Bistro Maison

Its location,beside a carpark,might not be the most salubrious but the filigreed,ornamental pushbike tethered to the pole in front of Bistro Maison signals you're leaving the ordinary world and entering a gentler one. Inside the handsome two-storey building,decorated with etched mirrors and crisp linen,you'll find a menu of French favourites,courtesy of chef Bernard McCarthy. Free-range chicken terrine is studded with a sweet hit of fig offset by house-made cornichons,and potato and leek veloute is frothy and topped with herbs. Beef bourguignon,its rich,intense sauce carefully seasoned,arrives with whole mushrooms,bisected kipflers and a thick strip of bacon,the beef falling away under the mere shadow of impending cutlery. Desserts naturally include a pot of creme brulee behind a curved privacy wall of tuile,and the chocolate mousse comes with honeycomb,a deliciously awkward boulder to navigate.