Oliver Bonicini

The other night we had a chance to dine out at Oliver Bonicini.  It is a fabulous restaurant located inside Bayview Village.  I believe the place was slightly renovated recently as there appeared to fresh décor inside the restaurant.  There were about 10 of us as we were out to celebrate a birthday at the restaurant.  We ordered plenty of food and although we all order our own plates, some of us had a chance to nibble on some of our friends’ food as well just to get an overall taste of it all.

We brought a little one along.  We decided to just carry her just in case there was not enough space for the stroller.  They gave us a seat and they had a padded bench since we did not want the high chair.  The place was lightly dimmed and one had a pretty good view of the kitchen. 

I decided to order their signature Mushroom Soup for starters.  As an entrée I decided to go with the Fire Roasted Baby Back Ribs.  My wife ordered the Sesame Seared Bigeye Tuna.  Some of our other friends ordered the Fish and Chips and Ricotta and Porcini Ravioli. 

The mushroom soup arrived first for me and let me tell you it was absolutely amazing.  Not too creamy not too liquidity, the soup was perfect in texture.  I believe they used Portobello mushrooms to make this soup and it certainly did not disappoint. 

Sesame Seared Bigeye Tuna

Fire Roasted Baby Back Ribs

The rest of the entrees arrived about 10 minutes later.  The ribs looked good and delicious.  Also present was some cornbread pudding, some cold slaw and campfire baked beans but all eyes were on the ribs.  There were roughly about 8 bones of ribs on the plate.  The meat literally just fell right off the bone.  The barbeque sauce was beautiful and the meat was soft and juicy.  The ribs were excellent!  The only disappointing part on my plate was the cornbread pudding.  I also had some of the tuna that my wife had ordered and it too was beautiful.  The inside of the tuna was still raw looking and the outside of the tuna was slightly seared.  Presentation of the dish was A1.  Tasted was marvelous.  Need I say more. 

Fish and Chips

I also had a chance to sample some of the fish and chips and ravioli.  The fish and chips were nicely battered.  The fish was tasty and not too salty overall.  The ravioli was just as tasty however I have to admit I am not the biggest fan of ravioli however it was still nicely done. 

Ricotta and Porcini Ravioli

Chef’s Platter

 What is a birthday party dinner without dessert?  We decided to go with the Chef’s Platter which contained a little bit of everything on the dessert menu. The Chocolate Marquise was not that sweet, texture was great and was just light enough that it did not weigh one’s stomach down.  The platter also had in addition the cheesecake, the carrot cake and butter tart and judging from the faces of my friends it was well worth the price. 

Overall it was a wonderful experience.  Plenty of free parking and lots of high end shops to shop at over at the Bayview Village.  Everyone had a great time.  The only complain some of us had was that the proportions could have been bigger because the food was so yummy.  Otherwise a great restaurant to hang out, bring a date or throw a nice party.  Definitely a 5 out of 5.