Quality Dining At Affordable Prices
It’s not often I eat out during the week, but I thought I would give the new Bistrot Pierre restaurant in Preston a try, writes Tracy Hargreaves
I’d walked past the restaurant, opposite the Fishergate Centre, a few times and admired its new look from the outside, but on entering the building I was suitably impressed. The transformation from the 19th century Baptist Church, which had stood in the town centre for almost 160 years, was incredible.
Suave and sophisticated is how I would describe it. The beautiful stained-glass windows, the décor, lighting and well stocked bar with its eclectic range of wines in the centre of the room, was of an extremely high quality standard and suited the architecture of the building and with the added touch of the moulin rouge coming through in the paintings on the walls and the semi-circular velvet curtain around the front door, it all went to create a relaxing and authentic French ambience. In fact, you could be forgiven for thinking you were enjoying French style dining in the centre of Paris, not in the centre of Preston.
We were shown to our booth by our waitress, who was polite and attentive and then came the difficult task of choosing what to have. We went for two courses off the à la carte menu, but there was also the option to select from the specialitiés du chef. My friend decided on a starter of Bonbons de fromage de chèvre (goat’s cheese bonbons, roasted ruby and striped beetroot, chicory, hazelnut praline and honey dressing), followed by Canard au mûres (beautifully cooked pan-fried Barbary duck breast from Western France, with dauphinoise potatoes, blackberry jus and seasonal vegetables). I had the Agneau, (pan-fried lamb with spiced chickpea cassoulet, mint yoghurt and a harissa dressing). Unbelievably tasty, with a hint of Moroccan flavour. When it came to dessert that was easy, the traditional French crêpes were top of my list and our waitress smiled with approval and said: “Good choice, they are amazing.” I had to agree, they were.
Looking round, it was nice to see the restaurant was completely full, for a Wednesday evening, with couples through to family groups. This is a place that isn’t just saved for special occasions but is where you can drop in from 9am for breakfast, prix fix lunch, evening meal or simply soak up the atmosphere on the restaurant’s veranda with a glass of wine and watch the world go by.
This might have been my first visit, but it certainly won’t be my last.
https://bistrotpierre.co.uk/locations/preston
