French Bistrot - West End

I'm sure you would all know when I speak of friends that you hold dear to your heart, do not see too frequently, but when you do, it's like you were never apart. I recently had the pleasure of catching up with such a friend lately pending his long forthcoming nuptials. Where better to do so than to try out the food at the somewhat controversial French Bistrot at West End, where reviews are quite mixed, some people like it, a good amount of people seem to hate it, but it has been operating for a relatively long period of time. So, of course it piqued my curiosity. We booked a table for a weekday dinner and walked there after work.

Our table was set pending our arrival, and the restaurant was half full. The vibe was somewhat bohemian, with both modern and vintage touches as well as varying furniture. 

The menu was also somewhat confusing. Despite the name of French Bistrot, there were a considerable number of pasta dishes and even an all day breakfast. Needless to say, we stayed within the starters and grilled section.

Ours starters came after not too long a wait. I had the steak tartare, and my companion had the baguette.

My companion's baguette was served warm, but not too hot. It was crusty and quite dense, but the temperature was insufficient to melt the butter on the side.

I had the steak tartare, which unbeknownst to me, came with a side bowl of chips, in addition to salad and little pieces of crostine and some pickled onion. The steak tartare was quite well seasoned and the meat was not unfresh. I just found it to be overwhelmed by what should have been sides and accompaniments which vastly outnumbered it in quantity, almost as if marginalising it and making it merely an afterstatement. The salad itself was crisp and sharp, especially with the addition of Parmesan. Chips were generous in portion but largely tasted like the store bought variety. Herbs on top added some flavour but there wasn't much stand out.

Our mains came immediately after our entrees, literally within 30 seconds of our table being cleared, our mains were set. Each of our mains also came with a bowl of chips. Having already had a bowl of chips with our entree, three bowls of chips in one meal was definitely a chip overload.

My companion had the pork chop with pepper sauce. It was a bit drowned in sauce, but he said it tasted reasonable, but not particularly outstanding.

I opted for the rib fillet, cooked rare and also served with pepper sauce. Like my companion's it was almost swimming in sauce. The steak wasn't exceptional in any sense, although definitely rare, it was chewy and texture could have been better. The sauce, although abundant in pepper, was still bland and underwhelming. Thankfully the company that night made up for all the disappointment.

Price Range: $20 - $35pp

Taste: 4/10
Value: 5/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 6/10