Bistrot Pierre Review - Birmingham

Have you seen a Bistrot Pierre near you? I ask as they have locations all around the UK. In fact, here is the current list:

• Bath
• Birmingham
• Cardiff
• Derby
• Harrogate
• Ilkley
• Leamington Spa
• Leicester
• Newport
• Nottingham
• Plymouth
• Sheffield
• Stockton Heath
• Stratford-upon-Avon
• Torquay
• Weston-super-Mare

Bistrot Pierre does delicious French food for a reasonable price at stunning locations. Our recent visit was to the Birmingham location in Gas Street. The restaurant itself is in a Grade II listed building next to the canal not far from the Mail Box and walking distance to Broad Street.

One of the owners John shared “We believe very strongly in maintaining an individual and unique feel across our bistro's and the interior in each restaurant strongly reflects its location; no two bistro's are the same. Our passion for French food and high levels of service are features which we believe are paramount across the brand. We’re also very pleased to have created almost 50 new jobs in Birmingham.'

photo courtesy of http://bistrotpierre.co.uk/

The restaurant chain was started back in 1994 by two friends with the first locations in Nottingham and Derby. The menus on offer range from a la carte to set menus and special occasion menus. Check them out here: http://bistrotpierre.co.uk/menus. With Bastille Day on the 14th of July (today!) they are hosting a special French celebration with set menus - we are sad to be missing it.

We were excited as soon as we saw the menu. It was a throwback to our Paris trip in April, and the drinks menu included our Paris trip favourite - Kir. An aperitif with a blackcurrant flavour mixed with white wine. Best way to start any date night!

From the end of the first course we were planning our next trip. The entrance walk way had transported us from our local Birmingham canal to a beautiful corner of France and as we shared a combination of mini chorizo roasted in honey (I audibly yummed with each bite) and calamari (so soft and fresh and not at all chewey) we were eyeing up the baked Camembert being shared on the table next to us. It took us over 20 minutes just to narrow down the starters!

photo courtesy of http://bistrotpierre.co.uk/

The nice thing with the a la carte menu was the choice, while the menu wasn't pages long, it offered enough choice to cover almost all palettes. Even better was the fact that they stayed clear of just having standard run of the mill dishes, the meats all came with delicious sauces that really enhanced the flavour of the meat and the burgers all seemed to have that little something extra. It was food created with thought.

Our choices for the mains were the medallions de porc and bouef bourguignon (one of Laura's favourite dishes). Both meals were so flavourful and melted in our mouth. I honestly can't remember the last time I ate food that was so well cooked. Not over done, not under done just perfect.

To accompany our meal we had French bread - usually bread is not worth mentioning at restaurants as it's more of an afterthought but this was such fresh bread that I couldn't ignore it. You know when the bread is good that you are in for a great meal!

photo courtesy of http://bistrotpierre.co.uk/

And so as our mains sadly ended, we agreed we were not ready to leave. Looking around at the French posters and admiring the classy decor we decided that the place itself reminded us of our favourite London restaurant Kettners (if you have never been, check that out too!) and right there and then we decided that Bistro Pierre would be our new celebration restaurant.

We couldn't resist checking out the dessert menu and went for 'the best creme brulee Laura has ever eaten' and I went for a meli melo de fraises et meringue (similar to an eton mess). It was light and refreshing and was probably the only thing I could fit in my full stomach at that point. The waiter enjoyed my attempted pronunciation and we enjoyed getting him to pronounce things correctly - oh yeah, we had a French waiter!

All in all it was a wonderful experience, the service was exemplary, the location allowed you to be transported to a different place, and the food was delicious. If you are near to a Bistrot Pierre or visiting a place that is lucky enough to have one, add it to your dinner options list! The prices are all around £3 for appetisers, £6 for starters, £14 for mains and £5 for desserts so you won't need to break the bank to get an amazing meal.

If you do check one out, let us know what you think and what we need to add the dish to the tasting list for our next trip!