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..
I have not eaten here for a long time as we were visiting Lichfield I booked us in for lunch time.the gentleman that served us and gave us a quiet table upstairs was lovely helpful and friendly .I had two courses the belly draft course which was nice and a chocolate cheesecake with raspberries and mint compote so fresh.my hubby had steak he said the best he has ever had cooked to perfection .thankyou for making my day so special.
Maria Bretherton, August 2024Amazing meal, great food, great staff and great value for money. Visited for a meal at lunch and enjoyed every bit. Surprised to see any negative reviews. Loved the place!
Barrie Roberts, July 2024Visiting from the USA. Unbelievable food. A treat that i absolutely recommended.
JeffersonianTV, June 2024Rustic, quirky little restaurant with a varied lunch menu. Friendly staff, food great, and good value.
Julia Harris, June 2024Highly recommend this bistro. Always excellent food, service & atmosphere 👌
Susan Perry, June 2024The food was delicious, the mushroom and coconut soup was a particular stand out. Good service throughout. Would definitely recommend for good quality food, and hope to return.
Elizabeth Farley, June 2024Fantastic value. £8 fixed price two course lunch. Would have been a bargin at twice the price
Frank Morgan, April 2024Had a brilliant night , lovely food and great service from John and the team.
Well worth a visit.
Lovely little place with superb food
Paul Alcock, August 2023Great food, and fantastic value on the mid week "two for" deal.
Darren Record, August 2023Lunch time menu good value, plenty of gluten free mains options. Very good food.
Efficient service.
I wish I could dine here more often. Always loved our dinners here. Very friendly staff, great food👍
B.S, August 2023Delighted with our lunch here. The food was excellent and also tremendous value for money - they ought to put their prices up a bit! Will return for sure.
Chris Boardman, July 2023Lovely lunch
Hednesford Childs, July 2023Hidden gem, really good food for the prices!
Dom Tranquille, May 2023Had a fantastic meal here last night great value for money. Will definitely return.
Wonderful food, great wines and attentive friendly service. Regular visits recommended.
Jason Stretton, May 2022Great food at reasonable prices
Keith Davies, May 2023Has always, excellent food, service and atmosphere. Such a great find. Please keep up the superb standard 👏
David Rogers, April 2023Absolutely love it. Food is excellent, service superb and great value for money.
Janice Stretton, March 2023Went here for our anniversary dinner. Staff was friendly as always and the food was great. We got here early so we had a corner just to ourselves!
Had a lovely time here. Helpful staff. Romantic atmosphere and superb food.
We were seated upstairs and found it quiet enough to talk. The great menu made it hard to choose. I ended up with the lamb and my guest with salmon. Both were excellent.
Fabulous little restaurant n such helpful n friendly staff
Dietary restrictions: I am gluten free ,I was so excited to see so much on menu as most places do not do gluten free
Linda Kozurek, February 2023Great food with great service. Lovely oldy worldy feel to the place.
Solomon Whitehouse, February 2023Exceptional food and great ambience. Lots of gluten free menu options.
Ian Lowe, February 2023Wonderful meal and excellent wine choice. Could not have been better.
Helen Boss, January 2023This is a little Gem!
Friendly service, excellent cooked to order food, and great value for money. Well worth a visit.
I think the empty plate says a lot really :-)
Great place to eat and meet friends
Great food and excellent service, a most enjoyable evening.
Peter Lewis, December 2022Excellent menu and great value bistro
Lovely Christmas lunch, excellent service, rather chilly though as near to front door
We went to Lichfield on the 4 of December last minute. The bistro 1709 managed to squeeze us in at short notice great food great value will visit them again next time 👍
John Walton, December 2022First time having lunch at 1709. Excellent food and service.
Vegetarian options: Lovely choices of vegetarian food.
I went for the 1st time Friday, service was amazing food was delicious and definitely going to go back 😋
Chris Onions, November 2022Smashing place
Just love 1709. Lots of nooks and crannies and candlelit in the evening. Food and service are excellent.
Jane Geraghty, November 2022Excellent food at good prices, with great service. We keep going back. Best value in Lichfield.
Ian Kingston, November 2022Outstanding food and value for money
Went for the first time today and we both absolutely loved the choice and quality of food we eat
Having eaten at many high end expensive restaurants this little Bistro is a no brainer and we will be going back again before Christmas if we lived in Lichfield it would be a regular choice
Lovely food. Lovely, friendly staff.
My husband is gluten intolerant and nearly everything on the menu is either gluten free or can be adapted. Geared up for food intolerances. Will be back again soon
Staying with friends in Lichfield we went on Saturday night. The meal and service were excellent. 3 courses with drinks and voluntary tip we were very happy with £75 per couple. Would thoroughly recommend this Bistro.
Anthony McColgan, September 2022Excellent food at good prices, with great service. We keep going back. Best value in Lichfield
Ian Kingston, September 2022Delicious food at very reasonable prices. Staff always very friendly & super efficient.
Chris Pedley, August 2022Beautiful food. Everyone at table was happy. Staff were lovely, welcoming and helpful. They even gave me a taste of the custard before I ordered my pudding because I mentioned that I don't like vanilla! Not joking! They're that lovely❣😂
Jake Hewkin, April 2022Wonderful food and service need to pre book
Heather Rushton, April 2022Great value, interesting menu.
R C (Peter), April 2022Food and service top notch.Best value for money in Lichfield in my opinion.Absolutely 10 out of 10 keep up the good work.
Barry Worrall, March 2022A good selection on the menu. Prompt and pleasant service. Loved it!
Marian Tague, March 2022Nice food at great prices. Lovely little place.
Daley Eve Johnson, February 2022A beautiful place very quirky, friendly staff and Very tasty food. It's definitely worth a visit.
Julie Harris, February 2022Lovely food, good prices and portions
Jamie-Louise Ball, February 2022Great food extremely reasonable prices. Lovely atmosphere and staff
Katie Measham, February 2022Good food and lovely service
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
