Le Bistroman Atelier was a French concept from Chef Stephane del Rio Brossier and Miguel Ángel García Marinelli. The medium sized location had wood and tile on the floor, chandeliers, a cut out in the ceiling, windows to the street on two sides, music in the background with some exposed brick on the walls. The small tables were covered with white cloths and a couple were on the larger side. We had made the reservation some time ago and signed up for their long tasting menu, which you need to do in advance. We stopped by a couple days prior to our reservation and talked with the door person and said we no longer wished to have the tasting and they were fine with it and said would make a note of it. They didn’t and when seated the server came to check for allergies and about the tasting. We repeated our former request and they said fine but there was much confusion even so. It foreshadowed the continuing confusion with the server who split our main course and forgot to bring the salad yet still had it on the bill. It was a night of errors which made for a less than satisfactory meal. The food was edible but nothing to “write home about” and I’m sorry but I can’t recommend you try this place unless you really need to get a French fix in Spain.
Set-up
Food
An amuse was a cheese gougere that had a runny egg yolk in the middle. They were warm and okay.
Homemade duck foie gras came with thin slices of toasted raisin nut bread and fig(?) marmalade and an unknown creamy sauce. The fig did not have the texture of figs, more like quince but the server insisted. We got a full plate which got us each a slice of the lovely pate. Whatever the fruit was or the creamy stuff they were too strong and overpowered the flavor of the foie gras. It was nicely smooth and tasty.
Sirloin steak with bistroman butter cut and chewed more like tenderloin. We wondered why the portion was so small until we got the bill and saw they split one for the two of us. It was very tender and was cooked nicely rare and the sauce did give it flavor. I could have done without the addition of microgreens to one end but they could be shoved aside.
Patatas fritas were a medium dice. Here we did get one order to split, as recommended by the server. They were hot and crisp with a good crunch on most of them, but I’ve had better fries in French places.
Due to the small main plate we thought we ordered two Grand Marnier soufflés. We even saw two come out but then one went back after being offered to a different table and there was no one around to ask about it. The liquour was set on fire but the server did it behind me where I couldn’t see it at all which was strange. This one she did place the ice cream into the center. It was nicely sugared on the side and the inside was light and tasty.
With the bill were a couple treats, a chocolate covered Madeleine and a cookie. Neither were good and I was really ready to get out of there by that time.
