cooked with creme fraiche and sweet corn, so it was sweet with a little apple flavor. It was okay to me, not as surprising as I thought it would be. I apologize that I didn’t really pay attention to Moules Au Curry Rouge – red curry mussels (guilty I don’t really eat spicy). However, my friends complimented on the little spiciness give a vivid taste to the mussels. I’m most in love with the classical Moules Marinieres – white wine mussels. What a lovely combination! The tenderness of the mussels, the aroma of white wine and the flavor of garlic. WOW! It is a common dish that you can find in many other restaurants, but this was one of the most awesome mussel dishes I have ever had. I’m sure it was because of the great quality of their ingredients.

By this time of the meal, we were pretty much finishing up. But I still wanted to try the pastas. Here’s the fettuccini with duck confit. It looks like it is relatively small compare to the mussels and flat breads, but the sauce and the duck confit were pretty heavy. I like that they added mushrooms and arugula to the pasta, which make it more healthy and sapid.

This is the Fondue Mac N Cheese. As you can see, the cheese was thick and melted just like the ones in a fondue. We added lobster meat in it, and it was good! Though it was a little fatty and a little too salty for me, the form of the cheese held up, so we could have enough time to enjoy it before it became firm.

We all had a wonderful night celebrating friendship, birthdays and delicious food. Everyone was happy of this real gem in OB.

Once again, Happy Birthday to the birthday boy and birthday girl! =)

BO beau kitchen + bar
4996 W. Point Loma Boulevard,
San Diego, CA 92107
(619)224 2884

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