Le Bistro Esplanade
A truly Parisienne bistro experience in the heart of Zagreb
Marrying elegance of crisp white set tables and spotless crystal glasses Le Bistro occupies a glass pavilion annex to the Art Deco hotel built for Orient Express travelers. Le Bistro is an institution of French cuisine in Zagreb renowned for its interpretation of local classics, like štrukli.
The glass pavilion is light and airy, even on sunny days. When it was opened, in 1986, it brought an air of Paris with imported french chairs. The Interior is designed in muted colors, accented with colorful and powerful strokes of Edo Murtic paintings. The usual Le Bistro crowd is hotel guests, foodies, and businessmen treating their partners and clients. The service is professional and the dishes are imaginative and tasty.
The menu is based on local dishes and classics, with visible seasonality in some dishes. The flavors and technique are a display of a great kitchen team, as some of the dishes on the menu take days to prepare the festival of texture and flavor for those tasting them.
What is served
Le Bistro menu consists of 8 starters, 3 soups, 4 mains. and 4 Le Bistro Classics: wiener schnitzel, steak tartare, Ceaser's salad, and štrukli - potato-based dough pocket filled with fresh cottage cheese and cream, then baked or boiled.
The menu is completed with a selection of 4 side dishes and 5 desserts.
Entrees range from white fish tartare, fried zucchini flowers filled with ricotta and prawns, grilled prawns, ravioli, carpaccio, and goose liver terrine.
Nettle cream soup is a nod to local ingredients, followed by a classic French onion soup with grilled cheese and an Asparagus risotto with stracciatella di Buratta.
Mains are roasted octopus, scorpion fish, lamb, veal, or rib-eye.
The wine list is impressive and long, covering most wine regions of the world and showing impressive knowledge in its selection of single malts, gins, rums, tequilas, and rakija.
What our chefs had
We started with beef carpaccio. Sliced paper-thin, drizzled with olive oil and arugula dressing, the dish was completed with slivers of young, creamy goat cheese and briny salty flavor of capers with a bright splash of lemon.
Our next entree was creamy asparagus risotto with stracciatella di buratta, which makes it the creamiest of risottos with a distinct spring flavor.
The oven-baked octopus was soft and sweet, paired with cream-baked potatoes flavored with wild onions and lemon rind.
Grilled Scorpion fish (Škarpina, Scorfano) was served on saffron bisque, with white corn polenta, with raspberry and basil accents, which works well with the sweetness of the fish.
We completed the meal with a refreshing crème brûlée with elderberry and vanilla and fresh raspberries.
From an impressive wine list, we had a few classics, like Tomac Millenium sparkling wine, fresh and fruity Benvenuti Malvasia, and light and aromatic Frankovic Sauvignon with fruity aromas of peach and pineapple.
Everything, food, and drinks came to 126 euros.
