Petit Robert Bistro

I went to Petit Robert Bistro in Brighton to celebrate my graduation with my dad and Judy (his girlfriend). For those of you who do not know, I graduated this past Saturday from Northeastern University and I know have a Master of Education in Higher Education Administration! I am finally done with school...for a while at least!

The thing I really liked about this place is that the entire meal was an experience. We tried new and different things (well I’ve had all these before, but not here and prepared differently). We were not rushed, and our entire meal lasted about 1 ½ - 1 ¾ hours.

Excellent service, very polite and friendly. Our waiter was very attentive without being too disruptive. He was very knowledgeable about the menu, gluten free options and wine pairings.

We started with three appetizers. The first was the Escargot with a pesto-type sauce. I loved it. Sometimes escargot is served with too much garlic, but this one had just the right amount of garlic, swimming in pools of butter. If you are not a fan of butter, I would be ware as they are not afraid to use butter here!

We also had the Sliced Red Beet and Soft Goat Cheese Salad. Delicious, one of my new favorite menu items to order out. This one was delicious!  And the Steamed Mussels Marinière in a White Wine and Shallots Sauce. The mussels were good, but white wine sauce could have used a little more flavoring. Big portion.

All sauces are thickened with cornstarch, not flour, which is great for us!! This made ordering so much easier! We were also given the choice to substitute any sides we wanted (i.e. the noodles on the chicken dish). Almost all entrees come with sides, so before you order any sides a la carte, double check with the waiter first.

We ordered 3 different entrees, but ultimately ended up sharing everything, which was fun! I ordered the Beef Short Rib Bourguignon and Roasted Potato. The beef was not as tender as one would expect beef short ribs to be served, but the sauce was incredible, a little on the salty side. It had a stew like feeling when I ate it, but not so thick and served with vegetables as well. I ended up taking half of this home and had it for dinner the next night.

Judy ordered the Chicken Coq-au-vin (Chicken with wine) It was tender and moist, and we all loved the sauce – butter and red wine, with such richness; the flavors shined thru on this one.

My dad had the Sautéed Scallops over Mushroom Risotto. The scallops were cooked to perfection. I love risotto. This one was a little bland and not very creamy. The lack of creaminess I liked, but it could have used more seasoning and mushrooms. This was the smallest dish of the three, which tends to happen with scallops.

For dessert we had the Vanilla Crème Brûlée, which was rich and creamy with a perfect-torched sugar topping, but I did not taste the ‘vanilla’ aspect. It tasted like a regular crème brulee, it was still good, don’t get me wrong, but it was missing the “vanilla”.

The Mousse au Chocolat (Chocolate Mousse) was just so so. It had a good texture and it is more chocolaty than sweet. I’ve decided not to order Chocolate Mousse anymore, because I am always dissatisfied.

My favorite dessert by far was the Chocolate and tangerine ice cream. This was the best ice cream I have ever had!! I don’t know how they did it, but the tangerine flavor was infused into the chocolate ice cream. It was so refreshing and delicious! I highly recommend this!

I’ve heard that the food at the other locations – South End and Kenmore – is much better. I wasn’t disappointed with our meal, but I wasn’t blown away either. If I go back, it would be to one of the other locations.

Free Valet. 3 other locations: South End, Kenmore Square and Needham.

Website: http://petitrobertbistro.com/

Location: 1414 Commonwealth Avenue
Brighton, MA 02134