Bistro Pastis

We'd always wanted to try Bistro Pastis every time we walked by it back when we lived in Kitsilano, but never got the chance until now. We got a Travelzoo dinner for 2 coupon as a Christmas gift so what better time to try it than during the holidays?

The restaurant was decorated for the season and it was so great. It felt warm and welcoming. It was well lit and clean. I felt comfortable in the restaurant.

Everyone was also very professional and treated us well despite the "coupon" that we possessed - you know how you hear about diners with Groupon who get snubbed? We felt that we were treated the same way as every other diner in the restaurant.

As our shared appetizer, we had les vis de veau (crispy sweetbread, sauteed wild mushrooms, butternut squash, port wine sauce). I've always wanted to try sweetbread but every time I see it on the menu, it's often overshadowed by the choice of foie gras.

It wasn't what I expected at all. I expected something resembling more like internal organs, but it actually reminded me of crispy boneless chicken thighs instead. We wished the exterior were a little more crispy, but it tasted just like chicken, which was pretty good. the mushrooms and squash were cooked perfectly to the point where they were soft, but not mushy. I wish the squash were cut into even cubes, because that would be what I expect from a fancy French restaurant, but at least they were cooked evenly despite the uneven size.

The sauce itself was a little too tart for me - though still sweet. If we dipped the bread that came with dinner into the sauce, the tartness goes away. Speaking of bread. Though served warm, which I love, the butter was ice cold, which made it difficult to spread on the bread. It should have been taken out at least an hour before dinner service and left to sit at room temperature.

As my main course, I had le foie de veau et la moutarde (provimi calf liver, potato puree, onion ring, mustard jus). I was given the option to have the liver cooked medium or medium rare. As I've never had this option in my life before, I decided to go with the medium option to be safe. I think if I could choose again, I would go for the medium rare - just to make it more tender.

The taste of the liver itself was fine. I love the taste of liver so I loved this dish. It was cooked very well and did not have that metallic taste liver often has when not cooked well (i.e. at a dim sum restaurant rolled in rice noodles). It was well seasoned and had a great texture. B didn't like it so much as he doesn't like the taste of liver itself.

The vegetables that came with it was cooked perfectly. A little tender yet still crispy. I wished the potatoes were roughly mashed instead of pureed, but at least it wasn't mushy and still had a bit of texture - which I believe most people prefer, just not me personally.

I don't like onion rings, but B does so I let him eat all of it. He likes to order them whenever given the chance, so he's had quite a few. The onion rings were well coated with a delicious batter and fried expertly to a golden brown. It was still crispy when served.

B had le steak et les frites (grilled angus new york steak, pommes frites with herbed foie gras butter). The steak was cooked to a perfect rare - which is, forgive me for the pun, rare. Every time we order rare it comes out medium rare. There was a big piece of fat at the end which was a little off-putting. B cut off a bite for me with just the fat and it made me sick. It was also the most difficult portion of the steak to slice. We think most "professional" chefs would trim the fat a bit so that only a thin slice of fat was left on the steak to give it a bit of flavour. It was certainly not necessary to leave it on, as B ended up simply discarding the piece of fat because it was disgusting to eat.

The fries were really good. They were fried perfectly crisp, salted well, and still tender and moist inside. They were also served with a home made mayonnaise that was interestingly tangy instead of the usual bland mayonnaise you get in a jar.

The foie gras butter was a little disappointing as it tasted very little like foie gras. There was a bit of herb but mainly tasted of butter. We like butter, but in our opinion, it was too much butter. We were also disappointed it didn't come with a bit of roasted vegetables.

For dessert we had the trio of sorbet. Today's flavour's were (from left): mango, pineapple, and blood orange. After such a rich meal, we wanted to have something light, and this definitely hit the mark. All three were refreshing, not too sweet, and tasted exactly as they should. We also appreciated the texture from the crumble of almond and granola (maybe? That's what it tasted to us). It could have used a dash of calvados, but I guess that would make the crumble turn to paste. Either way, it was a delicious dessert to round off a really good meal.

Overall we had a great time. Unfortunately for Bistro Pastis is that we only have room in our lives for one fancy French restaurant and Le Crocodile has taken that spot. It's the little things that count. When we walk into Le Crocodile, they offer to take our coats right away. At Bistro Pastis, I see they have coat hooks for each table, but they did not offer to take our coats. At Le Crocodile, we don't even get a chance to check out the menu before they tell us the specials. At Bistro Pastis, we had already decided what to get and didn't even get to hear the specials. Not that the service at Bistro Pastis was poor, in fact I really liked our server and tipped him above the designated 15% that was a part of the Travelzoo coupon, but everything at Le Crocodile was just a bit more refined. We most likely will not return, though we would recommend to those who are looking for a good French meal at a more reasonable price than Le Crocodile.