Le Bistro de Paris

Le Bistro de Paris
751 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC

There are times that restaurants are known for good things and bad things. It does not matter how (good or bad) the food is; that “something” else can override it. For good or for bad, in my case, I only care for what ends up on the plate… In the case of Le Bistro de Paris, it has a semi-dubious claim to fame. It used to be called Café de Paris and owned by a local chef. Nothing odd about that, except he disappeared in November 2009 (more details here). But that was then and Le Bistro de Paris is under new management so I should look at it for what it is now.

As it has been a couple of times already, my partner in crime this time was PO. He is usually a willing volunteer and, more importantly, he wants to find good eats in different restaurants. And, in this case, he was curious about Bistro de Paris as well. When we arrived, there was one other table occupied and we had the chance to sit basically anywhere. I seized one of the tables near the window which unfortunately didn’t work that well because it was a cloudy day and the clouds were moving around (translation: it was a mix of sunny at times, dark at other times). Anyway, after checking the menu, we made our orders and received some complimentary bread.

If the bread looks ordinary to you, probably it was. Let me rephrase that: it was plain bread. It was complimentary. I won’t bash them for that…

Before going on with the mains, one small detail: in addition to the regular a la carte menu, they have a two course prix fixe lunch menu for $18 (as well as a three course prix fixe dinner for $30). PO ended up ordering the prix fixe, while I went for a la carte.

For the prix fixe lunch that day, there was the option of soup de jour or mimosa salad to start and… Well, for the main, you will have to check below. As for the soup de jour, it was a banana squash soup. PO mentioned that the soup was on the lines of most squash soups so no surprise here. Based on the looks of the picture above, one would think it would be a thick soup. No, it was actually on the lines of a liquid soup. PO thought had it been thicker, it would had been better. But, still, it was a fine soup.

As for me, I went for something more “classical”. Here, their onion soup, or, as they have it listed in their menu “Gratin Lyonnais – onion soup with gruyère cheese”. I am not sure if I am comparing apples to oranges here but, if you look at this one and compare it to the one PO had a couple of weeks prior in Corner Suite Bistro Deluxe, sizewise alone would indicate this one being the winner. But, size does not determine everything…

The onions were well cooked and provided some sweetness to the soup. The cheese plus the “crouton” (which was essentially the same as the complimentary bread) did not overrun the broth (in both texture and taste) but provided some different layer of texture to the liquid soup. Had it been slightly more savoury would have been better; however, as is, it was still good.

As we were receiving our entrees, this one also came along. In a way, we were scratching our heads. Was this part of PO’s order or part of my order? It seems that it was neither but given as part of the meal (something similar happened to a different table). Regardless, it tasted strange and it wasn’t fluffy and crispy. I thought it was cooked at a low temperature; PO thought it was baked. (I was correct in this case!). Regardless of the cooking method, they made sure it was seasoned with enough salt. I myself won’t order this but, since it was “free”…

Here is that day’s prix fixe’s main dish: Lamb chops with dijon sauce. I tried a piece of the lamb and I thought it was well perfectly cooked. Cooked medium rare (leaning more towards the rare part), it retained some gamey taste and was really tender. As for the “sides”, there was a bit of almost everything, from a ratatouille, saffron rice, red cabbage and steamed vegetables. I didn’t enquire much about them but, otherwise, PO was quite happy with this meal.

As for me, cassoulet (in the menu: duck confit, andouille sausage & smoked bacon baked with flageolet) … There were actually more than one reason I ordered this dish. Since we were in a (French themed… Or at least French) bistro, I had to order something uniquely French. And then again, I like beans. And the “main” reason was the epic fail last time I had this dish (in Cafe Medina).

Similar to PO’s lamb, the cassoulet here came with some red cabbage and steam vegetables. Of course, in my case, it also had duck confit. As for the dish, it was quite noticeable the pork taste in it (though, it could have had “more” pork, or even duck, flavour). And, unlike the cassoulet in Cafe Medina, the different components were cooked together. The andouille, though, wasn’t as spicy as it could have been, at least it still had some pork goodness in it.

The duck confit was, oddly, not that much of a confit as I would have expected but more on the lines of a crispy chicken. I know that description sound strange, it is just that the skin side had a sauce on top (think BBQ sauce) and was quite thin and crispy. Either that or I unconsciously was comparing it to Peking duck. As for the meat, it was quite tender, almost fall off the bone. The one issue was that I wished it had more “duck” taste (that is the reason I thought it could pass as chicken rather than duck).

In the end, both PO and I thought the overall meal was quite good. Several parts were far from perfect (French fries, for example) but, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t something I would say is a big issue. And, sure, ordering a la carte might be expensive in term of luch in the West End area but the prix fixe really looks like a good option. As for me, good food means I will come back; next time, probably for the prix fixe.

Tagged under: French • Lunch • West End