Melding American and French techniques isn’t new. Veteran chef, Daniel Boulud first added the Original DB Burger to his New York city menu at db Bistro Moderne when it opened in 2001. I finally got my hands on one a few years later (2008) at db Brasserie in The Venetian Las Vegas. This French take on the American classicv— which wraps a thick ground sirloin meatball around a disc of foie gras encased in red wine braised short rib — basically launched the gourmet burger trend. Twenty three years on, the same notion is still going strong at Bistro Nido in Regent Place where they let you add foie gras ($20) to a wagyu cheese burger ($25). Despite the restaurant name meaning twice cooked, there’s a bit less effort in this patty, with the 30 gram slab of foie gras sitting on top of it, rather than wrapped inside sirloin and twice cooked short rib. The flavour combination is still good, juxtaposed with tangy house pickles in a structurally sound milk bun, though it did make me pine for the original. You can add on crisp, golden frites if you care to cough up an extra eight bucks.
Like db Brassierie, which was located in a casino, Bistro Nido is an incongruous place to be dining. It’s a forty-seater restaurant, with just eight berths inside and the rest set in the bustling shopping arcade. They run the same menu at lunch and dinner. For a Sunday lunch, it wasn’t quite where I’d pick to consume a fifty-three buck toothfish. This wagyu of the sea arrived in magnificent ‘sauce bouillabaisse’ with three mussels, spuds, saffron and bronze fennel, sadly on a cold plate which was not aided by the gust-prone arcade setting. We teamed it with the coastally inspired 2022 Voyager Estate Chardonnay ($54/500ml) plucked from a tight but interesting wine list.
With ten venues including this one overseen by executive chef Zachary Tan, Noni Widjaja and Derek Puah of the Devon Hospitality Group certainly know their market. Considering whether the high prices and the setting drawbacks outweigh the cooking and concept of French bistro interpreted through a mostly Japanese lens plagued me. The answer will no doubt be different for each diner.
