Restaurant Review: Bistro Jacques, Shrewsbury, Shropshire

During our trip to Shropshire where we stayed at Ninks Wagon (read all about our stay!), we visited Shrewsbury (read about the day here) and ate at some awesome places. One of those places was Bistro Jacques, a French brasserie located in the heart of Shrewsbury highstreet, which we visited for our engagement dinner celebrations.
I love French food but I don’t often eat it – I guess I need to polish off my French cuisine at home skills, and actually find some amazing local French restaurants in Hampshire. But when I saw the huge menu at Bistro Jacques, and the ambience of an upmarket brasserie, I knew we had to visit and eat there. I didn’t know that was going to be the place of our engagement dinner!

Bistro Jacques really grabbed my eye because of their extensive menu – so much to choose from! And the atmosphere was great: laid back, but buzzing. We settled with a bottle of Prosecco, and the bread basket (always judge a restaurant by their bread and butter baskets) and looked at the starters.
I went with the whipped ricotta & blue cheese bruschetta, and Liam had ‘rillette de confit de canard’ which was finely shredded confit duck, served with caramelised fig, mixed leaves and toasted croût. YUM. I loved the whipped cheese on my bruschetta coupled with walnuts for some texture and a kick in flavour. Liams duck was tender and delicious – I also had the figs which he wasn’t too keen on and they were yummy.
It was a lovely atmosphere to sit, eat, chat and get tipsy in – I loved it. The waitresses were lovely and very attentive, without being intrusive.

For mains we went for Chateaubriand - a French classic, tender 14oz fillet steak for two to share served with a rich red wine jus, béarnaise sauce and watercress salad. Can you feel your mouth watering?! Mine is! To go with the steak we ordered frites, pork crackling and pan fried frogs legs – it was a feast of delicious, indulgent goodness.
We asked for the steak to be cooked rare as fillet for us just has to be rare – the flavour and texture is incredible. Béarnaise sauce and rare steak are the most delicious combination – I cannot believe I have never had that before. I can’t fault the Chateaubriand – it was perfection on a plate.
We also really enjoyed the frogs legs – which I can only describe as fishy chicken. I know it doesn’t sell it, but trust me they are scrumptious! Although Liam didn’t rate frogs legs too high as I don’t think he knew what to expect from them.

I loved eating at Bistro Jacques in Shrewsbury – the food was 10/10, the ambience was excellent and the service was great. Definitely one to try out if you’re visiting Shrewsbury!