Eron and I have walked past this restaurant many times over the past several years (in fact it is directly across the street from our favourite everyday eatery in Bucerias; “Leo’s Place”). This is another of the restaurants we had originally intended to try last April but was closed on the days we were available. When you visit Bucerias in the”low-season” many of the businesses will have reduced hours or be closed for the season. The stars finally aligned and we were able to visit them yesterday evening (Dec. 16, 2017). “Restaurant Le Bistrot” is devoted to fine French-style cuisine and does evoke a sense of that atmosphere with it’s small dining room, subdued lighting, and a small selection of tables located right on Galeana. On this particular evening one of the owners was at the restaurant and lent a certain credence to their claim of representing the savers Francaises with her French-accented English. With the recommendations of several people in mind, we had high hopes and high expectations for this fine-dining establishment.

For appetizers, we chose to try their Onion Soup and their Foie Gras. The Onion Soup certainly lived up to its glowing recommendations. The layer of cheese on top was nicely browned, substantive, and thick without being “gluey”. Once through the cheese, we found nice full pieces of bread. And there were plenty of recognizable slices of onion in the soup. The slices were uniformly cooked through and soft, yet retaining texture. But, of course, the all-important component was the soup itself. The broth held a subtle richness that perfectly complimented the flavour of caramelized onions and held none of the bitterness that can be all-too-often found in versions of this dish. Their version is one of the best we have tried and portioned for two to share.

Restaurant Le Bistrot’s Onion Soup.

Their Foie Gras is served with toast-points and is definitely enough to share between two. On arrival at our table, the pate was apparently straight from the fridge; a little too cold for our liking. It was difficult to spread onto the toast and worse, the temperature caused the flavours to lack intensity. However, after the pate was permitted to rest and warm up to ambient temperature, it’s true creamy-rich nature and complexity of flavour became evident. It was accompanied by a small pat of compote; a tiny smear of this added a fruity sweetness that complimented the savoriness of the Foie Gras.

Restaurant Le Bistrot’s Foie Gras.

As a side note, they also served a basket of bread with butter. Visually, the bread was not particularly noteworthy. But on biting into it, we found a delectably crunchy crust, a firm and robust texture, and an almost earthy wheat-flavour; everything a hearty provincial bread should be.

For her entree, Eron chose the Ravioli. When the bowl was brought to the table, it had more the appearance of a beef soup or thin stew with ravioli in it. Furthermore, the presentation was rather blasé and very much needed a splash of colourful garnish to be more visually appealing. The upside was, there definitely was no skimping on the ravioli pieces. On first-taste, we both remarked that the sauce was very beefy and reminded us of a Beef Bourguignon sauce. The ravioli were well-prepared and had great mouth-feel. However, as they held a mild cheese filling; it’s subtle flavours were simply overwhelmed by the heavy beef and red wine presence in the sauce. Eron was glad she tried this dish but would not order it again.

Restaurant Le Bistrot’s Ravioli.

My choice for the entree was the Lamb Shank. It was plated well with the lamb served over a large square of mashed potatoes and surrounded by cube-cut carrots, green beans, and sauce. The lamb was well-prepared with a firm but not tough texture and not at all greasy or fatty. The flavour held just the right amount of gaminess and tasted like good lamb should. The mashed potatoes were house-made, creamy yet suspended small chunklets of potato, but under-salted and thus, a wee bit bland. However, the carrots and the green beens were terrific; colourful, cooked-through but retaining texture, and tasty. The sauce was rich, redolent of the lamb, and not greasy or oily. I would recommend this dish; especially to anyone who has avoided lamb in the past due to concerns regarding greasiness or gaminess.

Restaurant Le Bistrot’s Lamb Shank.

Both entrees were accompanied by a simple side salad consisting of butter lettuce drizzled with a balsamic vinegar reduction. Elegant in it’s simplicity but quite fresh and tasty.

Restaurant Le Bistrot’s Side Salad.

Our choice for dessert; we shared the Pear Tatin. The pear… well, tasted like pear. It was warmed-through, still had good texture throughout, and was not overwhelmed by over-seasoning. The pastry-part of the tart held up for the first bite or so. However, as the tart was being consumed the pastry became soggier and mushier and just eventually disintegrated. The tart was served with a dollop each of vanilla ice cream and a thick, rich whipped cream. This dessert is not one of my favourites.

Restaurant Le Bistrot’s Pear Tatin.

A special note for coffee-lovers, this restaurant does serve expresso! It is rich, dark, and topped with a beautiful crema.

Restaurant Le Bistrot has positioned itself as a fine dining establishment and that is reflected in it’s pricing. For two appetizers, two entrees, dessert, two glasses of wine, and an expresso; our total was 1,355 Pesos (over $90 USD) before gratuities. Overall, I’d say our experience at Le Bistrot was mostly positive with only a few concerns. For the most part, the servers were attentive and showed great restraint with regards to hovering and they were some of the best at unobtrusively observing and ensuring we were finished our appetizers before trying to serve our entrees. Unfortunately, one glitch was at the conclusion of our entrees; as the plates were being cleared, we remarked that we were looking forward to trying their dessert(s). Even though they took my order for an after-dinner expresso and we had not so subtly hinted they we wanted dessert, it took nearly ten minutes for them to actually offer to take our dessert order. Long enough that we almost gave up on dessert and were about to request our bill. It is important to note that at this point, we were the only diners left in the restaurant so they definitely were not being overwhelmed and there was approximately 45 minutes until their posted closing time. The other was the presentation of the Ravioli; it was simply visually unappealing. While these criticisms may seem petty, they are valid in relationship to the positioning of this restaurant; they claim fine dining status and charge accordingly. Therefore, the little things DO matter.

In all honesty, Eron and I will not be visiting this restaurant on anything like a frequent basis; not because we don’t like them but rather because we’re not particularly interested in traveling all the way to Mexico to look for French fine-dining. To us, this a “special occasion” type of place and not somewhere we’d normally think of for dining out. Having said that, if you are looking for French cuisine in a fine dining establishment, Restaurant Le Bistrot definitely is THE choice in this vary specific portion of the Bucerias culinary scene.

Address: Galeana 11, Flamingos, 63732 Bucerías, Nay.
Hours: 17:30–22:30
Telephone: 044 322 158 0937