I made my first visit to Bistro Bis on Saturday night and came away fairly impressed. There were a few minor quibble points (the butter consistency was something akin to old playdough, some mis-deliveries by the busboys) but overall it was a strong demonstration of modern French bistro cooking: you're not going to get a lot of it, and it won't be cheap, but by God's it's going to look like a work of art and taste exquisite.
My dining companion and I sampled every option on the RW menu (there's only six, 2 for each course, so this wasn't exactly very hard). The CHILLED TOMATO GAZPACHO ANDALOUSE was tart and invigorating, though it could have been cooler. I had gotten only 4 hours of sleep the night before (I wish I had known that the whole White House Garden Tour thing was not in as well-publicized and highly-demanded as I assumed and did not require me being in line by 6:30 am to get tickets) and was feeling the stirrings of a sleep deprivation headache when we walked in. Half a bowl of gazpacho later, I was invigorated and ready to go.
The PATÉ DE CAMPAGNE is a departure from most pates, as it is not soft (the Bistro's term is "country style coarse") and contains pistachios. The dish serves as a good appetizer, though, and the mesculin salad is also refreshing.
For the main course, I had the SWORDFISH STEAK PROVENÇALE, which was cooked absolutely perfectly and managed to retain its own distinctive and fairly strong flavor while also benefitting from the ratatouille. My only regret was that I couldn't have more more more.
I only got to try a little bit of the POUSSIN À L'ANCIENNE, which goes to show how much my companion enjoyed it. The portion didn't look ample to me by any means, but she seemed quite happy with it and raved about the taragon in the sauce. This is a chicken dish that is unafraid to stand on its own merits, sans garnish.
With desert, the MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKE is fine but is the presentation outweighs the taste; the promised bittersweet chocholate sauce is dabbed in spots around the plate seemingly more for decoration than anything else. The PASSION FRUIT-WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE also comes looking dainty and fancy but it delivers a strong and wonderful passion fruit flavor. The chocolate cup the mousse comes in is also notably good.
Nadya had the night off, but the waiter promised he would pass along my regards on her radio debut. The waiter in question, by the way, was excellent, even if he did call the Metro "the subway" hah.
I was rather surprised by how empty the bar area was, but the main dining room certainly sounded busy and happy (I had my back turned to the kitchen area). Overall, a very nice experience, and though my return trip will most likely have to wait until I have the funds to afford one of those tempting wine bottles in the wall (it'll also have to wait until I return to the US), I definitely recommend the place. The RW options are extremely limited, but satisfying nonetheless .