Le Bistrot Pierre has been a staple of the Leicester restaurant scene for many years now and we headed down recently to see what they had to offer.
We visited on a Friday night, where despite being almost fully booked they still maintained their intimate feel, which is a lovely feature when so many restaurants nowadays can suffer from the weekend hustle and bustle of town.
Their menu reflects the French bistro style perfectly with starters including a baked St Marcellin cheese, chicken liver parfait and toasted brioche with a fricasse of mushrooms, you’ll inevitably be spoilt for choice. We opted for the soft poached egg with pan fried Toulouse sausage along with the whole baked camembert, accompanied by plum chutney. The service was polite and quick as we also sampled the St Jean Rose wine, which is their house special priced at £16.95.
Onto the starters. The Toulouse sausage topped topped with a soft poached egg was perfectly presented and the smokey flavour of the pan fried sausage really came through with the runny poached egg. The size of the starter was just enough without detracting from the main course and reasonably priced for the quality at £5.95. The camembert arrived on a platter with accompaniments including mini gherkins, sourdough toast and roasted peppers. Priced at £9.95 it’s well priced for the size of the portion and would easily serve 2 people.
Ready for the main event, we’d gone for the pan friend wild mullet with ratatouille and rib eye steak. Once again, for the quality of food and the pleasant surrounding the prices seem reasonable, with the wild mullet at £13.50 and the steak at £18.95. The mullet was served with ratatouille, mussels and caper dressing, with accompanying vegetables and dauphinoise potatoes. Whilst the steak came with fries and salad. Just a tip from us, if you have a choice of salad or vegetables, or if you’re toying with the idea of any side dishes, just make sure you don’t miss out on the dauphinoise potatoes. The mullet was perfectly cooked and presented, with the capers giving an excellent flavour to the dish. The steak was perhaps a little on the small side, but cooked as requested and the accompanying brandy sauce topped it off to a great dish.
The dessert menu seemed too tempting to miss so we managed to find some room! Creme Brulee, Macaroom, Chocolate Torte, the choices were too much! Luckily they had a tasting dessert plate for those who can’t make up their minds up! Offering a sample of lemon tart, sticky honey cake and melting chocolate pudding with ice cream and an espresso it’s the perfect option to enjoy a taste of the menu. Priced at just £6.95 (£5.95 without the espresso) it’s a bargain for what you get!
Service
The service at Le Bistrot Pierre was fast, friendly and impressive given how busy they were on a Friday night.
Overall I’d recommend Le Bistrot Pierre as a great restaurant for a whole range of occasions, from celebrating with family to an intimate date night. If having a full 3 course meal with wine it won’t be on the cheap side, but it’s certainly not overpriced for the quality received. LBP comes with a great Cool As Leicester rating of 9/10.
Le Bistrot Pierre also run a range of 6 course Soirree Gastronomique evenings on Tuesdays priced at a fantastic value £22.95. Full details can be found on Le Bistrot Pierre’s website.
Le Bistrot Pierre is located on Millstone Lane, Leicester