Bistro Vue sets themselves apart from the rest by not only producing outstanding French cuisine but also focusing on the restaurant interior. I love their chairs and tables which seem perfect for a little French restaurant out in the country with green hills outside and oh I can almost see Manu Feildel riding past on his little bicycle wearing a barrette and blue stripy shirt (this is exactly what he did at the Good Food and Wine Show not long ago). I even love their flowery plates and the big antique looking drawer next to the kitchen. I love everything about this place. Everything screamed France to even someone like me who has never been before.
Don't let the small bar at the front of the house fool you. It might not look like they have many drinks on offer but you'll be surprised once you enter the back room. I didn't even know there was another room at the back, which is actually bigger than the front, until Yuye informed me.
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Enough of gawking at the interior deco and on with the food I hear you say. The food, in my opinion, matched if not exceeded the level of superiority of the atmosphere. As usual, we were given bread with butter. The difference with Bistro Vue's bread and butter though was the beautiful layout of the creamy butter with carefully sprinkled salt and pepper on a little square stone. Even though I had been to Bistro Vue before, seeing the butter still made me smile.
Yuye thought the bread was made from buckwheat because of the harder and more fibrous texture (correct me if I'm wrong) and each person got their own little stick to enjoy with the butter. Although a little too hard for my liking, I have sensitive gums which break easily from hard bread, it tasted beautiful and was very fitting of the restaurant style.
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I ordered an orange juice to go with my meal as I thought it was a tad early for alcohol. Yuye just ordered boring San Pellegrino mineral water. My orange juice was a bit small and mediocre for $6.50, I'd have preferred the orange juice at Three Bags Full for sure but it was still refreshing.
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| Orange juice - $6.50 |
Even for lunch, we decided to order three courses each. Come on! It's a French restaurant, you have got to order entree and dessert. I was also very hungry. When I'm hungry, I order a lot. The good thing was, the portions were small enough to not make me bloated. Yuye ordered a house smoked salmon with toasted brioche for $23. It was nothing short of exquisite. The salmon mousse in the middle was silky smooth and had a rich but pleasant smoked salmon flavour. A little too salty to have by itself but absolutely heavenly with the brioche and side ingredients. The complementing ingredients included chopped onions, lime pulp, chives, capers and shallots and of course, the plate was lined with beautiful pieces of smoked salmon.
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| House smoked salmon with toasted brioche - $23 |
You also get a big piece of lemon wrapped in a gauze cloth to prevent pips from falling in your dish. Very smart. The extra lemon juice added the zing that was needed to bring out all the flavours and tone down the saltiness.
I ordered steak tartare for $18. Compared to Yuye's awesome smoked salmon, it wasn't completely up there but still a very delightful dish. I personally love anything sour, especially the kind provided by sour cornichons (French for gherkins). The steak tartare is juicy, flavourful and fresh. It was ground up together with what I believe to be cornichons, onions and chives. The crispy potatoes chips were beautiful. It was crunchy, light and interesting.
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| Steak Tartare - $18 |
