A BIENTOT STRADDLED BY INCONSISTENCY : IT'S THE KIND OF PLACE WHERE YOU'D HOPE TO FIND A GOOD CHICKEN OR STEAK FRITES, ESCARGOTS, A RICH ONION SOUP, PERHAPS COQ AU VIN AND FOR SURE, TARTE TATIN. TO SOME DEGREE, IT MEASURES UP. BUT IN A LOT OF WAYS IT DISAPPOINTS.

Byline: Larry Lipson Daily News Restaurant Critic

A cutesy, narrow, sidewalk cafe-sort of a place in the heart of Glendale, A Bientot evidently grew from a little bakery to a full-service restaurant.

It's the kind of place where you'd hope to find a good chicken or steak frites, escargots, a rich onion soup, perhaps coq au vin and for sure, tarte tatin.

To some degree, it measures up.

But in a lot of ways it disappoints.

Escargots ($7.50) and a glass of wine brought forth a passable effort of the snails. But a glass of the house white, an inexpensive French chardonnay, had very little to offer one day, and the house bread, considering it is supposedly baked in-house, seemed rather ordinary.

Pate ($6.50), cold and hard, right out of the refrigerator, had lost much of its appeal.

Crottins de Chavignol ($7.50), simply a lettuce salad with a few drippings of warm goat cheese sounded much better in its menu description: ``Oven grilled melting goat cheese, covered and preserved with fresh seasonal greens.''

Leek and potato soup, served with one of the entrees one time, though a little watery, projected generally decent flavors.

Recently, on a sunny afternoon three of us had met for a leisurely meal here.

Noticeably, there were some inviting French-sounding dishes on the board.

Poulet special de village ($5.99) was one. It consisted of a single roasted leg of chicken paired with garlic mashed potatoes and a five-vegetable (peas, carrots, corn, green beans, red bell pepper) succotash.

Unfortunately, the chicken was very dry and was returned to the kitchen. Poulet Nicoise, its replacement, was a much improved plate of chicken breast with tomatoes, garlic, three different bell peppers (red, yellow and green), mushrooms and onions sauted in white wine.

Pan-roasted filet of trout with a lemony beurre blanc ($7.25) was respectable, however. It came up with nicely made white rice and a small sampling of vegetables: carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and zucchini.

Yet it took something more Italian than French, a small pizza ($9.50), crusty and slightly smoky from that wood-burning oven of which A Bientot is so proud, to produce real murmurings of pleasure.

But a simple plate of roasted chicken with rosemary, garlic and herbs ($9.95) sporting comparatively good taste, just missed making the plus side of the ledger. Sorry, but again it was a mite too dry to impress.

And it easily could have been the duck confit ($11.50) that earned stardom. Too bad. The duck itself was passable, but that mushy bean serving described on the menu as ``better than classic cassoulet'' didn't convince any of the palates on hand.

Perhaps Italian-style dishes such as saltimbocca, veal Milanaise, spaghetti, linguini or penne pasta might be better here. Or one of the kebab plates served with basmati rice?

Anyway, there was a decent piece of apple pie to finish with one day.

Apple pie - almost a tarte tatin - and coffee.

It's about as French as you'll want to get here.

The facts

The restaurant: A Bientot.

Where: 230 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale.

When: Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, Friday and Saturday to 11:30 p.m.

Recommended items: Escargots, pizzas, poulet Nicoise, oven-baked trout, apple pie.

How much: Starters from $4 to $17.50, pizzas from $7 to $12.75, entrees from $9 to $20, desserts are $3.50 each. Wine and beer. All major credit cards.

Wine list: No written list. Just a handful of bottlings, some inexpensive imports from France used as house selections that are not recommendable. No corkage. Restaurant does not allow patrons to bring own bottles.

Reservations: Taken. Call [phone].

Our rating: one and a half stars for food; two stars for service; no stars for wine.