La Bastille
182 Lisburn Road
028 9066 7500
I FELL out with classic French food sometime in the mid-noughties when cooking went all molecular, with foams instead of sauce and a roof tile instead of a plate.
We hit peak crazy when I was served a steak on an upside down Viking's shield and you know what? It was delicious.
But all that razzle dazzle and drinks served in jam jars made me temporarily forget why I love to cook food, eat food, talk about food and spend most of my day thinking about food.
La Bastille on the Lisburn Road has been there an age but has recently gone under new management. You'll know the place if you ever drive past it, it's the one with the miniature Eiffel tower outside.
And while a light-up Eiffel tower may not be to everyone's taste what's cooking in the kitchen will be.
On a cold wet Tuesday night we were greeted by the most friendly of waiters. He was clearly a man who took pride in his work. Belfast is currently full of sulky hipster types working under duress as they wait to be discovered as the next big artist, musician, animator, fashion designer or poet so it was refreshing to be greeted by a man who clearly loves his job and more importantly actually likes people.
We were seated by the window in the classically decorated restaurant that, despite the awful weather, seemed to be ticking over nicely. There was an a la carte with traditional French classics such as frogs legs and French onion soup.
But we ordered off the mid-week Menu Du Jour with three courses for a bargain £18. I started with the goat's cheese fritters that came with an onion chutney and sharp pickles. It was small and perfectly presented with a lot of attention clearly paid to the aesthetics of the dish and it came a on a pristine white plate.
The little bon bons of goat's cheese were bread-crumbed and deep fried; the wafer-thin pickled veg added sharpness and the onion marmalade was rich.
My pal went for rope-grown mussels served in a huge steaming bowl, cooked in the traditional way with lots of white wine and garlic. I'd polished off my starter and quality tested the shell fish – both were delicious.
For mains I had hake with a fondant potato, my friend had confit duck leg served with champ cake and a plum puree. You could also have had a pan-fried bavette steak with trimmings, which for a set menu is a pretty decent offer.
But back to the duck leg. It was a little dry for me and required more sauce which was sticky and delicious. The champ cake was a new one on me and was basically champ, shaped, breadcrumbed and deep fried. Think about that for a second: deep fried champ.
It shouldn't have been nice but it was amazing – buttery, rich, crisp on the outside and just looking at it would be enough to put weight on.
My fish was perfect, crispy skin with a rich buttery potato and a light flavoursome tarragon jus. The plates were sent back bearing nothing but a duck leg bone.
We loosened our waistbands and prepared for dessert.
I had the tarte du jour which was in this case was apple and almond with a vanilla ice cream, and my mate had the crème brulee.
The tarte was one of the best things I've ever tasted with the ice cream served on a little mound of toasted almonds. The crème brulee was rich, full of fresh vanilla, perfectly set and with a crunchy sugary topping.
This was one pretty perfect mid-week supper, classic cooking stripped down and at its best. By the end I even concluded the light-up Eiffel tower outside the window was kitsch and not tacky.
This was my first visit to La Bastille but certainly won't be my last.
THE BILL
Menu Du Jour £18 x 2
Bottle of house white £17
Total £53
