K&L Bistro in Sebastopol, CA

Stopped into K&L Bistro in the sleepy town of Sebastopol a few weekends ago for lunch. What a disappointment! I'd read rave reviews of this place in the Chronicle and in Zagat, and I think both were off the mark. First off, the place is the size of a postage stamp. Even though we'd made reservations, we were seated at a terrible table completely on top of two other tables. Poor MH was crammed in between my seat and the seat of a large man at the table behind us. It was also seriously loud even though not all the seats were taken.

And maybe we ordered incorrectly, but the Salade Nicoise was so drenched in thick dressing it was barely edible. The warm, seared tuna on top was superb, but the soaking lettuce just couldn't make up for it. MH's Cobb Salad was fine, but the ratio of toppings to lettuce was skewed, with a mere handful of greens crushed beneath the heaps of cheese, meat, and eggs above. It looked like most other folks were getting burgers and fries for lunch.

I wouldn't rush back there, but if I did, I'd skip the salads and go straight for the grease.