The Bistro Story

After the barrage of Arabian restaurants in Chennai, looks like bistros are mushrooming all over the place. The two recent ones, L'amandier and this Bistro Story place are the latest and since I loved the first one, the day I found out about the Bistro Story, I took two scapegoats and landed there the next day. Location is not pretty so let's get that out of the way. After searching for a bit, we called the restaurant and got directions and it is set in a rather dingy part of Royapettah. Open the door and it seems like a different world inside. With an open kitchen and eclectic interiors, I wish they were in a better location. We were greeted by the chef behind the counter, who I later realised is one of the partners of the restaurant, when he came to chat with us after our meal.

We got ourselves a smoked chicken sandwich, a pesto pasta and a curry chicken burger (since there was no beef burger and I couldn't make up my mind from the rather small menu). Dear Chef, beef burgers will sell in Chennai if done properly. Llyods tea house next door and Sandy's a little further away are examples!

The smoked chicken sandwich and the pesto pastas were excellent. Loads of olive oil on it, it looked and tasted like the recipe has been perfected. With the chef taking a sabbatical from a London kitchen, he has brought the recipes with him! The curry chicken burger has an Indian twist to it, but the burger was too large for me. Actually, it was too tall for me. There is no way I, or any one I know, can fit it into their mouth. I ended up eating the burger with a fork and knife, but the flavours were all good. The chef recommended a date pudding, which was a little too dry for me, but the triple chocolate dessert was excellent and we ordered another one.

The menu says that there is a 5% service charge, but we weren't charged that. Other taxes and the meals put together cost us Rs. 995, which was rather reasonable. If they maintain this quality of food and find a way to make people find out about their location, they might do very well. If they change their location, they might do wonders!!!!!

4/5

They are located at Sadasivam Salai. When you are on Llyods Road, take the road just before Axis Bank and you can see the board at the end of the road in the ground floor of an (is it?) an apartment?