SORREL RESTAURANT/BISTRO

Located at 41377 Margarita Rd, Suite F, Temecula, CA 

 

I had a $60 Groupon for Sorrel restaurant, which we used when we visited there. We were greeted at the front door and brought to a table immediately. The restaurant is pretty dark with no candles on the table, but the atmosphere was still pleasant with our table next to an aquarium. 

 

Sorrel has many craft beers on tap at $7.50 a glass and their alcohol content posted along with their list. I ordered a glass of Rose, but unfortunately they were out. We ordered two appetizers—Korean BBQ Tacos and Szechuan Chicken Wings. Three nicely packed tacos arrived. They were well-seasoned, a bit on the salty side for my tastes, but the shredded vegetables off-set that. We both enjoyed them. The wings were prepared great—the fat had been baked-out—so they were nicely crisped and had a nice Asian flavor on the spicy side. YUM!

 

I ordered the Schnitzel (pork) which came with Fried Smashed Potatoes and Charred Carrots. Normally the Schnitzel has a hot mustard sauce on it, but I ordered it on the side. The Schnitzel was nicely breaded with Panko and tender enough to slice it with my fork; the Smashed potatoes were nicely seasoned and delicious. The charred carrots were a great disappointment. The chef apparently does not understand that there is a  difference between *charred and charcoal! I would have loved to add a picture here, but the fact is, their restaurant is just too dark to take a picture of something black. The carrots appeared as a pile of miniature tapered burnt logs on my plate. I attempted to eat a piece of one (and no, don’t ask me why!) and tried not to gag. Of course, then I asked my partner to try a piece—ahem, well you know, because misery loves company! He agreed that they are not edible and added that the chef must have let them catch fire to be that black. I would definitely ask for a substitute vegetable until Sorrel’s chef learns how to actually char carrots! 

 

My partner ordered their Pork Tenderloin which came with Fried Smashed Potatoes and mixed vegetables. He thought everything was delicious and was very happy with his meal.

 

The waiter asked how we enjoyed our meal and we both shared our thoughts about the ‘charred’ carrots. He said he’d asked the chef about them also when he’d had them. The chef assured him that’s “just how they’re supposed to be”. Um, only no, not at all. He is wrong. My partner replied back, “Oh, we’ll that will be in her review.” and, so it is.