Bistro 1130

Fourth time I have walked around the stupid building (those in t&c will know what I mean) and the place is closed/​empty/​not in business. If they are ever open I would like to try the food but I really don’t think they could possibly serve descent food when there hours are pretty much not open.

Love this place. Has the coolest décor! And more importantly the food is always something unique and you are able to choose the way each meat is prepared from their list if styles.

I visited Bistro 1130 when it was a French restaurant and was disappointed to see it changed to a Mediterranean restaurant. The décor is largely still French with ceramic vases added to draw the Mediterranean feel. The crab dip tasted like it came out of a can and was too rich to finish in one meal. The scallops which were recommended by the server were wonderful. The server was covering the entire restaurant and could have probably sold my friend and me another glass of wine. We had to flag him down when we wanted another glass, even though our glasses sat empty. My friend’s meal was unappetizing and she couldn’t eat it. We asked for more bread so she could have something to eat before driving home, and we waited 10 minutes for that to arrive. We regret not getting the Tagines as they looked delicious. We probably won’t return

This place was unexpected. Was going to Qdoba’s but the line was long. So I saw this place and thought what the hell. Glad I did.
Ambiance was ok. I ate inside. The music was baby making music by like R Kelly, Sade, and Luther So not only was I filling my belly. Something else was filling up and I left wanting to take care of that too. Bastards. Just kidding. Well not about the music, that’s the truth.
I digress. The hostess was super cute. But I think she was 16. Weird. The other staff were career waiters. Knew wtf they were doing.
I had the caprese. A caprese with eggplant! It rocked. I would have rocked out with my c – k out but given the state the music put me I didn’t want to get arrested. ;)
For the main, had the shrimp and angel hair pasta. So freaking good. I rarely get shrimp. But again, glad I did.
The desert was ok. But they do carry one of the top 10 deserts in the STL. I didn’t get that one though. Mistake! I should have. Oh well, next time.
I will be back for sure. Next time I will make sure the baby making music has no effect. Lmao. :)
Caprese
Shrimp angel hair
Dessert — ice cream choc ganache pastry puff. Cream

It a great new place have been here a couple of times. Both time for lunch. It’s affordable and the food is good.
Not sure why the place is not so popular. I guess pleople just don’t know about it, or may be it fills up in the evening.
The interiors are amazing and they have an outdoor patio as well that overlooks the small pond here at town and country.
Definitely a place to checkout.

Moroccan is the new theme here. we had a delicious dinner tonight. Tabbouleh quinoa salad, hummus, plate of olives courtesy of the chef followed by scallops and my friend had shrimp tagine which she said was wonderful. The chef made us a special dessert that we very much enjoyed. Looking forward to going back. Very comfortable, cozy place. outdoor seating will be nice once spring arrives. good wine.

A new chef, new menu, the meal was «meh». Have been to this restaurant several times in the past and the food was fabulous! Not tonight; mediocre at best. Disappointed. The food was swimming in liquid, and we didn’t order soup. You do the math.

This was the best meal we’ve had in St. Louis in the last 3 years. The steak tartare was incredible and the restaurant had the best foie gras I’ve ever had in the US. The service is good but not great and the location is non descript. If his place were in the CWE, we would never get a table.

The atmosphere is contemporary French, chic and swanky. The food was out of this world… Cheese board was fantastic, the escargot was among the best I have ever had and I had the filet mignon as an entrée (cooked perfectly and melted in my mouth. Totally dug this place and will done there again in the future.

First time I went here they seemed like they had just opened, we sat at the tiny bar and had cocktails which were expensive but very good. The bartender and manager talked to us, told us a lot about the chef and the food and overall it was a great experience. I wanted to come back and try the food.
We went back tonight and sat outside, it wasn’t very busy for a Friday night and we had very good service. The manager or host who sat us was very accommodating and polite, held the chair for me, etc. The server was sweet and explained the menu to us, and we had the Old Fashioneds from their cocktail menu to start which were good, not outstanding.
The food had a lot of flavor but wasn’t totally satisfying. I had the NY strip which was tasty and my fiancée had the Ahi tuna. The tuna was ordered medium rare, but there was no pink at all and was basically cooked all the way through. Not for me. His dirty rice was delicious, however. Tried a glass of red wine (syrah) with dinner, it was just okay.
Overall this place has a great ambiance and wonderful service, but the food was slightly disappointing and very overpriced for the mediocre quality.

Went here for lunch on a weekend, so I will just review the lunch menu.
Overall, it was tasty and reasonably priced. The two of us each had an entrée and shared an appetizer, no drinks, and the the bill total was $ 40.
I had the veggie sandwich because it was so dang hot I wanted something lighter. It was tasty, and cheesy and gooey. This along with the frittes which are tator tots. Both were a little heavy/​oily. Could be the truffle sauce in the tots, but I couldn’t eat it all on this hot day. I tried my friend’s fish and it was really good.
Lunch menu is pretty small but decent. I wish they had a nice cool summer dessert but they don’t. Just go across the parking lot to Whole Foods for some Gelato.

My wife and I had dinner here Saturday night, a damp & chilly evening, and she thought this place would be warm and inviting. She had been here once before with one of our daughters, but it was a first-​time for me. Overall, I’d say this place is pretty good, with just few things keeping it from being great.
It’s a nicely decorated place, a long, narrow space with maybe 15 tables, nicely separated. We arrived at maybe 6:30 that evening with maybe 2 other couples in the place, but by the time we left a few minutes before 8 pm, it was nearly full, which is a good sign for a Saturday night.
We started with a glass of wine each, mine a Alma Rosa pinot noir, and my wife had a Macon villages Chardonnay, which was nice and oakey, just the way she likes it. Our server then brought us the chefs amuse bouche for the evening, which had a nice bleu cheese flavor to it, which blended nicely with our wines.
For starters, I had a foie gras special for the night, which was a small piece of the foie gras on a small piece of brouchetta like toast, coupled with a crème brûlée like serving made with the foie gras. The foie gras itself was just fine and very flavorful, but the crème brûlée concoction didn’t really have much flavor… not bad, just no taste of foie gras. My wife had another special for her appetizer, which was a garlic bisque topped with a tyme foam, which she said was only OK, with subtle flavor and attractive in the bowl. But she did finish the dish.
For entrée, I had an on-​menu item, the steak au poivre, which was a decent sized piece of sirlon with a mushroom sauce, served on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes. I asked for it medium-​rare, specifically «pink» in the middle, but what came to the table was more rare on the medium-​rare side, edible, but not exactly to my liking. The flavors were all good, I was surprised that the steak was a gristly as it was, for a $ 30 item. For her entrée, my wife chose another starter, and another special that evening, which was a arugula salad with pink grapefruit sections and a nice piece of brie on the plate. She felt the flavors all meshed together as well, and the brie was especially flavorful.
During our appetizer and main courses, they served a nice, warm french bread, which was a nice accompaniment to our courses.
To end our meal, we passed on some delicious sounding desserts and instead opted for coffee. My wife ordered an espresso, and myself just black. What a disappointment. We don’t know what the espresso was, but it wasn’t espresso, tasted more like black coffee in an espresso cup. My coffee was OK, but not great, think the server said it was Thomas coffee, and he did take the espresso off of our charge for the evening. For a place wanting to be seen as «fine dining», and the elements are certainly there, satisfying coffee/​espresso or cappuccino is an important was to make a final impression.
We will probably go back to Bistro 1130 again, because our experience was overall pretty good. A few misses here and there, but overall an inviting place with a menu that has promise.

For some reason I thought that I had already reviewed this spot, seeing as how my first venture here was in September 2011 for a birthday dinner. Given that Bistro 1130 has been written up in a number of local publications (St. Louis Magazine, Sauce, and probably even a few more since its opening) I’m surprised that there is only one other review on Unilocal.
The ambiance here is excellent. The furnishings are tasteful and I appreciate that a huge number of tables are not crammed into the space. The wine list is extensive and the service, at least when I visited, was pleasant and attentive.
As for the food, the highlights of the meal were definitely the starters. An amuse bouche was provided; though my memory dims in terms of its composition, at the time it struck me as a thoughtful touch and whetted my appetite for what was to come. I enjoyed the lobster bisque, which was one of the starters. Sadly, too much time has elapsed and my memory of the other starter (a shared plate) is blurred. I recall that the bread served with the meal was quite stellar as well and, as a bonus, was served warm.
The execution started to falter on the entrees. I went with the ahi tuna which, in hindsight, might not have been the best choice at a French bistro; however, the server talked it up so that when it came around to ordering, I thought that I had made a good choice. The slabs were huge and the breading was coated entirely on the outside of each of the slabs, which made it difficult to approach. Given that everything up until then was moderate in terms of portion size, I was a bit thrown off by the size of the main course. In fact, I had left about ²⁄₃ of it behind. That did not dissuade me from ordering desserts and coffee. The sorbet provided a sweet, if not memorable, ending to the meal. My mom ordered one of the featured desserts. I sampled a bit, but couldn’t really summon that much enthusiasm for dessert, probably because I was still perturbed by the main course.
Next time I come back, if I come back, I would stick with the drinks, appetizers, starters, and possibly dessert. I continue to receive emails from Bistro 1130 and it appears that the restaurant offers innovative promotions, including wine tastings. Perhaps one of these lower-​key events would prompt me to revisit this spot. Or, perhaps I will have learned from my initial visit here and will stick to the less substantive or more uniquely French menu offerings.

I definitely have high hope for this place — especially it’s recently named as one of the best new restaurants in the St. Louis Magazine.
However, this place definitely doesn’t live up to the award. The food is edible for the most part — yes — for the most part.
My bf took me to this place for my birthday couple weeks ago.
First, the location is kinda odd — it is resided inside a mini-​mall whereas there is a Target and a few more shops. It’s not easy to spot — we in fact missed the place couple times. The place is small and cozy. The décor is minimal. It has a fake fireplace hanging right across from the bar in the middle of the wall. It’s just very odd.
Second, when we first walked into the restaurant, there was a strong foul odor. It smelled like bad seafood sitting out for days. They actually had the door open pretty much for the entire evening when we were dining there. It was a nice day out and the cool breeze did help to air out the foul odor.
Here’s our rundown for the evening:
Appetizers:
Pan Seared Foie Gras with caramelized peaches & potato gallette — the foie gras was actually very good but the potato gallette was disgusting though. It was a gooey mess of potato sitting in grease.
Escargot with ricard and beurre maitre d’hotel — it was good but again who can screw up escargot — anything sitting inside a pool of butter tastes delicious.
Soups:
Lobster bisque with truffle cream — not even one single tiny piece of lobster meat in it and the truffle cream was next to nothing.
Traditional French onion — they offered a shot of red wine on the side to add to the soup. I would recommend not to do so cuz it totally ruined the sweet onion taste.
Entrees:
Spice encrusted Duck breast served with braised endives, Israeli
cous cous & finished in its natural jus — requested to have the cous cous replaced with asparagus but didn’t get either. Got a hot mess of a few pieces of fatty duck meat lying on top of a mixed veggie medley instead. Definitely expect a better presentation.
Trio of Lamb Chops crusted with Goat Cheese, Herb de Provence,
Boursin cheese served with Potato dauphinois, ratatouille and
aged Balsamic Reduction — they were tiny tiny lamb chops for a $ 36 entrée. The potato dauphinois was part undercooked and part overcooked.
Desserts:
Special Trio (special offer for the evening) — Pumpkin crème brûlée which tasted and looked awful — it tasted like canned pumpkin purée with a burnt sugar top; chocolate mousse — edible — not too smooth; Red wine sorbet — OMG — it tasted like frozen cheap bad red wine. I end up had to send this back and they replaced it with a regular crème brûlée. The crème brûlée was not that good either — the filling was very watery and crumbly and the sugar top was a bit burnt.
Drinks:
Apple Martini — definitely found it odd that they didn’t use apple pucker but an apple flavored vodka instead. Hence, I had no choice of the vodka I wanted. Grey Goose is my choice but I end up with a Smirnoff Apple Vodka instead.
Cappauccino — lukewarm dishwater. It was beyond disgusting. No foam whatsoever. Made me wonder if it was actually a powdered coffer drink.
Espresso — pretty much the same deal. We end up went to Starbuckie and got our java fixed.
The only PROs — our waitstaff was super attentive and hence, we didn’t complain to her at all since it was not her fault that the food was bad.
Oh…almost forget to mention — the bread and butter were indeed yummy. I was so glad that I had couple pieces — otherwise, I would probably need to stop by at a McD on the way home.
Will we go back? Our answer is probably not. I was truly hoping that this place would be my go-​to place for French food once I move down to STL for good from Chicago. Ugh. .

Oh my. Nothing I could say here could do justice to this place. awesome menus great service, tremendous wine selection… if you havent been. go, go now

Word on the street is there is a new culinary gem in West County called Bistro 1130. Trust the word!
Everything starts at the front door as your eyes are drawn to the elegant combination of rich color and an appropriate amount of bling from the very «now» lighting fixtures. More importantly though is the menu and service which are both balanced with just the right amount of choices and attention to detail. While our experience is limited to the lunch menu, many items are shared with the dinner menu with some additions reserved only for evening guests.
Given this was our introduction to Bistro 1130, I will limit food comments to one classic item (Soupe aux Oignons Gratinee’ Avec Gruyère $ 9.00) and one seasonal chefs creation (Crotin de Chavignol Chaud, Huile de Noix, Salade du marche $ 9.00). In a word «perfect». Our experience was further enhanced by owner Eric Mirrane who took time to share some personal perspective on food and family.
Bistro 1130 should not be missed and may become a new favorite for all who take the time to enjoy everything this outstanding new addition to the Saint Louis restaurant scene has to offer.