Le Bistro — Restaurant in Lighthouse Point

The restaurant is small -- only 36 seats in the tiny, intimate dining room and 8 at the bar, and is showing its age. That should not deter you from eating here, it's an ideal location for a quiet, romantic meal for a couple or important group of friends.

Le Bistro features both a la carte as well as a prix fixe menu ($40, an excellent 3-course value) and an extensive list of wines by the glass (most $12 and under) and bottles featured from France, the US, and Italy. Started off with a French Pinot Noir ($9) which was a great value.

The tiny restaurant has very low-pressure, relaxed service, as it should be of a restaurant of this type and caliber. It's not a hustle-bustle kind of place, so decompress, enjoy the experience and spend quality time here. They are not here to rush you through this.

The menu is for the most part composed of technique-oriented French and British classics that have been slightly updated for modern palates. My wife and I decided to do one Prixe Fix and supplanted it with extra appetizers because we are both bariatric patients.

We wanted to get the Beef Wellington (which by all accounts is amazing) but it's a two portion minimum ($44 person) and if we got that we wouldn't be able to try all the other wonderful things on the menu. It also takes 40 minutes -- he makes it from scratch, like everything else in this restaurant -- including the bread and the ice cream -- so be patient.

We started with a porcini mushroom soup, which is extremely rich and has a lot of sherry and also chanterelle mushrooms in it. My wife and I were fighting over this, and it goes great with the little loaves of bread they serve at the table.

The goat cheese with bee's pollen is both simple and extremely complex, as the pollen adds very strong floral notes that complement the creamy chevre. The cheese is served with endive leaves which add a characteristic bitterness to offset the sweetness of the pollen and the dressing. Very nice. My wife thought it might be a little too bitter but she is a supertaster, would have wanted it served over croutons -- but Elin was happy to bring croutons anyway.

I ordered a Filet Mignon beef tartare which is an appetizer but is a very generous one. This is probably one of the best I have ever had and I've had a number of very good ones at restaurants in NYC which specialize in prime cuts of steak. The accompaniments to this were fantastic, including black garlic cloves which I believe are a Chinese addition. The raw egg was pristine as was the finely minced raw beef filet itself. Again the fresh bread and selection of crackers they gave us for this were a great pairing as was the reserve Bourdeaux wine by the glass I had with it ($15).

My wife ordered the Duck Breast L'Orange which was extremely juicy and had the most wonderful sauce on top which clearly had duck stock in it. This was served on top of a potato and green bean hash which clearly is showing Andy's British heritage and pride.

In the middle between courses, they served us a Granita/Intermezzo of cranberry and orange, this was great, could have easily ordered this for dessert especially paired with the wonderful fresh vanilla bean ice cream we had with what we chose for dessert, an Apple "Tart" made from granny smith apples over a buttered puff pastry base, Andy's take on Tarte Tatin De Pommes, which is something of a different animal as the original uses pate choux.

We also had sampling portions of the Creme Brulee which was prepared classicly with a nice burned sugar crust that cracked like shards of glass, and their Chocolate Mousse, which is more like a chocolate clotted cream rather than a traditional dark chocolate mousse. But it was all excellent and we practically had to roll...

This is not what I thought I will eat today. I saw so beautiful photos of great dishes. And we received rice porridge with mushroom sauce and old pasta with a lot of black pepper. Everything was bad. I will not recommend this place. Server was not nice. Never asked if we liked the food. I thought that there is a famous chef is cooking but it is not true. Awful experience. Still hungry! Got upset stomach! Wasted my money. Deleted from my map.

UPDATE: The owner blackmailed us and broke several laws. He used our information on credit card and found our business and blackmailed us. (Most states treat blackmail as a type of extortion or coercion, which involves threats of violence or other harm in order to compel a person to do something. Blackmail is generally classified as a felony, which could result in multi-year prison sentences and large fines). Threats from Le Bistro to post a video on YouTube with minor without written parental permission. (Most states allow you to record in public places and then use that recording to prevent a crime or to prove one was committed. If the recording isn't of a crime, and you still try to use it in some way, such as posting it on YouTube or social media, you're crossing other legal lines.) YouTube policy regarding posting a video: "Best Practices for Content with Children We want creators to continue to have fun and be creative, but we ask that you follow our Community Guidelines. You should always be smart about the content you post online and ask for permission before you upload a video featuring someone to YouTube. Anyone posting content with minors must do the following: Respect privacy. Secure consent from the minor’s parent or legal guardian before featuring them in your video. Make sure their participation in your video is voluntary. Please make sure you understand and follow the law. You must comply with all the laws, rules, and regulations related to working with minors." Never received an apology from Le Bistro for bad food. Customers with health conditions or with potty-trained kids BEWARE!!! Owner is watching you on video cameras and counting how many times you went to restaurant bathroom. Not Kids Friendly! Our kid didn't run all the time, she was active around 5-7 minutes (after 1 hour driving to this particular restaurant, we planned this visit for months), then she was given a phone to watch cartoons. Sanitizing surfaces and cleaning the floors restaurant responsibility, especially during pandemic. 7.What is the connection with our kid and restrooms visits and...

Enjoyed a cozy dinner-a-deux at Le Bistro last night! Christmas Day, the hostess at the restaurant we had planned to go to must've thought we meant Christmas EVE instead of Christmas DAY. They were closed.

We were literally All Dressed Up With No Place to Go! 🤣😂🤣

Trusty Google saved the day!

We landed at Le Bistro, French, Steakhouse, a delightful & charming spot on 4626 N Federal in LHP. They were so kind to accommodate us at the last moment... it was just lovely!

Our appetizers were: a beautiful greens salad with onions, green olives, hearts of palm, radish, and tomato with a light dijon vinaigrette (he), escargot with perfect garlic butter and a mini French bread for dipping (me).

Intermezzo was a light shaved mango sorbet which cleansed our palates for the entree.

He: tender turkey with sage & onion dressing, tasty gravy, mashed potatoes light n' buttery, and green beans.

Me: roast beef, medium rare, tasty beef gravy, bearnaise sauce on the side, burgundy truffle whipped potatoes and tiny asparagus tips.

The merlot, Chevalier Alexis Lichine, vin de France, was smooth as soft velvet. So good & reasonably priced I enjoyed two generous glasses ❤️

Dessert was couveture chocolate mousse (he) and vanilla creme brulee (me). And cups of the best coffee!

Ambience is soft and delightfully cozy. We enjoyed a cozy half-booth in the corner. The service was impeccable & unobtrusive.

I dreamed of enjoying a French Onion soup here on a chilly, blustery night.

Holiday dinner is prix fixe and expensive (but SO worth it!). Wine is reasonably priced.

I imagine regular dinner service would be high end, however, I believe if you'd enjoy a French Steakhouse that would be as comfortable in the South of France as it is on Federal in LHP.

They're open 5-9:30 pm Mon-Thu, 5-10 pm Fri & Sat, 5-9 pm Sunday.

Definitely call for reservations: 954.946.9240

It was a night...