Citron Continental Bistro Review
Citron is a relatively new Fresno restaurant that offers European cuisine at a relaxed, bistro-like setting. The chef and owner is Rimon Hanna who opened his first restaurant in England.We've not made it to Citron yet but some of our readers have and we thank them for sharing their views.
Below are reviews submitted by Fresnohub readers. If you'd like to share your experience with our readers, you can submit your restaurant review to us.
Citron Continental Bistro
5123 N Blackstone Ave
Fresno CA 93710
559.224.6060
Location Tip: Restaurant is located on the NW side of Shaw and Blackstone Ave.
Review by Calvon, submitted 19 Oct 2005: Citron's Head Cook, Rimon, was trained in England and this is reflected in the menu. The "European Cuisine" boasted about leans more towards English grub than anything else. The fare here is bland, uncreative and overpriced. The filet I ordered had little flavor, the tarragon sauce covered salmon did little for my taste buds and the limp vegetables are about what you'd expect from a roadside diner. Unfortunately, the service at Citron is not much better than the the food. It took us an hour to get our meals. When I asked about the delay the manager was dismissive and patronizing, telling me to, "Just eat your food while it's hot". European inspired cuisine and apparently, French inspired service. On the positive side, the atmosphere at Citron is trendy and upscale. The marble floors and woodwork add a sense of elegance. And the sunken bar adds a nice touch. During my visit, the lights in the main dining room were flickering and strobing uncontrollably. Evidence of an unresolved electrical problem somewhere in the establishment. Not the place to be if you are epileptic or prone to headaches. My recommendation for good food and great service in this part of Fresno is still The Lime Lite. Moderate prices, outstanding service and a wonderful continental cuisine menu. The Lime Lite is located at 1054 West Shaw Ave, Fresno - (559) 224-1054. Happy Dining.
Fresnohub Reader Review, submitted 18 Oct 2005: I'm rather surprised by the other reviews for The Citron. I've had problems with the service and quality of the "tapas" at The Martini Bar located at The Citron, but have never had any problem with the service or the food at The Citron itself. I have eaten there both for dinner and brunch. In fact, when I was there during the week for dinner, the service was great. I had questions about the wines by the glass and was provided with tasting to allow me to select. Although the steak was said to come with grilled asparagus, it was served only as sort of a garnish; I mentioned my disappointment because asparagus is a favorite of mine and the server brought out a side dish of grilled asparagus for me without request or charge. Perhaps this restaurant needs to be given a chance and the diner should judge of his/her own experience. BTW, the Entertainment Card is accepted only for dinner and within stated hours which are limited on the weekends to 5p-6p, but more liberal on the weeknights.
Milton Taylor of Bloomington, IN submitted this review for Citron, 20 August 2005: This was a most disappointing experience. As first course we ordered melon with Parma Ham. Having lived in Italy I am well aware what is Parma ham. What was served on top of the melon was bacon bits, no resemblence to the real thing. One of us ordered beef Stroganoff. This was beef Stroganof without mushrooms, and with out sour cream !. In fact it was not that dish at all. It was chunks of meat ( my wife thinks brisket), served on top of noodles. I ordered Duck as my course. The ducks tasted peculiar, as if it had stood around for a long time, and then had been micro-waved. The desert was not much better. This was an expensive restaurant, and I found it in the local entertainment guide. I felt that the whole meal was a rip off, and it left me with the feeling that I never wanted to return to Fresno. I MOST CERTAINLY WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS RESTURANT TO ANYONE.
Fresnohub Reader Review for Citron, submitted 14 August 2005:I read the other review and I wish I had read it before I dined there! I had the same problems. We were there for over 2 hours for dinner and service was slow. They would not take my entertainment card and the owner was rude. The menu is highly priced. The salads and bread were not very tasty although the main course was pretty good. The place was pretty emtpy for a Sat night and the ambience was unappealing-there was no live music just the same CD playing over and over on the speakers. I would never recommend this place to anyone. For the money we spent, you could have a much better meal at a much nicer place like Veni Vedi Veci or Champaigna.
Fresnohub Reader Review for Citron, submitted 24 July 2005: CONSUMERS BEWARE!!! This restaurant appears to be a 5 star experience from the outside appearance. Once you walk in, the nightmares begin. We thought the place would be busy for a Friday night, when we dined the restaurant was unusually bare of customers. We waited for 45 minutes just to get an appetizer from the bar. Once our party of 12 was seated, our waitress was in poor taste. She took drink orders for only half of our party and never returned. The menu was extremely pricey. 4 of us ordered their lobster chef's special, the lobster was overcooked, dry, hard to remove from the shell. The waitress never returned to refill our drinks nor ask if the food was ok. Extremely poor service and bad food! We were referred to this restaurant by the "Entertainment book", we tried to use the discount card (buy 1 entree, second entree free). They did not honor this, we were told they didn't honor it after 6pm, the details in the Entertainment book didn't specify that. The table nearby was very upset with their service and the refusal to honor the Entertainment book promotion. We all expressed our frustration and dissatisfaction with Rimon Hanna (restaurant owner), he was extremely rude and unsensitive. Rimon does not take pride in his restaurant, poor customer service. We were not compensated for the poor service or food, the total bill was over $330.00. I STRONGLY DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE!