Bistrotte La Minette
623 South 6th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Since
August of 2013, I have been living within walking distance of Bistrotte La
Minette, but I had never been there. I love good French food, and
Philly’s French cuisine is top notch from what I have heard. I have not
experienced enough of it, but I am working to change that. Bistrotte La Minette
is one of the places I heard fell into that top notch category, so I took my
fiancé there for our five year anniversary.
When
we first arrived I was pretty ticked off. They sat us next to the hostess stand
near the front window in a spot where there really shouldn’t even have been a
table. I know restaurants want as many seats as possible, but listen to me when
I say…SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE! No one likes to sit in those awkward spots where
there really shouldn’t be a table. Luckily it was nice enough for us to request
to sit outside. After that first hiccup, our meal was pretty flawless. Some
delicious wine and drinks to celebrate, delightful food and good service on a
beautiful October night. What more could we ask for?
The
kitchen sent out small bites of cheese bread that were absolutely fantastic as an amuse bouche. They
were like little puffs of air with a cheesy surprise inside, and were
definitely a great way for us to start. My fiancé and I decided to split
everything as we usually do, with our choices being the butternut squash soup,
escargot, lamb shank and beef cheek bourguignon. Our appetizers followed the
cheese bread, and they were up to the same amazing standard. I wouldn’t say it was
the best escargot I have ever had, but it was very nicely done. The snails were
very tender, and the garlic butter each was drenched in was herby and rich. I
loved the tiny croutons on top of each as well. They added a bit of textural
difference for the sometimes chewy snails. The butternut squash soup was out of this
world. The texture of the soup was perfect. Each and every bite was creamy and
rich without being too heavy. The toasted hazelnuts brought an element of char
and a nice bit of crunch to the bites they were included in. I could have eaten
a gallon of it!
Our
main courses were just as stellar as the rest of our meal. Sometimes French
sauces can get too heavy and too rich, but these were expertly prepared. Both
the lamb shank and the beef cheek were fantastically tender and not overly
complicated. No knives necessary! I love the red wine aspect of the bourguignon.
They paired extremely well with the root vegetables they were served with to
give the dish a bit of freshness and lightness. I sopped up the sauce with
bread after finishing up the plates as well.
For dessert we went very traditional with the Tarte Tatin. Hands
down the best Tarte tatin I have ever had. A lot of places serve these huge
chunks of apple and they don’t get as much flavor packed into them as they did
here. These apple pieces were smaller and they had soaked up quite a bit of
that caramelly goodness. The crust on the bottom was perfect as well. It was
the perfect amount, and crunched well when bitten into. The caramel ice cream was absolute perfection. It complemented the apples very well.
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