Bistro succeeds even on prom night/ Tri-lakes eatery takes patrons

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 16, 2003 | by ANNE CHRISTENSEN

PALMER LAKE - I was absolutely delighted at the lousy service at the new Villa World Bistro.

Sure, it was disappointing to be seated at a table that still bore breadcrumbs and ground pepper from the previous party. It was upsetting when the soup bowls remained uncleared until desserts arrived.

But all our frustrations evaporated when we found out that the busboys were there, decked out in tuxes, pretty girls on their arms, because the World Bistro was treating them all to dinner before prom. I can't find it in my critic's cold heart to cut down World Bistro's service over its own act of generosity, so I'm basing its service rating on my second visit only. While it fell short of perfect, it far surpassed prom night, leading me to think that these are now the most appreciated busboys in El Paso County.

Still, I'm not sure Villa World Bistro would have been my choice for prom night unless there's an alternate choice from the standard appetizer offered to all diners: bread with a full head of roasted garlic. (Breathe through your nose, kid).

But let's assume you're not headed for prom. In that case, indulge - the garlic's yummy, soft and sweet, and the soups are excellent - the house specialty bean soup, the incredibly rich seafood bisque which tasted almost exactly like lobster Newburg, and a superb sour cream potato onion soup in a perfect boule ($6.95).

Salads are lovely too, including a ceviche ($4.95) in a not-too- acidic citrus vinaigrette, with shrimp, scallops and a couple of squirrely-armed baby octopi guaranteed to gross out any prom dates.

Prom being over for the year, however, we turn our attention to adult beverages, starting with the best cosmopolitan in the region ($6.50). Those bottles of fruit you see on your way past the bar? They're not just pretty - they're working hard, infusing their essence into the surrounding Stoli, destined for those refreshing cosmos.

If you prefer your fruit fermented directly, however, there's a wine list with some excellent choices (like a nice, crisp Cakebread sauvignon blanc and a mellow Wyndham Estate cabernet) for $6-$8 a glass, and in lieu of any decent ports, some interesting dessert wines the bartender let us sample before making our selections.

Entre choices include eight pastas, from simple alfredos ($8.95) and pomodoros ($7.95) to more elaborate dishes like tri-color noodles with sauted veggies and black beans with chili oil, fresh cilantro and tequila crme fraiche ($10.95). The higher end centers around large pieces of meat, from such classics as veal parmesan ($19.95) and a one-pound ribeye marinated Argentine-style ($25.95) to such exotica as pit-roasted ostrich ($18.95) and spicy duck naranja with venison dirty rice ($19.95).

The regular menu circumnavigates the globe. We started close to home with a hefty triangle of Colorado buffalo sirloin ($19.95) - not tough exactly, but so solid that, for the first time in many years, I had to cut my daughter's meat for her.

But once cut, she found it lip-smackingly good, in a wonderful apple-reduction sauce that lent just the right flavor to the meat. While I've usually found purple potatoes to offer more to the presentation than the palette, these mashed purples were excellent, though the Asian-flavored veggies alongside clashed.

A little further afield, the Bourbon Street trio ($14.95) was as spicy as our server had promised, with big slabs of chicken meat, a little smoky andouille, and some squishy okra amid the soft rotini.

One guest found the fire-engine-red crawfish perched on top quite appetizing, another thought his claws looked a little menacing, and I sucked his tail out and ate it before anyone else could comment. He was delicious, thanks.

Even further across the globe, we headed for Italy, ordering a heavyset lasagna ($11.95) that squatted in the middle of the plate like a tomato-cheese Rubik's cube. No veg, no salad, nada, just a cube of lasagna that tasted like leftovers.

A nice hunk of grilled beef tenderloin jardiniere ($23.95) was far more tender than the buffalo, carefully seasoned, and sided with cheesy potatoes galettes (somewhere between latkes and croquettes) and some tasty grilled asparagus, but again, sided with an uncomplementary flavor match, this time a pointless tomato-onion ragot.

On the Asian end of the menu, we tried another pasta, the Mongolian sat chicken ($12.95), which was neither Mongolian nor sat, though it had charms of its own. Sat describes meat that's been marinated in coconut milk with either curry paste (the Thai version) or cumin (the Indonesian version) and then grilled over fire; this chicken inherited a characteristic sweet, tender silkiness from the coconut milk, but any other tastes were sublimated to the candied garlic soy sauce. Good, but the chicken, stirred in Udon noodles, cried out for more veggies than a couple of florets of broccoli, a piece of red bell and two snow peas.

The heavy fare may leave you too full for dessert, and, in fact, the dessert wines are among the more appealing choices.