Has it really been almost a month since I've reviewed a restaurant in Pittsburgh?? Well, for shame Neal M. let me remedy this directly and I couldn't have picked a much better spot than Bistro 19 to begin my spring reviews. I was here for dinner on Tuesday of last week with a couple business associates. I arrived a little after 7 PM to meet Tom and Mike who were seated at the bar enjoying their first cocktail. The space itself is quite nice and intimate. However, they seem to use the space well as to make it seem much larger than it's actual I'd guess 1,000 - 1,500 sq. ft dimension. You enter and are greated by a large bar typcially packed with locals in casual wear and suits alike, The interior is sparce and minimalist with high ornate ceilings and tables located throughout but not so close as to lack privacy. The colors are dark deep browns, gold and green. The tile columns and exposed wine rack are also a nice touch. The bathroom is located in the back near the kitchen entrance and are large and well designed. After a cocktail at the bar we make our way to a table in the back with a nice view of the bustling suburban street on a spring weekday. The server greets us promptly with a big smile and reviews the features while grabbing us all another cocktail. I'm having dirty martini rocks which are pretty good, however lacking those really big olives that I likeand most often get at steakhouses. The meal starts with some bread and butter, meh.. then we order a couple of appetizers. Mike says he really likes the \"pot stickers\", so we try those and then also try the lemon pepper calamari. The calamari is fine served very lightly breaded with some type of mayo sauce or remoulade. The pot stickers are also adequate spiced with some type of thai sauce. We all decide on salads instead of soups and I try the french onion soup, which was very good. It had a much more layered flavor than many other french onion soups you get in casual spots and was well seasoned with a somehow still crunchy croute and mounds of gruyare. Tom and Mike tried the soup of the day which was some type of chicken thai soup that also tasted pretty good from the small sampling I had. It is so true that you can tell a lot about a chef by their soups and this start led me to believe the rest of the meal wouldn't let us down. Tom and Mike had the chilean sea bass, which was a nice healthy serving of perfectly cooked sweet sea bass with a nice slaw and marinade. I had the \"steak and cake\" which was their filet (good quality, not prime) cooked perfectly medium rare along with large perfectly cooked asparagus, mashed potatoes (forgettable) and a good crabcake. The crabcake had almost no filler and was served with a nice mustard sauce. This crabcake is good and almost in the same league as Andora's or monterey bay's crabcake, almost... We finished by splitting their version of \"bananas foster\", it was very good with a flaky crust and homemade whipped cream I'd guess. Overall this is a very good option with a warm atmosphere and good prospects in my estimation for long term success in this casual fine dining segment.
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