C[omp]ute

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Thu, 19 May 2011 21:54:35 -0400

Le Bistrot - *** [3/5]
French
Santa Magdalena 80 local 7, Providencia
http://www.lebistrot.cl/

So, this is the problem when you start to write restaurant reviews - what do
you say when they're just average?

Well, this places serves french food.  Not super-fancy french food, but the
kind of thing you'd expect in a "Le Bistrot" - crepes, omelettes, rabbit in a
mustard sauce, duck with orange, beef bourguignon, etc etc.

And the food tastes french.  Which means it's pretty heavy - cream and cheese.

I asked for the special, which was potatoes and mushrooms in cheese sauce
(like a fancy gratin dauphinois; yeah, I know, if I am complaining about heavy
food why ask for that - but I thought it might be a bit more interesting than
the cookie-cutter items).  It had the kind of kick-ass CHEESE flavour that you
don't normally find in Chile, and the (few) mushrooms were so chewy that they
must have been something fancy.  But it was still potatoes and mushrooms in
cheese.  I don't really expect to pay more than the most expensive steak on
the menu for that.

The wine came from a fancy dispenser (the kind that fills the bottle with
Nitrogen or whatever).  Which is neat, but it was surprisingly cool (OK, it
was a Pinot Noir - and perhaps not the best choice to go with that cheese -
but even so...).

Pauli had an omelette, which was larger than expected.  And heavy.  It came
with a salad.  So you might think the waiter would have gently warned her when
she ordered a salad to go with it - instead we ended up with two salads.
Which wouldn't be so bad if they were a little more exciting than lettuce and
tomato.

In short: heavy food, the traditional french dishes, that taste authentic, but
aren't that interesting, and a couple of issues wth the service/pricing that
suggests they don't have your best interest at heart.

Give it a try, if you want.  We won't be going back.  For french-influenced
food, Jofre (Gral Jofre 388, Santiago Central) is (or at least used to be)
better.

Andrew