Planning to shed a few pounds? Louise Douglas found just the spot for a final treat

FOR his role as Jake La Motta in Raging Bull, Robert de Niro went on a four-month gastronomic tour of Italy and France to gain 60lbs in weight.
 
A weekend break in Paris and 10 days in Sicily, reading the actor’s biography on my travels, had been enough for me. I hadn’t quite tipped the scales at 60lbs extra, but I knew it was time for a diet.
 
I wanted one last treat and, thinking it may be poetic to go French, found myself at Bistro Jacques.
 
Opened two months ago on Hardman Street, Bistro Jacques is the sister restaurant to Bistro Pierre.
 
It offers a variety of set menu deals including a pre-theatre three course meal for £9.95 (from 4.30pm to 7pm daily) as well as a three-course express lunch for £6.95.
 
We arrived just after 7pm on a Tuesday evening and the place was already bustling with quite a mixed crowd of students, couples and families.
 
Its interior is typically French, with stripped wooden floors, rustic tables, chairs and banquets and an open kitchen from which a myriad of wonderful aromas wafted into the dinning area.
 
The a la carte menu is fairly extensive, with a choice of eight starters and nine main courses, as well as a range of side dishes.
 
The wine list is good, too, with a healthy choice of French, Italian and New World wines available by the glass as well as the bottle. 

To start, I ordered Tartlette vegetarienne (£3.95) and my mother, my trusty companion on so many of these visits, opted for Crevettes au beurre (£4.25).