Gaston Burgundy Bistro - New French Restaurant in Keong Siak

Gaston Burgundy Bistro is a new French restaurant in Keong Siak Street. The all-day bistro and wine bar serves regional specialties of Burgundy, a region in east-central France famous for its wines and classic wine based dishes like coq au vin and beef bourguignon.

Gaston Burgundy Bistro & Wine Bar

Opened at the end of 2018, Gaston occupies a narrow and long shop house on the gentrified Keong Siak Street. It is not another French fine-dining establishment but a restaurant and bar with moderately-priced food and a relaxed setting.

Gaston Menu

Burgundy is a region which produces excellent wines. As can be expected, wine features prominently in many traditional Burgundy dishes. Gaston says that its food is “deeply rooted in the Burgundian heritage” and embraces “classic homemade specialties from the region”. The menu of Gaston is fairly simple; less than 10 mains are on the menu. However, the Burgundy classics – like oeuf en meurette, jambon persillé, escargots de Bourgogne and boeuf Bourguignon – are on the menu.

Below are pictures of pages of the Gaston menu and drinks list, which can also be viewed on the website of Gaston Burgundy Bistro.

Gaston Set Lunch

There is a Gaston Set Lunch Menu reasonably priced at $30 for a 2 course lunch and $35 for a 3 course lunch. Diners can choose from a limited dish of options for each of the courses.

A basket of bread was provided soon after we ordered. Another basket was brought out when we finished the fist basket. Water was offered while we waited for our food.

Starters

For the entree, we selected all three items available – Rillettes de Maquereaux, Jambon Persillé and Céleri Rémoulade.

The rillettes was pâté made from mackerel which was flavourful but quite salty eaten on its own. It was nice having it with bread.

Jambon Persillé, ham terrine with parsley, was a light and delightful starter.

Céleri Rémoulade was an interesting salad of celery root with mayonnaise sauce. It was quite a refreshing dish and enjoyable.

The Mains

We selected the Filet de Barramundi, Ravioles and Boeuf Bourguignon for our mains.

Filet de Barramundi Cuit au Charbon et Tian

The Charcoal grilled Barramundi had firm sweetish meat and crispy skin. There was a slight smokey flavour. The tangy tomato sauce combined well with the fish.

The cheese-filled ravioli was an interesting dish with a lovely shade of green. It had good textures and was tasty, and the topping of rich and tangy crème Fraiche really enhanced the simple dish.

Boeuf Bourguignon is the classi dish of Burgundy and Gaston’s version did not disappoint. It was homely and unpretentious and served with mashed potato. The stew with carrots and herbs had complex flavours and was delectable. The beef was tender, but with parts that was a tad dry. On the whole, it was an enjoyable and satisfying dish.

Desserts

We had the Flan pâtissier for dessert. The vanilla French custard cream pie was quite unremarkable. Luckily, the vanilla gelato was nice.

Gaston at Keong Siak Street has an unpretentious bistro decor which made us feel like we were dining in a small nice neighbourhood restaurant somewhere in central France. The dessert we tried Gaston was a bit of a let down. Otherwise, the food was good hearty fare. The a la carte menu prices are very reasonable and the set lunch is a good value proposition. If we are in the mood for affordably priced French bistro fare, Gaston Burgundy Bistro would definitely come to mind.