Rather than sticking to my usual “Cauliflower and Quinoa Power Bowl” order at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, I decided to give another entrée a shot … and I wasn’t disappointed.
With a random burst of spontaneity, I opted this time for the “Lemon Thyme Chicken.” The menu seemed to hype it up as “exquisitely balanced” and to my liking, it was just that.
The Lemon Thyme Chicken meal at BJ’s consists of herb-roasted chicken breast topped with lemon thyme sauce over brown rice, sauteed red onions, tomatoes, fire-roasted red peppers and roasted brussels sprouts.
Based on past experiences in eating out, I, unfortunately, was expecting to be handed something at least a tad different than what had been advertised to me on the menu. But to my pleasant surprise, the meal actually looked nearly identical to what is seen in the picture and nature’s rainbow was surely evident. But aside from aesthetics, it was seasoned nearly to perfection. The meal in its entirety lacked any ounce of ‘bland.’ The herbal flavors all went well together and nothing seemed to clash but rather complemented each other.
The meal was really filling, which was not anticipated given that this menu item comes from their “enlightened” section. But it was definitely full of nutrient-dense superfoods and the portion size was more than enough.
The chicken breast was cooked well. It was nice and tender, which was my primary focus when coming up with my overall conclusion on the meal provided I just recently quit being vegan. Given that this was only my second piece of meat from a restaurant in a few years, I most certainly came in with a critical mind.
When my party and I first arrived at the restaurant, we were told it would be a bit of a wait, given that it was a Friday night. Before we accepted our fate we asked if there was any availability in the outside seating area, to which there in fact was. The restaurant had an array of picnic tables set up in the back and we were then seated immediately — which was interesting that they didn’t initially offer it but I’m glad we had asked because it made out to be a relatively nice environment in comparison to the noisy interior.
The service was immaculate as I can’t say I have ever gotten in and out of a restaurant as quickly as I had this time. It was sort of a shock, too since both the dining area and the bars were fairly packed. Looking back, I don’t think my glass of water ever ran below the halfway mark because it was constantly being filled up — so much so that I felt like I was going to drown from drinking so much, but in a good way of course. Our server reminded me of one of those princess cast members at Disneyland — which could only mean the energy was quite welcoming.
My experiences with BJ’s have always been positive and the restaurant seems to maintain decent ratings so this didn’t come as much of a surprise. Overall, the meal gave me ‘sunset dinner by the beach’ vibes, but that could also just have been my mind imagining where I wish I was rather than in the Arizona desert.
The Beat @APU 