I have been extremely keen to try out the Plymouth Branch of Le Bistrot Pierre since it opened at Royal William Yard recently. The Plymouth restaurant is one of only ten branches in the country, and they prefer to call themselves a “family of individual restaurants” rather than a chain. I’m unsure how many restaurants constitute being a chain, but we are clearly not talking about McDonald’s here. Le Bistrot Pierre serve a range of French cuisine, and the good news for coeliacs and those following a gluten free diet is that they have a dedicated gluten free menu. It’s good to see that their website also clearly states that they have been working closely with Coeliac UK.
The Royal William Yard is becoming something of a gluten free hot spot. Le Bistrot Pierre is joined by Rover Cottage, Las Iguanas and Prezzo which all have gluten free offerings. Friends of Gluten Free by the Sea Plymouth Greengrocer and Let Them Eat Cake can also be regularly found at the Sunday Good Food Markets.
I’d heard good things about the food from several people, and when I was looking for somewhere to go out with my dad for lunch this week it seemed a perfect opportunity to give Le Bistrot Pierre a try. There is a dedicated lunch menu, offering two courses for £10.50 and three courses for a bargain £12.50. Evening meal prices whilst much more expensive are still reasonable in my opinion.
So on arrival at the restaurant we were seated and I was promptly presented with the gluten free menu. I had a quick snoop at my dad’s menu to see what I was missing and the good news was that it was hardly anything! The standard menu had a burger option and a few extra desserts and that was pretty much it. Whilst we were pondering the menu some bread was delivered to the table. I asked the waitress if it was gluten free and she informed it was not, and promptly went off to fetch some. This was toasted and arrived a little while later with the starter.
To start I went for the soup of the day, which was carrot and coriander, which was served with gluten free bread. There was a 95p supplement for this which was my sole niggle of the day, though the overall value of the meal was fantastic so I couldn’t really complain. Le Bistrot Pierre have confirmed the bread is toasted under a grill in a clean tray to avoid contamination. The soup was lovely and the bread was pretty good too, a decent start to the meal. Dad went for a crayfish risotto which was also on the gluten free menu.
For the main course I decided to have pan-fried chicken breast with
creamed leeks, thyme and Parmesan. There was a choice of fries, vegetables or a side salad with this. I went for the fries as I find it is always hard to say no when given the chance of chips as a coeliac! The chicken was cooked perfectly and had the skin on to enhance the flavour. The sauce was excellent too and I really enjoyed the dish. Meanwhile dad had gone for slow-braised Scottish pasture fed beef with shallots and Dijon mustard sauce (also available on the GF menu). Whilst my main was great, I have to say I was suffering from a bit of food envy as dad’s braised beef looked amazing, as did the seasonal veg that he had chosen rather than the fries.
We pondered whether to have a dessert but it was only going to be an extra £2 each for another course so it seemed rude not to, and as dad pointed out I have readers to think about! I kept it light and went for the hazelnut and chocolate mousse with crispy meringue and honeycomb. This had a great rich chocolate flavour and the crunch of the meringue and honeycomb provided a nice contrast to the texture of the mousse. I won’t tease you with a description of dad’s gluten filled finale, but suffice to say he did not struggle to polish it off!
We both really enjoyed the meal. The service was great, the restaurant was nicely decorated and the Royal William Yard really is a great setting. For £12.50 each we were both thoroughly impressed with all aspects of the meal, and this really was fantastic value. We’ll definitely be going back in future. If you live in Plymouth or any of the other locations that have a Le Bistrot Pierre, I can thoroughly recommend you give it a try.
Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea
Gluten Free By The Sea 