The Hen Bistro & Wine

Wow!!! What an excellent restaurant! Great food, service, and atmosphere. We will be back!

I just love The Hen Bistro. Such a quaint atmosphere and romantic if with the right person. Love their food and their wine pairings

Wow! What what a wonderful surprise. We’d not ventured in here until tonight. Brookside has a lot going on, and it can be hard to see all the spots. Tucked behind Doc’s is this little place. We were recommended here by a friend, and what a great recommendation it was. Great service, creative menu, and a very unique wine list. «The Hen» is going on our regular rotation for sure.
The beef tenderloin skewers are stunningly good.
Great place!

July 5^th is our wedding anniversary– yep, like the Landford Wilson play. For the past couple years we’ve been going then or about that date to The Hen. Every (supposedly notable) restaurant in Tulsa has let us down. Yea, were picky, I admit. Pretty much decided Grant was our last go-​to local chef. This year our special day fell on Sunday when most everything’s closed. So let me tell you about our experience last night.
My husband had made reservations for 7:00pm. We walked in then about to an empty restaurant except for one couple, windows centered, old guy in baseball cap. (Oh yea, we still actually dress appropriately for dinner, especially if it’s a kinda sorta nice place)
We were met by two waitresses and one owner, all of whom totally ignored us. Not kidding. When we continued to just stand there, they seemed kind of shocked. You know, dumbfounded. I said our name & that we had reservations for 7:00; they looked at each other & swear to god I could NOT make this up, one waitress responded, «We had reservation for 6». I was certainly puzzled since it was ****7:00****. ??
What the hell? With the air cleared that WE HAD RESERVATIONS, in an empty restaurant, we were seated @ a cramped little table right by the FRONT DOOR. You know the one. (What happened to the great seating that was once the Garlic Rose?)
The young waitress rushed us. We didn’t budge. I needed to seriously peruse the extremely limited wine selection. So she decided to ignore us. The owner, Kathy, was no longer having wine @ the bar, but was standing behind it, so my husband suggested I go ask her about the wines since I wasn’t familiar with any of them. I accepted her suggestion of the most expensive Chard BTG. It was okay, not as full bodied as I prefer so she scrounged up another, heftier Chard, promising me it would remain at the same, top end price. Okay, $ 13 a glass. If it awesome, that would be different. I’m not really cheap, just picky. Experienced picky (passed initial Sommelier exam, & have been privileged to hang out with some of the best).
Okay, onto the food. And I’ve never before been disappointed there before. We started with the fried oyster deviled eggs which were great as usual. We both ordered filets. He, medium; me, medium well. i. e. no blood on the plate. And really, who would want blood dripping all over those totally awesome Gouda potatoes they’re going to pile it atop of? Not me.
We go out so rarely I most often forget to take photos. I’m not sure I’ll be able to post what I took last night to justify my description, however, mine was not only over cooked to well, it was a crappy, butt end, knarly piece of beef. (I was served the same ONCE @ Tim Inman’s place @ Utica Sq yrs ago.. . Never returned. Said they couldn’t do anything about it. It was my b’day dinner). My husband’s **looked** like a nice 1 ½ — 2″ filet, like we cut at home. But medium? No, it was rare. I can’t even talk about tasting his as you can imagine. Slimy. But he could see how overlooked mine was & offered me a bite of his. Envision yucky face.
Kathy, the owner, had escaped by now.
So sad. If we can cook a «medium well», why can’t a chef? Admittedly, though, that piece of crap they served me would have been hard to cook properly. Or is it that when a guest requests «medium well» they go for the butt end because they don’t WANT to cook medium well?
Keep opening them (restaurants). We’ll try you once. BTW, Inman was given more than one chance. Butt end with no care for guest was the final straw. But I digress.
UPDATE: Beloved chef, Grant Vespasian called us and apologized. He was not there that night & expressed his disapproval. So we will return. Years ago when this restaurant opened we were endeared to it as we wandered in off the street, in the rain, and were welcomed and seated amid the crowd as we have been in Paris, Istanbul, Curaçao, New York, etc.

This is one of my favorites in Tulsa! I have eaten at The Hen and The French Hen many times and can’t say enough good things about the quality and variety of food offered at both locations. They always offer fresh fish, have unique flavorful salads, and a variety of different menu items to please anyone. My favorite entrée would be the filet or their featured fish.
I recently had my bridal shower at The Hen and it was perfect. The room was just the right size for about 20 people and my guests all enjoyed the food. The service was attentive and the whole experience was perfect!

If you want to impress a date or treat out-​of-​town guests to a special night out, The Hen is probably the #1 place on Brookside for an upscale, quiet, intimate, delicious dinner.
Initially, I was going to give it 4 stars, but thinking about it, I’ve only ever had a 5-​star experience. I’ve dined here a handful of times in the past year, and everything I’ve tried has been delicious, the service has always been great, and I like the atmosphere. The Hen should be as regularly packed with customers as the restaurants surrounding it, but it’s usually mostly empty even though it’s at least as good as the nearby options. If I knew why people (including us) tend to pass it by rather than go in, I’d suggest what to change, but I don’t know, so I can’t offer any help here.

I took a date here for drinks and some great food. I was not disappointed in the food as I have never had anything less than an amazing plate from Vespasian!
So, to be clear my reason for the 1 star rating has nothing to do with the food, it has everything to do with environment. We sat outside in what can best be described as water and sun damaged laminated wood furniture. It made me think maybe they picked it up on Craig’s List in the «Free» section. Seriously, it was enough of a mood killer that I had to say something… Hopefully management/​ownership pays attention to Unilocal/​social media.
I definitely won’t return to the patio unless they do some upgrades on that furniture!

Very nice atmosphere, the wine display upfront is aesthetic and the service was very timely. We started off with the truffle frittes — great flavor, enjoyed them. I had the gluten free chicken fried chicken; I’ve made better at home. The parts that were crispy were good, and the chicken was moist, but the batter was doughy and dry. My girlfriend had the trout, it was well cooked, a bit buttery, and the brown butter rice was a nice sweet touch. But the serving size was huge: two full filets (probably a pound of fish) way too much. Debated on staying for dessert, we had the crème brûlée, which is my favorite. We enjoyed it very much; crust was perfect and the berries were buried in the custard, a nice change up that worked well. It maybe a while before I return, but I’ll give it a second chance.

I thoroughly enjoyed our meal here! The server found me the perfect wine to match the flavor profile and price range I was looking for. I had a cup of bisque and the risotto; both were excellent. Can’t wait to go back.

We had the trout almandine and the surf and turf special last night. Everything about our meal, from salad through the chocolate mousse desert was extraordinary, in taste, quality and presentation. Wait staff (Elliot) was also perfect. Highly recommend dining here.

Road warrior always looking for something unique to a city. What a gem. Ambience cozy for one person to just chill or couples or girlfriends to chat. The Caesar salad is one of the lightest, best I have ever had. Going back next trip to try something else. Excellent wine selection. Not expensive. Shannon was an excellent bartender.

Thanks, Katherine, for your great reply!
We were back at the Hen on Monday night for fried chicken with friends. Yum! I foresee this bistro being one of our «go-​to» places for out-​of-​town guests in particular. Its perfectly prepared, delicious food – served expertly – showcases the best of Tulsa. :)

Okay, I read a review posted below with accompanying photo by (a different) Amanda S. and thought it might be helpful for me to respond about a menu item in question (Duck Confit).
Many people may not know, but when ordering any meat item described as «confit» the menu is telling you up front exactly how your meat will be prepared and presented to you. It is much like ordering Salmon Sashimi and then being surprised that you were served raw fish. Confit is in essence meat slow cooked in fat as a method of preservation. It is meant to be cooked to the point of falling off of the bone, with crisp skin on the outside. Because this low heat process takes hours, it should be a given that it will not be cooked to order or to a requested temperature, just by looking at the name of the dish. The care and time required for preparation is precisely why it IS a $ 22 dish.
Since medium rare was what you were looking for, I suggest you try the duck breast with peppercorn sauce (I have a photo of it posted) instead as it is delicious and served cooked to your preferred temperature.
For those unfamiliar with the confit process, I snatched this from Wiki:
Confit of goose (confit d’oie) and duck (confit de canard) are usually prepared from the legs of the bird. The meat is salted and seasoned with herbs, and slowly cooked submerged in its own rendered fat (never to exceed 85°C/185°F), in which it is then preserved by allowing it to cool and storing it in the fat. Turkey and pork may be treated similarly. Meat confits are a specialty of the southwest of France (Toulouse, Dordogne, etc.) and are used in dishes such as cassoulet. Confit preparations originated as a means of preserving meats without refrigeration.
In a restaurant context, confit must also have a crispy skin. On a cooking competition show in Australia (My Kitchen Rules– broadcast 23^rd Feb 2014), French born chef and judge, Manu Feildel said: «Confit– It’s got two textures: It’s the meat falling off the bone, and the second texture is the crispy skin that you get on top».
I hope this helps to clear up any confusion as to that particular menu item. Next time if you are unfamiliar with a term on the menu, just ask. Most servers in such establishments will either be able to answer your question, or find someone who can. If all else fails, there’s always Google :) It can prevent poorly reviewing dishes that are served exactly as they are meant to be and advertised on the menu. Hope this helps!
One of these days I will find the time to write a full review, but for now I shall just say, Delicious.

Last week I visited The Hen for the first time. I work near by and had been hearing good things about this new restaurant and thought it would be a great place to take my wife for a date.
I had higher expectations based on recommendations and the over all price of the restaurant. I always figure, higher prices, better service, food, atmosphere, etc.
We walked in around six o’clock to see a fairly busy restaurant and were seated quickly. We were placed in a lonely, quiet back room. It was slightly odd, no music, no people, just us and a bunch of empty tables.
Our waiter presented us with our menu and I asked some standard answers. I was troubled by the fact that the waiter did not know the answers to many of my questions. When I asked what the Duck beast plate was like she replied, «image and steak, it’s like that» um ok, I’m not sure that describes it very well.
We placed our orders and loved the truffled deviled eggs and the main course we had (duck and salmon). On the other hand the rice and vegetables that came with our meal tastes quite bland. Our meal ended up being a roller coaster of likes and dislikes.
Over all the entire experience was just ok. Service was ok and great, food was ok, and the atmosphere was stale and uncomfortable in my opinion.

We went on a weekend evening and it was a full house, and lively. The back room was quite noisy and could benefit from some sound absorbing panels, art, or furnishings of some kind. The dill tomato bisque was excellent and the pan-​roasted brown trout was hands down the best trout I’ve ever experienced. The duck breast was a little underdone and too peppery, reportedly. We look forward to returning soon and trying more of the menu.