Review: Le Bistro

One Saturday, my sister, Anna, and I opted to eat lunch at the Paseo Uno de Calamba, a commercial complex that features newly opened restaurants. Tucked within the commercial complex is a coffee shop called Le Bistro. We got curious about this restaurant because it's the most accessible coffee shop for us, at least currently (a mere five-minute drive on a good day); not to mention that the restaurant's subtitle is "Sustainable Coffees". According to the serving staff we asked, "sustainable coffees" mean that the coffee beans they use are sourced from local farmers.

This, to me, is an example of helping farmers lead better lives -- something that isn't far from what Jollibee Foods Corp. is doing with its local vegetable and rice farmer-suppliers. Both companies ensure that these farmers have income by providing a stable market for their produce.

Ironically, we veered away from the coffee selections because we went there for lunch and because I don't drink coffee. So instead, we ordered pasta, an Oreo cheesecake, and a calamansi smoothie. 

I got the creamy malunggay pesto with chicken herb. The pasta was al dente and the chicken herb was perfectly tasty. Anna even got some of the chicken and paired that off with the sun-dried tomato arrabbiata pasta of hers. The sauce, on the other hand, was light and refreshing; none of that heavy feeling I always get when I eat overly oily pesto sauce. Unlike the pesto sauces I've tasted before, the Le Bistro version features malunggay (Moringa oleifera), a nutritious leafy vegetable, instead of basil. The presence of such a local ingredient in its menu further reflects the restaurant's commitment to promoting sustainable agriculture by supporting local farmers.

The delicious pasta effectively raised my expectations about the dessert...
Le Bistro's version of the
Oreo cheesecake

Then came the cheesecake. The portion that we got was quite a letdown after eating the scrumptious pasta. Don't get me wrong: the cheesecake was okay; it just didn't make as big an impact on me as Dalcielo's creme brulee. Maybe it's because of the fatty aftertaste which I didn't like. I thought, at first, that the whipped cream was the culprit, although Anna figured that the problem was in the cheesecake itself. Anyway, it might just have been the specific cake we got and not the whole batch. I'm going to try this dessert again next time I drop by.

Yes, there will definitely be a next time. Aside from a second go at the Oreo cheesecake, there are other items on the menu that I'd like to try on later visits. It's such a good thing that the restaurant is really easy to get to from home. Now, if only I can convince my friends to travel all the way to this bright corner of Paseo Uno de Calamba so they could try out this restaurant too.

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