For all its tourists and boutique shops in which to fondle throw rugs, I've always said that Berry, two hours south of Sydney, needs a good bistro – somewhere you can pop in unannounced for oysters or book a longer lunch. A bolthole for stiff negronis if you're staying in town, with a snack menu for anyone just passing through.

Turns out I should have done my research because Queen St Eatery is exactly that place and it's been pouring champagne near the Berry Donut Van for the past five years. Walking past the window menu by chance in late January, I was lured inside by the siren call of air-conditioning and steak frites in a country town.

Longtime local Bec Riles runs the French-inspired bar and restaurant in partnership with her mother, Louise. The dining room is a space you want to spend time in, smartly framed with tongue-and-groove panelling, polished floorboards and fiddle-leaf figs. Plantation shutters hide the kitchen; brushed-nickel wall fans help cool the room.

Every marble-topped table has a pepper grinder heavy enough to be a real-life Cluedo weapon. Mrs White with the brass mill in the Provencal bistro.

I half expect to find a copy of Stephanie Alexander's Cooking and Travelling in South-West France on the counter, but there are three shiny jeroboams of Triennes rosé instead, available to any willing group at $260 a pop.

I'm driving back to Sydney after lunch, so three-litre bottles of pink wine will have to wait. One gin martini ($24) should be fine though, right? Er, wrong. Riles serves her martinis murderously cold, dry and bloody huge. A New York bartender would nod in approval. I quickly Google "last-minute accommodation Shoalhaven".

A three-course prix fixe lunch is $89 or you can make a meal from the bar menu of snacky European things, such as white anchovies on featherweight toast with salsa verde and lemon zest ($14 for two pieces). They're perfectly salty and sharp – ideal with that negroni ($24) – but there could have been a bit more on the plate for that price. Better value is six Wapengo rock oysters for $26. Briny. Savoury. Clean.

Meanwhile, crunchy pea and broadbean croquettes ($14 for three) are topped with a well-behaved mint salad, and sliced mortadella is scattered with guindilla peppers ($15). Kingfish crudo is the highlight of the prix fixe entrees, brightened with a confetti of fermented chilli and the sweet-sour tang of grapefruit.

There are two listed mains – steak frites and pan-seared kingfish with grapes and pickled cucumber – but nab the roast chicken special if it's offered: a half-chook straight from the school of Modern Country Cooking for Obscenely Hot Days. Glazed with apricot, mustard and rosemary, it's a beautifully charred and sticky bird, rustling about with watercress and tanned ribs of corn. Lime is provided to spritz at leisure.

With driving home now out of the question (the universal indication of any good lunch), there's also a $19 glass of William Fevre 2019 Petit Chablis – lively, floral and ever reliable. (I've banged on about this before, but can wine ordered by the glass please be poured at the table? No one's accusing restaurants of passing off De Bortoli as Bordeaux: we diners just like the small sense of occasion and a squiz at the label.)

Linguine vongole is on the specials board, too, but we stick to the original plan of steak and chips. Or more specifically, a juicy, Cafe de Paris-slathered tenderloin and pommes allumettes – those spindly, matchstick fries which, let's face it, are never going to top anyone's list of favourite ways to eat a potato. They're fine, but a herby butter sauce calls for a thicker fried spud. 

Creme brulee keeps to the script, simultaneously rich and light with a whisper of vanilla and a scorched top that shatters with the right amount of crackle. A refreshing Weis Bar-like wedge of white chocolate parfait is also nicely done, cosied up to a pretty cornice of toasted meringue and drizzled with passionfruit.

More prix fixe options would be welcome, but given that staff shortages continue to be a pressing issue for regional restaurants, it's a small miracle Queen St Eatery is open at all. A nip of cognac comes with the bill and we consider another martini under the fans.

The newly renovated Berry View Hotel has a spare room and I have a new favourite bistro on the South Coast.

Vibe: Paris-chic meets South Coast-comfort

Go-to dish: Roast chicken glazed with apricot, mustard and rosemary (as part of a two- or three-course menu)

Drinks: Fun, snappy list of mostly Australian wines, classic cocktails and French brandy

Cost: Two- or three-course lunch $79/$89; three-course dinner $99

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine