Divine Du Vin…. NOT

I’d heard alot about Bistro Du Vin which is operated by the Singapore based Les Amis Group who also runs the Michelin- starred Cepage. Words are that it’s much better than all the other casual french restaurants that popped up around the same time last year, and the fact that it was hard to book a table for 3 people 2,3 weeks in advance made me even more determined to try it, even if I had to drag myself to Kennedy Town on a FRIDAY night!

The place was packed when we arrived and we waited patiently next to the high tables at the entrance for our table to be ready. Everything looked promising, happy patrons, Parisian bistro decor, wine cellar at the far end of the restaurant (visible from where we were standing) ….. and then we noticed that a couple at the table closest to us were just finishing up their last dish and the waiter rushed in and start cleaning around that dish, essentially rushing them to leave. Maybe not so promising after all..

Finally we were seated and bread was served; bread was cold, dry and stale; we put it down after the first bite but we remained hopeful that the appetizers and mains would be as good as we heard. After studying the daily special scribbled on the mini chalkboard on our table and recalling the list of dishes that were recommended by friends who’d been, we were ready to order.  The beef checks and the Bouillabaisse which was highly recommended, was sold out by the time we were ready to order **darn!! We were so excited about those two**  The waitress recommended crispy suckling pig leg confit, my friend was concerned that it could be really fatty but ordered after she assured him that it’s not. On top of that, we order the pan seared foie gras, the onion cheesy soup, the bone marrow escargot,  slow cooked lamb shank and the pork confit.

We really enjoyed the bone marrow with escargot; the garlic- herb buttered escargot sauce goes very well with the jello like- melt in your mouth deliciousness of the bone marrow. The escargot was tender and the flavor of the bone marrow lingers =)

The onion cheesy soup was less than cheesy and I pretty much had forgotten how it tasted like; this soup was highly recommended and a look at pictures of the same soup taken at Bistro Du Vin by other diners made me feel like the chef had forgotten about the cheesy part of the deal.

The two pieces of pan seared foie gras were of decent size, with caramelized peach and nuts on top adding different texture and flavor to the smooth creamy foie gras. We thought it was pretty average, we definitely had better ones elsewhere

The lamb shank was slightly too gamey and it’s not as tender as I’ve tried in other places, slowed cooked shank meat is supposed to be falling off the bone but in this case I had to saw them off the bone. I got tired from the chewing and left more than half of the dish untouched **shakes head**

The crispy suckling pig leg sounded every bit decadent on paper. The pig leg was cooked in duck fats before baking to crispy golden goodness but my friend’s concern came true- it turned out to be as fatty as can be and my friend pretty much lost his appetite after the first bite, all we saw was fats and skin on the first bite.

Maybe we visited on their “really off” day; the escargot seemed to be the only dish we really liked. Service was horrible and rushed, I’m not sure if the hype had gotten to their heads, but the overall experience was honestly not very pleasant. The three of us agreed that it’s just not worth revisiting this place again. We din even bother with the dessert after being disappointed with most of the dishes we tried.

Bistro du Vin

Ground Floor,

Shop 1D, Davis Street,

Kennedy Town Hong Kong

2824 3010