Le Rendezvous

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  3      Service  3      Value  1     

The only great thing about this place was the pizza - really thin crust and plenty of topping. The service was pretty bad - we didn't get everything we ordered and the food took much longer than it should have (why can't waiters just write things down?). The special (zarzuela) featured some great seafood, but was smothered in bland (and probably canned) crushed tomatoes. The side salad an awful concoction of unpleasant vegetables coated with a greasy, flavour-free dressing. Very overpriced for such low-quality fare.

Jan 17, 2012 

3.5 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  4      Service  1      Value  4     

The service at this place was appalling! Seven people wait 50 minutes for a Bruschetta! One hour forty minutes for two pizzas! Rewarded with an apology and two bits of herb bread. Never again.

Dec 20, 2011 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

We recently moved to Canberra and this was the first restaurant we tried. We were a bit worried about the spot because it is all inside but that ended up being the best as it started to rain! Our daughter ran around with all the other kids and we felt really safe letting her have fun.

The first time we went I had steak which was cooked to perfection. The dessert wasn't the best but was still tasty. The second time I had the roo and it was the best meat I have ever eaten. I didn't know roo could be like butter.

On the downside my husband had the pasta the second time and wasn't as impressed. So if you want somewhere family friendly, loud with really good service and you want steak then go here. Reading the rest maybe their italian isn't up to scratch, maybe they should change their name to something about meat!

Mar 15, 2011 

5.8 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  5     

We, a group of 4 went there on Friday and it was quite crowded. After I read the following review, I was not that excited about the place. However, it turned out to be ok. I had calamari entree. It was good. Other people in my group had pizza, prawn salad and pasta. They were ok too. Service was quite attentive even though it was quite busy. So it was not as bad as the other people stated from our point of view.

Aug 16, 2010 

3 Below Average

Food  1      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  3     

Our meal's started with such promise with delicious calamari entree. It is the first time I have sent meals back after tasting. The gnocchi was a floury tasteless glug. The risotto marinara tasted like chilli powder had been stirred into white plain rice and some seafood throw in. I like chilli but this was totally unedible even the seafood was ruined. I wish I had read these review's Ist, I would not have wasted our time and money. They did offer us a free coffee but that was it.

May 30, 2010 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

We live in Brisbane and visit Le Rendezvous every time we come to Canberra. Six of us dined and had a fabulous evening. We shared pizzas for entree with the pancetta and bocconcini the stand out. Our mains were great and only had room left for gelato to finish off. Great night keep up the good work.

May 07, 2010 

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  4      Ambience  2      Service  2      Value  2     

As we are infrequent visitors to Canberra, we were looking for a family friendly restaurant to feed ourselves, our children and their grandmother. The book about Caberra in the hotel room showed that Le Rendevous had won a number of awards and had been around for some time and as we had eaten in Manuka on previous visits, we thought we'd give this one a try.

Our first indication that this was not to be a great night out should have been that the restaurant is actually located in a small enclosed shopping arcade and that the 'outside' eating area is in fact just the space between the restaurant and the closed clothing. Boutiques surrounding it. Zero ambience. After a delay in getting the waitress' attention, we ordered two pizzas, risotto and 2 kids meals.

The food came out after a reasonable wait although the kids servings were pretty small and we were glad we had ordered a medium vegetarian and a large Italian sausage pizza for the adults to share. The risotto was bland and very uninteresting, it looked like porridge. The first bite of the Italian sausage pizza set my mouth on fire as I bit straight into a large amount of chili, the menu did say the pizza had chili on it but we were not expecting it to be clumped in one spot.

The 'italian sausage' was chorizo, which had been thrown straight on to the pizza before firing. The centre wasn't cooked and the dough was still raw. We tried to flag down a waiter but they had all disappeared. As we had been out walking for most of the day and it was now almost 8 pm, we were ravenous and ate around the outside of half of the pizza, when the waitress finally showed up and we complained, she offered another pizza but by now I had already finished off my mother's pizza (as well as the cooked bits of my own) and didn't want another, we simply asked that they take the pizza off the bill.

The waitress asked the senior staff, who refused but offered us a free dessert (as in his words "we had eaten half the pizza) but we didn't want dessert, just didn't want to pay for a half- cooked pizza. After some discussion with my husband the senior staff reluctantly agreed. The rest of the food was certainly only average and I would recommend for the price to go to your local Crust pizza bar, better service and pizza.

Dec 31, 2009 

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

I travel down to Canberra regularly and usually stay in the Kingston area. I would have to say without a doubt, my experience at Le Rendezvous was the worst dining experience I have had in Canberra. Terrible service, the girl on our table couldn't tell us what the specials were, broke glasses and was very unattentive. The atmosphere was woeful, seated in a noisy area and the food was poor at best for the prices they demand.

And to sink the boot in, $6pp. for corkage! So bad, we contemplated asking for a refund.

Response from Management:
The corkage is $6.50 per bottle. The specials are printed in the front of the menu and also at the huge blackboard. Accidents do happen sorry!

Jun 05, 2009 

4.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  4      Service  5      Value  5     

Le Rendezvous was full of people for my Friday night farewell. Service was prompt and friendly and considering the size of the various tables well coordinated. Mind you we were having the banquet. Breads were good, the salad standard fare. I was reminded of club bistro food although the pizzas were better than that.

Reports were the chicken was moist but the veal dry. Unfortunately, they were both wrapped in a drab prosciutto. The vegetarian stack and mushroom lasagna weren’t the best, being oily and over-creamy and cooked respectively. You get what you pay for and not a bad experience by any means. Judging from all the teenagers and families some people lap it up. Not my scene although I wouldn’t say no to a pizza.

Mar 21, 2009