Restaurant Review: Bistrot brings its je ne sais quoi

46 Gas Street, Birmingham. Meal for two + wine: Around £60

A CHARMING, intimate cluster of intricately designed rooms now sits on Birmingham’s canal, serving traditional French cuisine with a contemporary twist – but it’s not all style over substance.

After buying the building in 2012, Le Bistrot Pierre has finally turned Birmingham Canal Company’s derelict building into the group’s 16th restaurant.

On entering the restaurant, the smell of fresh ingredients cascades down the antique wrought iron staircase and the room splits into several zones.

To the left is a dimly-lit, living-room-sized bar. The restaurant then opens out into a large glass extension, overlooking the canal and the fairy-lit terrace. Upstairs is mainly dominated by couples quietly sharing a bottle or two of wine over a candlelit dinner. with downstairs being livelier with tables of friends and families.

The restaurant was packed to capacity that Saturday evening, however the tables are so generously spaced that you don’t feel confined.

Being greeted by a French waiter certainly adds to the feeling that we’re anywhere but England, which, even if only for a couple of hours is much appreciated.

I’ll fully admit that I turned first to the back of the menu to work out exactly how much space I needed to leave for dessert. And after skimming past words like warming chocolate, strawberry coulis and crème Chantilly, I’d already decided to go easy on the starters.

Le Bistrot Pierre Birmingham

Le Bistrot Pierre Birmingham

After flipping the menu back over, I was faced with a range of mouth-watering, French appetisers from caramelised onions and smoked bacon, to a whole roasted garlic bulb with artisan bread, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I opted for the mini chorizo au miel appetiser – a bowl of deliciously indulgent chorizo chunks, glazed in sweet, thick, sticky honey.

The starters had my eyes flicking rapidly between squid, shredded rabbit pate and crab ravioli. The chosen squid formed a perfect pile of rings on the plate, accompanied by a pungent garlic mayonnaise dip with a slight kick.

The decision to have the Epaule d’agneau a la Marocaine was based on the small printed ‘brought back due to popular demand’. This Moroccan-style dish hosts a range of textures from the rough, yet tender lamb shoulder, to the light smooth mint and yogurt dressing, chewy apricots and the crunch of the toasted pine nuts all sitting on top of a bed of pearl couscous.

Slightly sweet steamed vegetables and crispy thin dauphinoise potatoes were served with the mains as well.

I sampled the ravioli au crabe and the bouillabaisse maison, which are difficult to master, but the restaurant has reinvented the classic French stew extremely well, adding smoked haddock to give the dish depth. From the first taste, it was clear both dishes contained fresh, high-quality seafood.

The main meal took around 20 minutes to reach the table, which is fair considering the restaurant was fully booked on both floors.

Last but certainly not least, desserts. The menu read tarte au citron, frangipane, meli melo de fraises et meringue… I honestly think faster decisions were made around Brexit.

Eventually I decided on the eton mess-style dessert. With strawberry ice-cream, crushed meringue, soft marshmallows, pistachios, strawberry coulis and crème Chantilly, there really was no better way to end a meal.

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