To celebrate my new apartment in the Back Bay, we crept down W. Newton to the Sound End location of Petit Robert Bistro, the place with the illuminated Eiffel Tower. The host was cool, so it felt like we were getting into something good. He sat us at a window table so we got a cool night view of the Copley area. We started with the steak tartar, which was decent, but nowhere near that of Grill 23. The bread was good, if you’re into that sort of thing.

For entrées, we got the fromage rissoto and roasted rabbit leg. The rissoto was solid, but needed salt & pepper, and more than just mushrooms. The rabbit leg came with ginger sausage, mashed potatoes, and veggies. The rabbit was tender, the sausage was subtle, but the mashed potatoes were pretty boring. Everything went down smoothly, but perhaps too smoothly, as the spice neglect was almost criminal. And the screeching, drunk chick with the three gay dudes cut into the scene like a saw, so I don’t expect a quiet meal here.

As bistros will be bistros, Petit Robert served up genuine, purgatorial cuisine - informal but original.