Canard-ly believe it: Clementine's duck is not to be missed.

Oh My Darling, Clementine’s

A lovely bistro in desperate need of atmosphere.

by Kirsten Henri

Restaurants, like people, have personalities. Or, as is often the case with people, desperately need them. Some restaurants can be pleasant and gracious and even have lovely manners, but they’re missing that vital spark that makes you want to crowd around them.

Even a grumpy or loony personality is preferable to no personality. How else to explain how McGlinchey’s has stayed in business so long?

Clementine’s Bistro, a BYOB on Passyunk Avenue that opened last spring, could use a little help in the vibe department. While the food is solid, it’s a shrinking violet in the atmosphere department. It’s positioned itself as a bistro, with all the trappings—a plat du jour, a prix-fixe menu option, a cheese and charcuterie plate—and it’s mostly successful, but it could use a bit more atmosphere.

The walls are sparsely decorated with just a single chalkboard, the lighting dim, the tables neatly set.

There’s nothing wrong with a quiet bistro, but there’s little to draw you in. It’s the shy girl at the party with a lot to offer, standing in the corner staring at her toes, wondering why no one will talk to her.

Part of it has to do with location—it’s tucked into a tiny storefront with awkward frontage. In fact, it’s easy to walk right by it.

It’s too bad, since the food from chef Robert Patton, a former instructor at the Restaurant School, is often lovely and offers something different amid the sea of Italian-centric fare that dominates that stretch of Passyunk.

Not that it’s totally free of Italian influences. There’s a fine prosciutto sliced on the charcuterie plate, along with saucisson and an array of cheeses—like a creamy fresh goat and an excellent raw milk manchego—made all the better by the mustard, cornichons and caramelized onion condiments.

A dainty goat cheese tart studded with chorizo slices is another winner, the low spice of the sausage breaking up the warm goat cheese. Escargot served in a flaky pastry shell is tender and properly garlicky, but arrives at the table less than hot. Thai curry mussels are disappointing, the broth too viscous, like a can of coconut milk, and offering no spice or real flavor (and a few too many of the mussels sit unopened at the bottom of the bowl). The broth is especially disappointing since Clementine’s serves such an appealing basket of warm rosemary-scented grilled bread, which would’ve been just the thing to dunk in it.

A delicious autumnal preparation of duck is not to be missed, its flesh velvety and fork-tender and its skin admirably crisp, fanned over a melt-in-your-mouth mix of savoy cabbage, rich bacon, shaved fennel and apples, all made even better with a sweet-tangy cider and mustard sauce. It’s just the sort of seasonally inspired dish that’s great to see at a bistro in cool weather.

New York strip steak, served with skin-on roasted potatoes, is also worthy for its rich meaty flavor. Grilled lamb chops are excellent—juicy, pink and accented by a good char. They taste wonderful when topped with the accompanying mint puree made bright with preserved lemon. The only flop on the dish is a pile of very undercooked white beans.

Red snapper flavored with blood orange is more memorable for the luscious herb risotto it’s paired with than for the fish itself, which doesn’t really pop. Scallops paired with waving lobster mushrooms are better, the earthy mushrooms contrasting with the sweetness of the scallops, all of it coddled in a delicate cream sauce.

Speaking of sweetness, desserts hit the mark. A chocolate cake is just what you’d want in a chocolate cake—simple, deep and creamy. Apple strudel sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with caramel sauce is warm, crisp and flaky. Goat cheese cheesecake brightened with citrus is a major improvement on the standard cheesecake.

It’s worth going over to talk to this shy girl standing in the corner, but she’s got a lot of competition in this city of many restaurants. She might want to, as my mother would say, put on a little lipstick.