Bon appétit: What makes a restaurant a ‘bistro’ — and why is KL suddenly full of them?

COMMENTARY, June 21 — Take a gander on social media, or even swipe around on Google Maps, and it would seem the newest type of restaurant catching on in the Klang Valley is the bistro. 

It’s spread across the city, from the centre to neighbourhoods like Mont Kiara or TTDI, even all the way out in Bukit Jalil. 

Restaurants and cafés remain more prevalent for now, but the arrival of the bistro hasn’t been limited to physical restaurants; otherwise, Q Bistro and every other mamak with “bistro” in its name would be proof of its arrival long ago. 

No, the bistro has crept into our dining vocabulary too, with staples like steak frites now on menus at any restaurant with air conditioning and an Instagram account.

But what is a bistro? Far from the seemingly catch-all term that it’s morphed into here, the bistro, or bistrot if you prefer, has its roots in small, modest Parisian (typically) restaurants serving simple everyday food, usually in a rustic fashion. 

Soupe à l’oignon (French onion soup), pâté or terrine, usually with cornichons (gherkins) and a bit of crusty bread, oeuf mayonnaise (hard-boiled eggs topped with mayonnaise) or escargots de Bourgogne (snails baked in parsley butter) are common entrées. 

Les plats often include confit de canard (cured duck legs cooked in their own fat), poulet rôti (roast chicken) and boeuf bourguignon (beef braised in red wine). 

For dessert, crème brûlée or tarte Tatin (upside-down caramelised apple tart), both classics amongst the bistro canon. 

They differ vastly from refined, highly technical preparations made classic by the likes of Escoffier: tournedos Rossini, a filet mignon steak topped with pan-fried foie gras, garnished with slices of black truffle and finished with sauce madère, is a classic of haute cuisine, offering the sense of luxury and opulence traditionally associated with French cuisine on this side of the world. 

It would be remiss to paint this as an exclusively recent phenomenon. 

Yeast Bistronomy in Bangsar has been around since 2012, long before more recent openings like Bistro Léa, which opened in Sri Hartamas in 2024. 

But Léa’s early success — replete with checkered floor tiles, onion soup for RM38, frog legs for RM68 — is perhaps the strongest example of the appeal of bistros. 

A more recent arrival over the hill in Bukit Damansara is Bidou, chef Darren Teoh’s restaurant. 

The Michelin Guide, arguably France’s third-largest culinary contribution to the world after Auguste Escoffier and Le Cordon Bleu, pointed to a trend of “nostalgia-inspired” restaurants opening in Malaysia, citing Bidou the same year it entered the guide. 

But really, the reason the “bistro” is suddenly everywhere isn’t just nostalgia. It’s the price. Though it isn’t really a bistro at all — it was initially envisioned as an ode to nouvelle cuisine with a prix fixe menu — Bidou has recently begun offering an à la carte menu in a bid to get more diners through the door.

Bistros, and crucially, the appeal of bistros, are about the exact opposite of luxury and opulence. 

Even when you take the pomp and circumstance away, there is an undoubtedly rich, fortifying, yet alluring quality to French cuisine that has allowed it to form the backbone of almost any Western kitchen today. 

And as diners’ wallets begin to feel the pinch, affordable luxuries like a well-made duck confit for just below RM50 or steak frites at under RM150 become far more appealing as tasting menus climb past RM500 and wallets do the opposite.

Most of these bistros — real, co-opted or simply slapped on a sign — wouldn’t make it past the audit of a purist. 

But none of this is really about authenticity. It’s about whether one can still afford to feel a little spoiled on a budget — and one should, because pleasure, enjoyment and joie de vivre shouldn’t be reserved exclusively for the bourgeoisie. 

The French would know about that more than anyone.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.