Restaurant Review: Bistro 1709, a French-inspired gem in the heart of Lichfield.
Take a look at review by Matthew Panter of the Express & Star. Published 2nd November 2021.
A few of our recent testimonials..
Delicious food, great ambience, lovely staff. Thank you!
Miranda Fryer, January 2022food amazing lovely place .
owner such a great guy .
going back soon
Best Christmas lunch we had. Thank You
Superb meals with friendly, efficient service. An interesting menu including veggie options. Will be going again soon
Karen Bowdler, December 2021We had a lovely family Christmas meal together 🎅👍😀food was fantastic staff were lovely and welcoming 🙏 but only had bottle beers, so we had to have two at a time 🤣🤣lovely time 10 /10
Food is amazing. Lovely place and staff are great.
Tara Phillips, December 2021Excellent service and food. Reasonably priced which makes an excellent evening all round. Could not fault it. 10 out of 10.
Great food, great service and fantastic value on the mid week "two for" deal.
We had the £15.00 3 course meal and it was really nice and well worth the money l would certainly go again
Great service with a polite and friendly style, but not in your face.
Food was great with plenty decent veggie and vegan options. Value for money was excellent!
Looking forward to our next visit!
Had a long wait to eat here again used to go often before lockdown yet again fantastic food friendly staff prompt service can't fault anything superb thanks again for a lovely evening
Chris Walker, November 2021Food good and staff were very helpful. Very reasonably priced too.
Josie Palmer, November 2021Very very good try it
Geoffrey Le, November 2021Fantastic place lovely food very reasonably priced...would highly recommend
Kene Franklin, November 2021Excellent service and delicious food.
Michael Ryan, October 2021Terrific lunch, food, service and atmosphere all great. Best value for money anywhere locally. Booked again for a birthday. Thank you John and team
Caroline McLachlan, October 2021Excellent service and meal exceptional value
Graham Warrender, September 2021Excellent, good food, good value, excellent menu, amazing attentive staff, 10/10
Dawn Latus, September 2021Birthday treat. Really nice food for reasonable prices. Need to book very popular.
Sylvia Mullany, September 2021John is always very hospitable. There is always a good selection of wine. Food very good and reasonably priced.
Sarah Cork, September 2021Took my son today he was really impressed with the food ,really presented lovely , the meal was excellent. John is great very friendly always has time for a chat. Can't wait to go again
Kathy Rowcliffe, September 2021Amazing little restaurant, the menu gets updated seasonally and the food is always fresh, we had the best chicken me and my girlfriend ever tried.
The wine list is also updated regularly and the service is friendly and down to earth. Higly recommended.
Always fabulous value, the food is really well presented and super tasty, we are always surprised when the bill is presented, not sure how they manage this excellent value for money menu
Gerry Shirley, August 2021Good food and helpful staff
David Betts, August 2021Great food and great prices with friendly service
James Bates, August 2021Always a pleasure to eat there extremely friendly great food
Stephen Shingleton, July 2021Lovely night out, relaxing atmosphere, excellent food, would highly recommend
Tracey Joiner, June 2021John is always very hospitable. There is always a good selection of wine. Food very good and reasonably priced.
Sarah Cork, June 2021Beautiful food, lovely staff and reasonable price xx
Sam Edwards, June 2021Top take out
Excellent food safely collected with reheating instructions - through the lockdown these people have provided first class take away food. I wish them every success when they are able to welcome customers back again. A gem of a restaurant in Lichfield.
it is brilliant
During lockdown we’ve had click and collect deliveries from 1709
And it is BRILLIANT!
Due to shielding the food is brought to the car and put in the boot.
The service and the food is superb - highly recommend.
THANKS TO THE CHEF AND STAFF!
We will be back!
Lovely food. Friendly staff. Reasonable price!! Will definitely be coming again
The Johnson's, October 2020Great vegetarian choice, at last, a restaurant who caters for all, food was lovely, booked to go back straight away 😁
Claire Riley, October 2020Great food and service, as usual. The first time we've been back since lockdown and it was as good as ever. Tables may be a bit close together but very difficult in such a quaint old building. Staff were very "covid aware" though.
Lynne Hodge, October 2020If you like good food, you will like it here. We are never disappointed and the menu is changed regularly.
Moira Clarke, September 2020The best restaurant in Lichfield.
My husband and I have spent a week in Cornwall where we dined at a different venue every evening. Nothing came close to 1709 in Lichfield. The food here is just superb. A new menu too, we are looking forward to trying all of the dishes on offer. Best quality and great value. Friendly service too.
Lovely Lunch.
some friends kindly treated me to lunch. my choice was onion soup and gammon . Both were wonderful. My gammon was perfectly cooked and really tender and my egg perfect, I love a runny egg and it was just right , No room for pudding although the choice looked good, I will most certainly return. The waitress was helpful, Give it a go
Ladies who lunch.
I booked a table for lunch with some friends. We were looking for a place that did something different from the standard pasta/pizza and the Bistro 1709 was perfect. They have an excellent set menu at great value - £12 for 3 courses, which in August meant £6! I had a lovely light courgette and mint soup, followed by delicious, crisp and fluffy homemade fish cakes with salad. I was tempted to add a side and there was a wide selection, but I had my eye on dessert, a vanilla cheese cake topped with Eton mess. That may sound too sweet but the cheese cake was unsweetened so the topping added texture and sweetness. We all had a great meal and the staff were very attentive. I am so pleased this place is in my town - I’ll be back!
What a lovely place!
We had the 3 course dinner for £20 which was half price to £10 on eat out to help out- such a bargain!
Food was absolutely lovely, I recommend the mushroom gnocci and the burger with jalapeño rarebit! Just so scrummy!
The atmosphere was also delightful, especially for a Monday night! Felt really comfortable. Will definitely be returning.
Thank you for a lovely meal!
Emily P. August 2020Another excellent lunch Bistro 1709.
Have been using Bistro 1709 for a number of years and introduced a number of friends to their lunch-time menu.
Once again we had a very nice lunch with friendly service, Food quality is excellent and exceptionally good value.
One tip is, if they are busy, is to have a starter as they seem to arrive at the table fairly quickly but if you are only having a main and a dessert you can wait a little while for your main course to arrive. Never a problem for us as we are rarely in much of a hurry but if time is tight it could be a problem.
Glad to see the Bistro 1709 open again and the bonus of the £10 from the Chancellor was gratefully received.
Little gem in Lichfield.
On visiting Lichfield today I was looking for a place for lunch and found this lovely bistro just off the high street. I was met with a warm welcome, friendly welcome and there were plenty of tasty options to choose from.
I went for the pork main and fruit crumble for dessert. Both were lovely especially the sauce with the pork.
Will be visiting again!
Eat out government scheme off to a great start
As a family we have had many meals at this restaurant. It is clever at offering a well cooked menu which differs from day to day at a bargain price.
Given that a 3 course lunch is only 12 pounds,although if you choose extras it can cost more, the government scheme then reduces the price to 6 pounds
It was my intention to have 3 courses but I was so full that 2 courses was more than enough and my bill was then 5 pounds. I had a creamy courgette mint soup decorated with lemon crème fraiche followed by a crepe filled with wild mushrooms and served with a side salad
My husband had the soup and homemade fish cakes.
The food was delicious.
We felt completely safe at the restaurant and I would be happy to eat there again
I hope that people will have confidence in supporting our local restaurants especially during August when we can take advantage of the scheme.
Pauline R, August 2020Fantastic value for money.
Amazing lunchtime value. Starter and main for £8. Main only for £7. Fresh tomato soup with basil oil and fresh baguette for £1 is a bargain! My wife chose fish cakes, and I the chargrilled pork chop. Both were very good. We’ll be back again
Always a great place.
Been here a several times, it’s a firm favourite, food good and reasonably priced. Atmosphere friendly and intimate. Service good. Really cannot find fault.
Superb.
Thoroughly enjoyed our visit. We had the lunchtime menu. Amazingly good value for really nice food. Thai fish cakes to start followed by sea bass with saag aloo which was sensational . Crepe to finish. Would definitely recommend this restaurant and will return.
Really lovely place.
I came here on a Saturday evening with a girlfriend. Service was brilliant, very friendly, efficient staff, there when you need. I had 3 courses, perfect portions so I wasn't too full and uncomfortable. The chicken taglietelle, wow this is the best I've ever tasted. When I think of a creamy pasta, this is the epitome of it. Perfect. Prices are reasonable as other reviews have stated. I'll be going back.
Excellent meal, very reasonably priced.
We went there on early on Saturday evening. We had an excellent 3 course meal for only £10. It was an early diners special. We had to be out by 7:30 pm. The food and service was excellent. I would strongly recommend this place even without the reduced cost. Brian D, Lichfield. February 20203-5 Lombard Street
Lichfield
WS13 6DR
01543 257986
