Petit Bill’s Bistro

$$

My last review of this restaurant wasn't great. Of the 5 or 6 times i'd been here the food had gone from great to good to ok. One thing that remained consistent was the service. Always impeccable and there to please. They will make sure you leave happy. Which is why although the food has been on a bit of a roller coaster, I still end up trying it out again. The last time I was there was quite a few months ago. They were just going through a big chef change. The new one is now in and from what I understand, and tried today, is working out very well. My husband and I were in the neighbourhood and in the mood for a little afternoon snack. Their hours are great, you can pop in at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and get whatever you'd like. As usual, the service was wonderful. And to make it even better the food had now gone back up to great. We ordered the Soup of the Day, a delicious carrot ginger soup. This soup had tons of flavour and a really nice spice to it. We then ordered the Sea Scallops, 3 luscious scallops pan seared with a maple pancetta butter sauce accompanied with a crunchy almond spinach salad. This dish had also gone from great to good to ok. Today, it was back up there to great! It wasn't my favourite method, with the squash risotto, but it was definitely a winner in my books. The scallops were perfectly cooked, not rubbery or overcooked, they were silky, sweet and buttery. We also shared the Dirty Dozen Escargot served with tomatoes, kalamata olives, green onion and leeks in a white wine garlic sauce over a puff pastry star. These were good, a bit bland, some extra garlic would have perked them up nicely. But the puff pastry was a wonderful touch and melted in your mouth. The addition of the olives also helped to make this dish special. I'm so happy that the food has improved. The ambiance and service are so great, it would have been a shame to waste it with poor dishes. I'll definitely be back – I have to try the Lobster Poutine! They also recork any wine you are unable to finish from your bottle so you can bring it home, which is a nice touch. Prices are very reasonable, starters range from $5 to $15 and mains from $10 to $24.

www.petitbillsbistro.ca