We recently ate at Saju Bistro, a French restaurant located in Times Square. Nice decor, warm, I truly appreciated that some of the tables have space in between so you do not have the impression to dine with the neighboring table, even if I would not mind if they would pick up our check.

I was glad that they did not adopt the term Bistro for show and served classic Bistro dishes like escargots, duck confit or steak frites and noticed few Provençal dishes that made me think twice before I ordered the escargots like their baby octopus with eggplant provençale or the bouillabaisse, a fish soup from Marseille. With lots of vegetarian choices, I was however surprised to see pasta on the menu: not so French... Here is what we tried:

I wanted a cocktail and they did not have any cocktail list. But, as they have a full bar, it was not a problem. So I decided to order a sidecar, a cocktail traditionally made with cognac, orange liqueur and lemon juice.

Sidecar cocktail at Saju Bistro in Times Square

The entree was the escargots de Bourgogne that are snails cooked in butter, parsley, garlic and shallots, a sauce so good that you cannot resist dipping bread into it. By the way, the bread came with olive oil and not the usual butter, more Italian maybe than French.

Then, I got the confit de canard salad or duck confit salad that was composed of frisée, roasted beets, grilled apple, marble potato and walnuts. It was good but definitely not the best duck confit I had. What was missing was the skin that was not crispy and fatty as you would expect. However, it was not as salty as you could get from time to time in restaurants.

Confit de canard salad at Saju Bistro in Times Square

Jodi opted for the goat cheese ravioli that were also decent.

Goat cheese ravioli at Saju Bistro in Times Square

Last was dessert. We decided to order the tarte tatin, an upside down apple tart that was phenomenal: buttery and well caramelized. Probably one of the best I had in a long time.

Tarte tatin at Saju Bistro in Times Square

With the bill, they also brought us some homemade cookies: langues de chats and madeleines that were not that great but still a nice touch.

Overall the food was ok at Saju Bistro. I could go back if I had to eat in the area and felt like eating French food, but it would not be my prime destination for French cuisine in this range of price. No, I prefer Le Tout Va Bien several block away or La Sirène.

Enjoy (I did)!

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Saju Bistro - Hotel Mela, 120 W 44th Street, New York, NY 10036

I Just Want To Eat!