I actually discovered Coté Bac on the Deck & Donohue website, and was so excited to find somewhere in Asnières that served their delicious beer. If you didn’t know already, we live in Asnières, so just outside of the city’s northwest limits. The other few times we’ve tried to make it to this place it’s been last minute, and they were always booked up. One night during the heatwave, we made it for a dinner date.

If you haven’t noticed already, most neo bistros and seasonal bistros are in the 10th or 11th districts. Yeah, I know. Frustrating. People are definitely not getting creative with locations. I looked at my saved places on my mobile Google Map, and it’s depressing how many empty neighborhoods they are (I do have more exploring to do, of course, but most of my saved places are either favorites or “to try” places that I see on Instagram or hear about through friends). ANYWAYS. Long story short, I was thrilled there was something unique to discover in Asnières.

Côté Bac is a seasonal bistro. French food. Presented very nicely, on the pricy side. Bottled craft beer and good wine on the drinks menu. It’s definitely a gem in the sea of kebab places and opticiens in this particular suburb. Entrées were colorful and full of flavor, I went with a tangy shrimp dish and I don’t remember what Louis got. As for the entrées, Louis’s fish was far too grilled, sadly to the point where not edible because the taste was solely the burn and not the fish – but I think and hope it was just a one-time error – they docked the bill by a couple of euros as the young waitress noticed he had only like 2 bites when she took his plate after being “terminé”, ugh, a shame… is it American of me for wanting them to offer dessert or something? Whatever. On the contrary, my filet mignon was sublime with super-duper-thin-cut fried veggies and a perfectly sized portion of risotto. My dessert was a magical meringue cut-out paisley ball with fresh red berries and sorbet inside… oh là là… My date went with the chocolate profiteroles, one of his all time favorites. This joint is definitely on the pricier side, count on 50 euros a person or so if you plan to do appetizer, entrée and dessert with wine. Despite the heatwave (I think we went one of the days when it was 40 degrees celsius), the staff was friendly and rather attentive. They did alter the time of my reservation when requested over the phone that same day, which was odd because the place wasn’t full at all when we were there that night, but whatever. A nicely lit place to check out again for lunch or dinner. It’s nice to know we have a nice neighborhood joint with quality grub for when there are visitors in town.

Côté Bac
30 Rue du Bac, 92600 Asnières-sur-Seine

Reservations recommended