Bistro du Vin (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Another friend is leaving the city for good and he's not just any friend. He's also my university schoolmate (though we didn't say a word to each other back then) and colleague of mine. There's still another couple of months before he leaves but nevertheless, I decided to invite him to an early farewell dinner. I thought perhaps we could have a few rounds of this before his departure; at least that was the plan.



I picked the venue tonight and it was a place I haven't visited for a long time - Bistro du Vin. In fact, it was my first visit since they moved out of Kau U Fong (九如坊) many years ago (checked that it was called "Le Port Parfume" back then). Ironically, I was told tonight that they would be on the move again in two weeks.

I arrived early to check on tonight's menu and disappointingly, a few of the dishes on their website were unavailable due to the lack of fresh ingredients from the market.

Escargot – That was very bland even with the parsley butter. Luckily we only ordered six.

Smoked salmon – My old schoolmate's choice.



I thought the salmon was a little salty tonight and no smoky flavors to back things up. It would've been much nicer if there were herbs in there too.

Wagyu Bavette – Presumably of Australian origin.

Just a simple sprinkle of freshly chopped chives already made this pretty tasty. The chimichurri sauce was fine.

It really didn't feel like it but we managed to spend two hours there talking non-stop. The conversation started with our university days before shifting to our family life and current work situation. It certainly felt like we could sit there for two more if it's not for the restaurant manager throwing us out cuz the next party already arrived (of cuz I was told we needed to return the table on time).

After dinner, we took a slow walk down Central and Western District Promenade. It was almost like last month that we were still going to school together scrambling for our midterm exams and projects. Sometimes, it feels good thinking you could travel back in time.

I didn't really focus on our dishes tonight as we were way too busy with our dialogue. But thinking back, I thought it was really difficult for the kitchen to fumble on two of the easiest dishes from a Parisian bistro menu - smoked salmon and escargot; but they showed us it could be done. I thought the beef bavette was fine but for the most part, it was a far cry from what used to be a pretty good French bistro (that was Le Port Parfume as I later do my fact check).

Food Rating: 4.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop D, G/F, 1 Davis Street, Kennedy Town, Western District, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2824-3010

Closest Metro Station: Kennedy Town

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 12:00am (Tue - Sun)