Tucker?s Bistro

Last night, my hubby, in-laws, and I had dinner at Tucker’s Bistro in Newport. A couple of my blog readers recommended it, and because it’s a French-inspired bistro, I thought my in-laws would absolutely love it.

From the outside, Tucker’s looked adorable with lots of hanging white lights, vibrant colors, and charming flower boxes.

Inside, the decor was interesting and eclectic, and the atmosphere was relaxed and romantic.

The bar area of the restaurant had a retro feel to it with a funky display of old liquor bottles and barware inside a scarlet-lit glass cabinet.

The table accessories, like the salt and pepper shakers and small lamps, were mismatched between the tables and added to the diverse style of the restaurant.

The walls were painted a deep red and overlaid with gold-framed mirrors and oil paintings. The artwork covered the walls from floor to ceiling.

We started dinner with a round of cocktails. I ordered a glass of Chardonnay, but, for such a nice place, I was surprised by the limited selection of wines.

Our waiter noticed that I had the “special” wine glass– the only one of its kind in the restaurant. I had no clue what he was talking about until later in the night. Check out the warped rim! It’s sort of cool, right?

After toasting to some good news ( ), French bread was served to the table in a colorful beaded basket.

I was starving, so I dug right in. I ate 2 pieces, each with a smear of butter.

For my entree, I ordered the night’s featured special: Roasted B-Line Snapper. The dish was served with sunflower seed risotto, swiss chard, braised radishes, heirloom tomatoes, and a garlic vinaigrette.

The dish sound delicious, doesn’t it?

Well, it actually didn’t taste that great. The meal was incredibly SALTY! Not like, ‘Oh, this meal is really salty,’ but ‘This meal is so salty, I can’t eat it.” Seriously, it was not edible.

I loved the idea of sunflower seed risotto, but it was just LOADED with salt. I had a few bites, but I didn’t really enjoy them. The snapper tasted okay, but it was sort of dry and super salty as well. I ate all of the veggies though!

Unfortunately, our dining experience at Tucker’s wasn’t what we had hoped. My in-laws weren’t happy with their meals either, and the service was incredibly slow. The restaurant was really busy, but even still, it took a good 90 minutes from the time we sat down for our meals to be served to us. And, for what we paid (holy expensive!!!), it was not a stellar dining experience.

Luckily, when we got home, my in-laws had some yummy edible presents for us from their recent trip to Paris. Jeff de Bruges chocolate!!!

Mal and I each enjoyed a chocolate before heading to bed. Omg, they were delicious!

Despite our sub-par dining experience, I had a wonderful time with my husband and my in-laws. We chatted the night away and enjoyed a few laughs. And, of course, the Jeff de Bruges chocolate was an amazing way to end the evening!