July 2007 - Bistro de Paris

[Guest]

Bistro de Paris

Located in Epcot’s World Showcase, just above the popular Chefs de France is Bistro de Paris.
This elegant restaurant has a much quieter, more intimate dining room than the bustling, casual Chefs de France, with a more upscale menu and impeccable service.

I’ve wanted to eat here for absolutely ages but there has never been anything on the menu for vegetarians, so we’ve had to give it a miss.
Good reports have been trickling my way of late though, so now we decided we just had to give it a go.
Paul was a little apprehensive as there are still no vegetarian items on the menu (he works in France a lot and is always getting sidelined when it comes to veggie food) but the restaurants at WDW are making much more of an effort to cater for vegetarians these days, so I was quite confident that they would come up with something suitable.

We checked in around 7.30pm and waited just a short while before being escorted up to the restaurant.
We were seated a table by the window which looked out over the lake – just perfect for when it came to fireworks time!





Our server was Ludovic from Paris. And apart from being extremely handsome, he was polite, attentive, charming and very knowledgeable.
We could see he had an obvious love of food and wine himself as we talked about his culinary travels.

We ordered some Perrier water and after chatting for a while about the menu, took up Ludovic’s suggestion of a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Vieux Lazaret 2004. It was excellent and went particularly well with my lamb dish.

We were soon brought some warm, freshly baked bread - a small baguette and a buckwheat roll - along with a complimentary amuse bouche, which was a little cup of the most deliciously delicate butternut squash soup.



We shared a cheese plate to start with and I must say it was the best one we’ve ever had in any WDW restaurant.
I can’t remember them all, but those I can are Comte, St Nectaire, Fourme D’Ambert, Brie and a Chevre.
Oh phew, I only seem to have forgotten one of them. That’s one too many though - I think I may need to start taking a little notebook with me in future.
Every single piece of cheese was at the point of perfect ripeness and they all tasted so fresh and distinctive.
We’ll definitely get this again!




Whilst chatting over the menu, Paul asked what the veggie options were and Ludovic went off to consult with the Chef.
I could tell that they don’t get asked about vegetarian food that often and I was relieved when he returned and said that the Chef was happy to create a vegetarian dish for Paul.

Regretfully I didn’t get to taste any of it for myself, but with Paul’s help I’ll try to describe it.
There was some tender vegetable marrow, stuffed with red pepper and tomato compote (hidden by the sweet potato crisp) some braised fennel and a crisp parcel of spaghetti squash flavoured with tomato and herbs, atop silky smooth fava bean and potato quenelles.
Paul was extremely happy with this creation and he loved every tasty morsel.
The flavours were all quite delicate and I know that there doesn’t look as if there was much on the plate, but he said it was plenty and he was more than satisfied by all of the individual taste sensations.
He said it was his most favourite WDW meal this time.



I had Lamb Cutlets (cooked medium rare) which were served with the same vegetable marrow with tomato/red pepper compote that Paul had, though mine was topped with roasted garlic (the strong flavour of this would have dominated Paul’s delicate veggie dish, so I understand why it wasn’t included on his)
Ludovic carved the cutlets from the rack of lamb tableside, which was a nice little theatrical touch.
A richly flavoured, rustic flageolet bean casserole was a delicious accompaniment to the lamb, which by the way has to be the sweetest and most tender lamb I’ve ever tasted in my life!

[Guest]

As you can see, we had a spectacular view of Illuminations Reflections of Earth while we finished our wine and waited for dessert – which also turned out to be rather spectacular!









We couldn’t make a choice between the many mouth-watering desserts on offer so we decided to share the dessert sampler.
My, what an absolutely a tempting array of treats were set before us – and they all tasted just as good as they looked!
As you know, I’m not a massive dessert fan but I was extremely impressed with these little beauties.

Here’s what we had - Warm Chocolate Soufflé, Crème Brule, Caramelised Rice Pudding, Strawberry and Basil Granita, Pineapple Sorbet and Strawberry Millefeuille.

Sorry I can’t recall what the one in the middle was, I think maybe layers of apple and vanilla custard, topped with meringue - I don’t remember eating it - I think Paul must have snaffled that one for himself!







We shared a pot of good, strong coffee as we watched the throngs of people below leaving Epcot after the fireworks, and then chatted some more with the lovely Ludovic, before we descended the staircase to enjoy the atmosphere of an almost empty World Showcase and a romantic saunter over to the Boardwalk.

A very good evening indeed!

[Guest]

It all sounds and loooks very tasty and what a great view Su.

[Leanne1977]

All i can say Sue is... WOW!

That restaurant, food and view look absolutely amazing. I am not surprised you rated it highly.
The food looks like a work of art and the view of illuminations is stunning.
I would love to try that restaurant but with 2 little ones i may have to wait until they are grown as i think it is more of a grown up romantic restaurant.

Fab review.

[Cinders Mum]

great review, and what a hot hot hottie Ludovic is

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Cinders Mum

great review, and what a hot hot hottie Ludovic is

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No, no, no Val - you are confused - Ludovic is the one on the right!

[Leanne1977]

Originally Posted by mcpaul

No, no, no Val - you are confused - Ludovic is the one on the right!

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[slicer]

The food looks fantastic. Can I ask what the cost was, with wine seperate, please.

[gala]

What great pics once again. The meal looks absolutely delicious. Can I ask Sue and Paul - Where on earth is the wine? You dont do reviews without wine!
Val, control yourself dear!

Margaret

[Guest]

I'll be back with the costs slicer - but it wasn't too expensive at all.
The wine had a high mark up, but the 20% DDE discount helped out there

Calm down Val (and Paul) - he's only a waiter lol.
I confess I did have one of those 'if I was 20 years younger' moments myself tho

Leanne I thought my boy was grown up enough at 51, but...

Mags the wine is there - are you sure you are not too busy focusing on the lovely Ldovic too? understandable I know...