First impressions, an elegant atmosphere and beautifully candle lit décor. The wait staff were very attentive, although a little lacking in knowledge as my dining companion and I soon discover. To begin we select the duck liver parfait, rose jelly, candied walnuts.
I'm in love with pate and parfait, although yet to master a recipe myself. My favourite at the moment is Maggie Beer's pheasant farm pate. I visited Maggie's Farm Shop in the Barossa last year, it was the middle of winter and I devoured an amazing picnic basket and pheasant soup with a superb Barossa Shiraz, I was in heaven. Although honourable mentions must go to MV's parfait, from the McLaren Vale and Stella May's Boozy Duck.
Back on topic, Bistrot Bistro's parfait was presented beautifully and had a perfectly creamy, smooth texture... yet tasted slightly bitter. The candied walnuts helped to balance this, but overall I was unimpressed due to the expensive price of the lack lustre starter.
For mains I ordered the breast of duck, duck sausage, caramelised witlof tarte fine & burnt orange purée; my companion, the assiette of lamb, ewe's curd tortellini, pine nuts, raisins & sweet corn custard. The duck was cooked perfectly; disappointingly the purée overpowered the dish with a strong aniseed flavour, so much so that I excluded it from the rest of my dish. The assiette of lamb was fantastic, cooked to perfection, it simply melted in my mouth, the pine nuts and raisins provided a new, exciting flavour to compliment.
As the conscientious waiter enquired if our meals were to our tastes, we questioned the overuse of anise in the orange purée, to which we were told 'I think it's a French thing'. We continued to question the knowledge of the wait staff as we ordered cheese for dessert, the waitress left our side to check with the Chef, and on returning still seemed a little lost. We helped her along and discovered our choices were a blue, a soft cheese and a goats cheese. We went with the blue and soft cheese. Both were good and a nice way to end the evening.
Overall the restaurant was nice, pretty for a special occasion or date, yet I was underwhelmed by the food and expected much more. The wait staff tried their best but left a lot to be desired and really didn't sell the menu. I probably won't go back but am keen to experience an exceptional French dining experience in Brisbane. Next on my list are C'est Bon, Anise and Montrachet.
