Munchies and music at Le Bistro
Mar
26
2009
off

I’ve gotta hand it to Frank: he knows customer service.

He sits at the corner of his bar, chatting with locals and sipping a glass of red wine. His employees bustle behind him, conjuring hot plates of spring rolls, pad thais, and chow mien for the small crowd accumulating on his deck above West End Divers in the heart of West End, Roatan. Brion strums a few notes on his guitar, flicks back his hair, and launches into a tune by the Eagles— not one of his renowned fret-bashing solos, but appropriate for the casual dining atmosphere of Le Bistro.

Le Bistro

Frank’s pride in his business clearly shows. Le Bistro started in the little sliver of shopfront between Tyll’s Dive and what is currently Angelo’s Gelateria (the space currently occupied by diver favorite Shark Cave Pizza). You could barely squeeze more than a dozen people in the space before it felt crowded. And crowd we would. The delicious spicy mango sauce served with the egg rolls ensured it.

The success of this tiny local allowed Frank to move Le Bistro to it’s current location— and what an upgrade! With its large deck with ample seating space, fully-stocked liquor bar, and lovely view of the sea, Le Bistro makes for an excellent casual dining and drinking stop along the West End strip. Karaoke nights are a particularly good laugh— especially when the Cult of Coconut gets behind the mic.

Brion plays at Le Bistro

One thing hasn’t changed: the food. Le Bistro doesn’t serve the most authentic Vietnamese food, but it does serve delicious Vietnamese-ish meals in a timely fashion. My personal favorites are the egg roll appetizer (85 Lmp / $4.50) and the pork chow mien (105 Lmp / $5.50), though the sweet and sour chicken (155 Lmp / $8.25) and selection of curries are quite tempting.

Service is generally solid, especially when it comes to delivering an entire table’s set of meals on time (service does get a little sluggish when the place is packed). Sorting out the bill leaves a little to be desired: I’d prefer if the bill could be split by person ahead of time rather than doing the whole Lempira shuffle at the end of the meal.

All in all, Le Bistro consistently makes for a positive dining experience good for great laughs and full bellies.

Félicitations, François.

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