This is a smaller restaurant run by a very good young chef who prepares Asian fusion food. The menu is a limited one, but my wife and I found it was excellent. We both had the wegu (sp) and it was terrific. Appetizers are also very good (we had the potstickers served with a spicy soy sauce and loved it. Now be advised that this place isn’t cheap, but we loved the portion sizes and the personal attention we got from the kitchen staff. FYI, the chef has beef a contestant on Master Chef and did well. We highly recommend this restaurant.
I love watching Master Chef, so of course I had to visit a place where a Master Chef contestant cooks the food!Bowen provided excellent service and the food was indescribably delicious. My wife and I both had the wagyu filet mignon and I’ve never had a more delicious steak in my life. The appetizer and dessert were also excellent, and the drink selection was nice (I went with a bourbon barrel ale).I’d eat dinner at Bowen Bistro every night if I could. Highly recommend it!
I had my birthday dinner here. Great food! Chef is full of passion of cooking and culture. Birthday Cake is delicious!? You guys have to visit at least one time before chef is moving to bigger city
My wife and I enjoy dining at restaurants operated by celebrity chefs when we travel, and a bit of web searching for the afayette area turned up Bowen Li. Is he a full-fledged celebrity chef yet for having competing for 2 seasons on Masterchef? I can say this: his food stands up against the fbest we've had. The decor of rhe location is modest--it's on the end of a relatively new strip mall, evidently near to Purdue U. The focus here is on rhe complete experience. They do one seating per night so that guests are not rushed, The sound system delivers a mature selection of jazz classics. The short menu changes twice a month, and the wine list is respectable. We began by sharing the escargot appeizer. These are prepared traditionally in herbed garlic butter and served in shell along with a couple of Madelaines to serve as bread. The Madeleines are the creative touch here, one might not expect garlic butter to pair well with the sweet buttery pastries, but so it does. My wife;s entree was the Miso glased salmon, which showcased Chef Bowen's creativity. He explained to us that he'd started preparing crispy skin salmon, which is the fasion in fine dining currently, but the diners of West Lafayette didn't think it attractive and would remove and leave the skin. So he developed this recipe, where a filet of salmon is marinated for 24 hours in red miso, sake, and other ingredients, then cooked with a glaze of the marinade. Ite's served on a mushroom risotto. My wife noted that the salmon and the rice individually were superb but together they were awe-inspiring. I dined on the wagyu filet mignon. I cannot recall when I've had a better steak! It came on a potato puree with some oven-roasted cherry tomatoes on their vine, and a few baby asparagus spears--and demi-glace, poured at table to preserve the finish on the beef, Our final verdict is that this was one of the best meals in several years, and it's a major incentive for us to visit this part of Indiana again. I hope the producers of cooking shows recognize this chef and showvase hime, people of West Lafayetttte understand what an asset they have, and that those residents can learn how to enjoy crispy salmon skin.
Caution: do remember to make a reservation! I was super lucky that Bowen gave us an exception to dine in.Folks, there is now no need to travel all the way to Chicago for fine dining ambience and Michelin-star equivalent food. Nondescript from the outside, Bowen Bistro has a really gorgeous and intimate setting inside. We were dressed super casually on a hot summer day and luckily there was no dress code imposed.The young and bright chef was friendly and recommended tuna tartare, escargot and prawn cocktail. My friend and me were not adventurous eaters so we were scared to try raw food. The prawns were huge, juicy, and succulent.The piece de resistance has to be the grilled unagi. As a fan of unagi, i have tried many, including Michelin bib gourmand ones. I have to say Bowen's rendition was just right. The slab of unagi was THICK, generous, and not overly charred but just crispy enough. The sauce was a balanced taste of sweet and umami.Unfortunately we were too full and had no space for desserts.We told the friendly Masterchef that we HAD to visit (before i graduate) because of Masterchef and he announced that he will be competing in the All Stars season soon! All the best, fellow Boilermaker!
Disappointed.I have a reservation at 8 pm, the server asked us to wait more than 20 minutes and there was no space to seat at the start. Finally when we had our table, only one menu on Valentine’s day without other options.The soup was okay but it went cold fast because the restaurant was cold at night. Perhaps the owner should check out the air conditioner. I like the appetizer and it’s shape of heart was innovative. To be honest, the steak cannot choose to cooked well-done, which made my stomach painful after eating. The bread was too salty. The desert contained too much sugar…In the end, we paid approximately 300 dollars for the meal. Comparing the service and food quality that I had in other restaurants, I could tell the big difference. Hope they can be better next time.In a word, the meal was not worth the price, the waiting time, and our expectation.
Top notch experience in West Lafayette, Indiana. If you ever wanted to taste what the best MasterChef dishes tasted like, try this place out. Absolutely fanomonal food from the start, cannot wait to go back!
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Aspiring local celebrity chef living out his dreams in a little corner kitchen nook, casual rich decortions, nice attempts at atmosphere putting jazz through speakers, a cozy and personal fancy fantasy for anyone appearing on MasterChef! My buddy and I had to try this on a whim, not prepared to pay the big city prices as it just so happened the new menus or brought out to us with prices substantially higher than what I had seen on Google review photos - so we stuck with appetizers and soup, still ending north of fifty which is not out of place for a special date night but quite bold for this area considering we didn't buy alcohol or entrees. I would love to see this cool guy succeed and expand to a properly setup space that matches his skills but I also know this city cannot handle these prices even for a young culinary king. Will need more balanced budget fare to come here as often as I would like yet our food was perfect, uniquely prepared for any cooking show aficionado yet familiar to my escapades at other high end restaurants like Ocean Prime and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse both of big city fortune, and Bistro 501 right over the river. I've had tuna tartare, gyoza, and lobster bisque other places and could not fault Bowen in any. Presentation, flavors, and textures all met In happy harmony. Was neat to meet Mr Lee as well though he emphasized his request for making reservations in keeping with this level of dining. It's wonderful to have a proper crafted ingredients and full on foodie option in Lafayette albeit requiring the Hollywood wallet.
Amazing small venue that packs a punch. Bowen Li does a fabulous job of bringing the taste of High Quality dining to West Lafayette. The chef personally curates and sources his ingredients in order to provide an extravagant plate. Definitely make a reservation to experience this restaurant. Chef Li is committed to an intimate dining experience, so tables are limited. I am looking forward to his winter menu.