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Bistro 44

Bistro 44 is a very pretty frame around a slightly out-of-focus picture.

The successor to Bayview Bistro looks right, keeping the old haunt's handsome woodwork and pressed-metal ceiling, as well as the busy bar.

And it's just as tight, too. There are two elevated dining areas separated by a pathway wide enough for a few more tables and thin waiters.

The much-sought-after banquettes are reserved for bigger groups, you're advised. It should be noted that if the expected six occupants show up, they'd better be skinny. Given the proximity of all the tables and the noise level when the place is full, it's easy to make new friends.

Bistro 44 also holds onto some of its predecessor's hit-and-miss style and earnest-and-erratic service. The eatery requires patience, which is easier to come by on a less-frenzied weeknight.

You can have a good meal here. To do that, keep it simple.

So, enjoy corn and bell pepper chowder, which arrives bracing and fine. Likewise, a hearty onion soup gratinee. And both the unencumbered shrimp cocktail and the blunt spiced charred beef appetizers are recommended, too.

Then comes a quartet of cork-size, flavor-free shrimp spring rolls dubbed Vietnamese paired with an overly sweet dipping sauce deemed Thai. You'll want to withdraw your passport.

Fried oysters show up more flaccid than crisp, resting on a seaweed salad that has better texture than the shellfish. The "exotic mushroom tart" embodies the domesticated. And triangular duck wontons are mercilessly bland.

Instead, try the refreshing spinach salad, bolstered by dried cranberries, blue cheese and a sherry vinaigrette; or the mesclun salad spurred by tangy goat cheese.

The kitchen sends out a tender and juicy Kobe-style flatiron steak, set on buttery mashed potatoes, with a crunchy Asian slaw for company and contrast. The marinated skirt steak is good of its kind, reining in the sweetness. Pan-seared, Niman Ranch pork chops satisfy, along with a grilled rack of rosy New Zealand lamb. But the house's risotto with duck confit could be mistaken for aggressively seasoned turkey stuffing.

An artful "monkfish braise," afloat on spinach in a savory seafood broth, is flanked by fingerling potatoes. Sesame-crusted tuna, served near-sushi rare, smoothly plays a now-familiar theme.

Vanilla cheesecake leads the sweets with New York creaminess. The obligatory flourless chocolate finale materializes in the form of two cupcakes, one slightly molten inside and the other dry.

The thin, warm apple tart shows up blackened at the edges. More successful: a homey apple cobbler and respectable crème brûlée -- sharp and clear.

Reviewed by Peter M. Gianotti, 12/17/06.

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