From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

St. Tropez Bistro / Fort Lauderdale

June 19 2009

1010 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale

954-767-1073

Cuisine: French

Cost: moderate

Hours: lunch and dinner daily

Reservations: accepted

Credit cards: AE, D, MC, V

Bar: beer and wine

Sound level: quiet and relaxing

Outside smoking: yes

For kids: high chairs

Wheelchair accessible: yes

First impression: Cozy and radiating good cheer. This quaint restaurant embraces your senses.

Ambience: A quintessentially charming bistro.

Starters: We'd hoped for more than supermarket-quality French bread to mop up our escargot St. Tropez-style ($9), with both snails and portion size disappointingly small. The menu description says "garlic butter," but don't expect the usual. Ours were afloat in a tomato-ey sauce defined by bell peppers. On the other hand, the baked Belgian endive fattened by ham, gruyere cheese and bechamel sauce ($9) hits the mark on all counts. The endive remains crisp, the ham flavorful, the cheese and bechamel in perfect balance.

Entree excellence: Classic coq au vin with crisp bacon chunks and mushrooms derives flavor from a long slow simmer in red wine. (The menu says it costs $19.50, but rang up on our check at $19.) The kitchen's impeccable steak tartar ($21) makes for a shareable appetizer for those into the indulgence. Spicy lamb sausage known as merguez ($19.50) delivers finger-length, devilishly spiced meaty links paired with just the right amount of tasty brown sauce highlighted by onions and peppers. Beef bourguignonne with onions and mushrooms ($20) is tender enough and there's no lack of meat, but the dish needs a more aggressive note. All our entrees included mounds of fluffy salads lightly dressed in a pleasantly creamy vinaigrette, and pommes frites that were limp, undercooked and nowhere near what they should be — especially for a French bistro.

Sides: Hearts of palm ($8), simply merged into a creamy vinaigrette, are nicely staged and delicately good.

Service: Misunderstandings ruled our evening, but we also experienced good attention from a personable staff.

Sweet!: I'm a big fan of dense creme caramel rather than silky, so this one was right up my alley and a treat at $8.50. An upright pear poached in red wine ($8.50) is a light ending; a slice of tarte Tropezienne ($9) is as St. Tropez as it gets with luscious pastry cream sandwiched between two layers of brioche. Tarte Tatin ($9 with a scoop of vanilla ice cream) was on the soggy side but still delicious enough to want to finish every last morsel.

Dining deal: Early bird menu served from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday.

— Judith Stocks