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Take Bliss as it is for coffee, wine, good food

Coffee If you feel like shrimp, they come prepared two different ways asan entree, or you can have three fat ones as an appetizer with anexcellent sweet-sour cucumber salad. The appetizer shrimp areswimming in a Grand Marnier barbecue sauce, although it could justas well have had a splash of Mountain Dew as liqueur. The sauce issimply too fiery to taste of anything but heat.

The kitchen had its ups and downs. A shrimp bisque, smooth as cream- probably because it contained so much cream - had just the rightdelicate texture (so you can pretend it's lighter than it reallyis) and was filled with chopped shrimp. It was a minor tour deforce. But the halibut decorated with big lumps of crab meat, aspecial that night, had a lime butter sauce that tasted of nothingmuch. It arrived with mashed potatoes and the vegetable of the day,cauliflower. Even adding a wedge of lime and a pink orchid didn'tmake the all-white plate look any less bland than it tasted. Muchas I like cauliflower, and I do, it isn't a good vegetable of theday to serve with potatoes.

Minor improvements could make a big difference. The "vegetarianrose," a sort of pasta primavera, is made with cappellini, a creamytomato sauce and grilled vegetables. The flavors are wonderful;it's the proportions that are off. More vegetables and less pastaand sauce, please.

The cheese plate, really for two, has port wine cheddar, sharpcheddar and smoked Gouda. It's supposed to come with strawberries,grapes and kiwi slices; but bing cherries were substituted for kiwislices. That was fine - more than fine, really. But the red grapeshad been taken off their stems so there was just an unattractivepile of loose grapes. Also, the kitchen had added slices of salamiand a blob of spicy mustard to the plate, which was a little odd.

The dessert made in-house was the weakest of the ones we tried. Thechef, who brought it out (the place was so busy the poor guy washelping out the servers when he wasn't cooking), apologized becausethe chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup was too stiff and hadlittle lumps. Good flavor, though. The Key lime pie and berry tart,made by someone local, were both excellent.

Bliss' wine list is filled with familiar names and easy-drinkingbottles. The list isn't extensive, but it changes periodically andis affordably priced, with enough choices by the glass. You mightthink a place that labels itself a wine bar would put more emphasison wine; this is more just what you'd expect at a nice restaurant.

And that's what Bliss is. If you go in with a preconceived notionof what a coffeehouse or wine bar should be, you might bedisappointed. If you accept it as a nice suburban restaurant with awarm and welcoming staff and a kitchen that can produce some verygood food, you'll be happier. So it needs to get a few kinks out.It's still a better option than the chains in the area.

elizabeth.large@baltsun.com

Bliss Coffee and Wine Bar

Address:

 1402 Handlir Drive, Riverside

Hours:

 Open daily for continental breakfast, lunch and dinner

Price:

 Appetizers: $7.95-$11.95; entrees: $14.95-$24.95

Call:

 410-272-0505, live-your-bliss.com

Food: ** 1/2

Service: ***

Atmosphere: ** 1/2