Review

Chef Philippe Peretti, an integral part of Bangkok’s restaurant landscape for nearly 30 years, has opened a French bistro near his eponymous flagship restaurant. A simple shopfront belies the quality of cuisine and value for money found within. Here, one is welcomed by a rustic interior and traditional French dishes, ensuring diners continually return. Whilst there is an extensive à la carte, set menus and daily specials are firm favourites. Begin with the soup of the day, perhaps Jerusalem artichoke enhanced with herbs to bring out the mushroom flavours, or a bowl of French girolles, pan-fried and topped with a runny soft-boiled egg. Freshness and the quality of ingredients are the hallmarks here, a culinary philosophy borne from the chef’s many years at the stove. Bouchot mussels are prepared with a splash of French white wine and cooked in a creamy garlic and onion sauce. Main courses include beef cheek braised in red Burgundy. Another is sea bass fillets in sauce Dugléré, a sauce made from fish bones and completed with diced tomato and parsley, which some say is the perfect partner with fish. French cheeses or an apple tart with ice cream are each a perfect finale. An appropriate selection of wines is available, majorly French, with several regional bargains available by the glass.