Full of French flavour

Lunch £8.50

Dinner £20-35

Food rating 8/10

Now here's an odd thing. With the opening of Le Bistro Beaumartin, Glasgow now has one French restaurant. Edinburgh, meanwhile, has a good baker's dozen. What does that say about the respective cities? The French brand obviously goes down better in the capital, which may reflect its cultural conservatism. L'Escargot Bleu et Blanc apart, Edinburgh's French restaurants barely keep up with the state of the art in the mother country. Rather, they employ a distinctly last century pret-a-porter formula, one that appeals to less adventurous diners who prefer a safe Franglais pastiche to more authentic living cuisine.

In this respect, Le Bistro Beaumartin is straight out the mould. With its snails in parsley butter, frogs' legs, soupe a l'onion, steak frites and ratatouille, you could almost write the menu in your sleep, as it is nothing if not predictable. Like most French-branded restaurants in Scotland, it appears to be deaf to the more progressive food agenda that increasingly informs restaurants of quality. Seasonality, food provenance, animal welfare and sustainability do not get a look in. Why is it that French restaurants in Scotland don't seem to feel the need to tell you anything about these key questions? A classic case of Gallic "Je m'en foutisme" (I don't give a damn-ism)? Or perhaps it is just that we buy into the French brand so much that diners simply never pose that question.

So the ingredients at Le Bistro Beaumartin must go into the "mystery source" category until we are informed otherwise. The place itself happily eschews Ooh la la! decor for a somewhat stylish, vintage, vaguely 1950s flea market, Marche Aux Puces vibe. Early days, but if it builds a following, it could be a pretty fun place to eat.

I wasn't taken with the terrine of duck, prunes and cognac, not least because I could see no sign of duck, only chicken, and chicken without compensating fat makes for a dull, dry terrine. Think of it as pressed chicken breast with the odd brown-black sweet splodge in it, and you'll have the measure of this dish. But this was the worst offering. Everything else got better.

A salad of chicory, roquefort and walnuts wasn't earth shattering, but still quite nice. It would have been even better if the leaves had been tossed properly to more evenly distribute the good, mustardy vinaigrette. Boeuf bourgignon cranked the cooking score up again with melting, moist nuggets of beef in a rich, orange and juniper-flavoured gravy. It was let down by its overcooked pasta shells, but I was prepared to forgive as the main event hit the spot. As for the parmentier of duck confit, put that one into the comfort food category with its slivers of succulent duck capped with a melting layer of gratin potatoes infused with meaty juices. And I'll say this for Le Bistro Beaumartin, they really know how to cook chips, so if you go, make sure to try them out.

There's a Burgundian theme at Le Bistro Beaumartin that finds expression in some dishes and the reasonably priced wines. The chef even managed to sneak a little cremant de Bourgogne into the black cherry gratin. Perhaps this was the secret of its success, all I know is that it was delightful, just like something you'd be served by a reliable French home cook. And across the table the only complaint about a creme brulee with hints of prunes and spicy pain d'epices (the foxy, subtle French answer to gingerbread), was that there weren't two of them.

Le Bistro Beaumartin strikes me as a very useful place for lunch. This is when they do tartines, slices of toasted pain poilane (the sacred French sourdough, wood-fired loaf) topped with things like creamy mushrooms, garlic and parsley, warm goat's cheese with bacon lardons, and camembert melted over ham. The tartines come with sauteed potatoes and green salad, that loveable French twosome. By the way, the baguette that is served with everything else is just as it ought to be; a wonderful cracking crust and tasty, grey-white crumb. Don't miss it.