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We came to Mistelle on the wrong night. Although it might have been the right night in terms of exposing chef’s talent.

Tuesday at Mistelle is “test kitchen” night where chef pushes out a series of entrées, a main course and a pudding. You get what you’re given.

We were last at Mistelle four years ago. The trek to the misty hills of Bickley seemed like a long one. The property was a shed surrounded by vines and grazing country. Its food was alright. Nothing great, just moderately well cooked French bistro classics.

Chef owner Benoit Lasplace has moved his restaurant to Shenton Park in recent weeks and in doing so has stepped up every aspect of the customer experience. Gone is the amateurish service. So too the timorous cooking. The décor is miles ahead. It’s cool, concrete floors, dark walls, bistro prints. Elegant. Not fussy.

It is a very popular restaurant. A bloke stopped us as we were buying fresh pasta at Sal’s in Napoleon Street.

“Rob, I hear you’re going to Mistelle. We went last night. Brilliant.” His comments were reflective of a lot of chat about town.

The first starters arrived: three entrees in glazed bowls. Jerusalem artichokes were sauced with a glossy, silky soubise and garnished with frisée – one of the all-time great bitter leaves and the bedrock endive of French salad cookery – pickled shallots and a mild truffle vinaigrette. Tidy dish.

An heirloom beetroot salad was next. There’s that word “heirloom” again, deployed with abandon and without regard for meaning. We thought chefs had reached peak heirloom with tomatoes, but no it would appear not.

The grammatical grievances of a restaurant critic aside, it was a well composed salad. The small beets were impeccably cooked with a proper bite but also properly soft. Some beets were pickled too. Chef didn’t oversell it, saucing with a simple, sour, piquant yoghurt dressing and a scattering of toasted seeds and a sprig or two of dill. It’s cheffing 101, but well put together and proper tasty.

Who doesn’t love toro, the fatty belly section of fish like tuna and Atlantic salmon, prized by the Japanese and the most expensive cut on the beast.

Mistelle’s “torched salmon belly” was served in a cucumber and celery “soup” and garnished with agricultural sized slices of cucumber and tomato. It looked like a tossed salad your mum would take to a tennis club lunch.

Plating might not be Lasplace’s thing, but there’s no denying the dish’s flavour. The toro was under-seasoned and the brûlée torch must have run out of gas the evening we were there, but it was a fatty home run of texture and taste.

Margaret River lamb leg was the centrepiece of the main course. The chefs had segmented the muscles from the leg and the main centre muscle had been trimmed and roasted with paprika, fennel seed and coriander. It was impeccably cooked: tender, pink and well flavoured. The other, harder working muscles had been braised and shaped into a sausage which had been breaded and fried. It too was soft and rich. The lamb components were plated over a roasted pumpkin crema flavoured with olive oil, bay leaf and thyme and the plate was daubed with a bracing, bright green chimichurri. Superb cooking.

We’re not dessert people, but a poached quince tart was perhaps the best dish of the meal with a crunchy, buttery house-made short pastry and a quenelle of a stunning quince and vanilla ice cream. Top job.

If you go to Mistelle on any other day of the week, you are presented with a more classic à la carte menu including cured salmon, ham hock terrine, confit duck, crème brulee and cheeses.

Chef Lasplace has created a friendly, local bistro at Shenton Park, joining the brilliant bistro La Bastide just down the road as the French bistro juggernaut continues its takeover of Perth led by La Lune in East Fremantle, Le Rebelle in Mount Lawley and Angel’s House in Fremantle.

Service at Mistelle is punctilious and professional. There’s never a moment when you think, “where are the damn waiters.” They’re at your table when you need them but not fluttering about when you don’t.

The wine list is basic and well-priced with 11 whites and 13 reds, all you need in a neighbourhood bistro. Pricing is generous and customer friendly.

Bistro food is one of the reasons we love the French – Birkin bags and Airbus aircraft aside, the bistro is perhaps their greatest export. At Mistelle, Lasplace and his team are flying the tricolour with style and confidence.