After a full day of exploring Colonial Williamsburg, I wanted to conclude my day trip with a nice dinner before heading back home to Northern Virginia. After looking at reviews in both TripAdvisor and Yelp, I thought of going to a restaurant called The Blue Talon Bistro for dinner. It is restaurant with French bistro fare, which I thought I would be willing to spend more on compared to an ‘upscale American fare.’ The reviews seemed to be more even in high ratings compared to a couple other upscale restaurants in town, and it did not seem to require reservation. Since the Blue Talon seemed to be a popular choice and it was a weekend day, I thought I would try to beat the dinner crowd and get there early when they start serving dinner. That would allow me to also finish early and drive home before it got too late in the day (I still had almost four hours to drive to get home).

I got done with my activities for the day by mid-afternoon. When I headed to the Blue Talon, I found out that they were serving lunch menu until around 4 pm, then they would close for an hour before starting dinner service at 5 pm. So I had some time to kill. Before the trip, I consulted a co-worker who went to school at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg to ask for her suggestions on dining options. Her suggestion already led me to a great lunch at MAD About Chocolate (the lunch was delicious, but the dessert was even more memorable to say the least). So I thought I would head to another place that she recommended that happened to be right across the street from the Blue Talon called Aromas Cafe. My friend said it was her favorite place to eat and hang out when she was a student at William and Mary.

So I spent about an hour or so at the Aromas Cafe. It was quite busy inside. They served light meals, pastries, desserts, and various kinds of gourmet coffee, tea, and other drinks. I was still pretty full from the lunch and (heavy dose of) chocolate cake from few hours before, so I only got a flavored iced tea to drink. There were no tables available inside, but they also had a couple of tables outside facing the street. That day they happened to have Oktoberfest festivities with beer tasting on the street, so there was no motor traffic allowed. So it was interesting to enjoy my drink while watching people passing by — tourists and locals alike.

Finally it came time to head across the street for dinner. The Blue Talon was pretty much like what I had expected from a French bistro. Good selection of French-classic fare served at a somewhat casual atmosphere. I ordered escargot as appetizer, calf liver for entree, and finished with a creme brulee. All pretty good, and I would consider the Blue Talon as a dining option when I am in Williamsburg again, however, I do not think there was anything particular about the meal that stood out as exceptional.

The photo below was taken at Blue Talon, and it was the one thing about the restaurant that seemed to be gimmicky but some people thought it was actually something unique… the ‘Historic Tap Water.’ The tap water was served in a bottle with blue talon logo on it and the small glass. Some people said it tastes better than normal water elsewhere. To me, it was just water, and it tasted good because I was thirsty. At least they did not charge extra for that.