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User Reviews on Bistro Guillaume
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 comments
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| Overall |
 
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Below Average |
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Food 3 |
Ambience 5 |
Service 3 |
Value 1 |
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This has been lauded as one of the best French ‘bistros’ in Melbourne by both the Age and Sun food critics.
We are seated at a long isolated section that abuts shuttered windows looking out on the city and the Yarra (pleasant) and the evening promenade (less visually alluring as the night wore on). A bit isolated as opposed to the main dining area, with its pantaloon chandeliers, and, therefore, service was sometimes absent. Adequate spacing between tables. Uncomfortable chairs, and café tables with metal legs that jut out and make prolonged dining difficult.
Our French waiter took our wine and food orders without writing them down. He returned a minute later to ask again for one of our mains which he had forgotten because of the wine. The wine waiter attends and presents with a flourish the wrong bottle of wine. We confirm again the correct wine, served in very good glassware.
Throughout the night, constant requests to pour more wine are necessary. After the first glass is poured, no water is offered or poured spontaneously for the night, except as we settle the account. Let me write that the cost of wine is breath-taking. For one who eats out a great deal and enjoys wine, the mark ups are prohibitive, with little under $100 of any value.
My wife’s charcuterie platter arrives with three small quenelles of house rillette – chicken, duck and pork and one quenelle of house pate, a small cube of house terrine, a slice of prosciutto, three slices of sausage, a dab of commercial Dijon, three cornichons and some leaves. An extra piece of baguette offered previously was put on the bread dish. No explanation of what is on the plate is given.
The promised andouillette is absent. We point this out to the waiter. We expect a regal example of the great French tripe sausage, but are given two small nondescript slices (an extra one for the mistake, we are told). In fact, all the portions on the plate could be described as nondescript, lacking much in delineation of flavour or texture. Disappointing. Her duck confit was moist, accompanied by creamy potato mash and root vegetables. I think $38 is stiff for one duck thigh.
My veal sweetmeats were far too chewy, though generous of portion. They came with a rich daube with a variety of wild mushrooms, though the offal had not taken up any of the flavour in the cooking. I looked forward to the steak tartare. Praised in many circles as one of the best around and a true mark of any French brasserie. Very disappointing, with far too much filler and far too little meat, with little flavour. The accompanying salad of microherbs was excellent.
As was the open soufflé. A remarkable dessert, and the only reason I would return to this over-hyped café. The best French bistro in Melbourne? Absolute rubbish.
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merlot -
See my reviews 88 , 16 November 2008
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| Overall |
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Recommended |
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Food 9 |
Ambience 9 |
Service 2 |
Value 3 |
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We had a business lunch here and the food, service, ambience etc lived up to expectations. Until we'd finished the main course and it was cleared.
From that point the service disappeared, the floor staff were rarely seen and we finally had to ask for menus for dessert. We finished dessert by about 3:00 and when we asked for something to drink to finish off the afternoon were quite pointedly told that they closed between lunch and dinner. We had no choice but to leave feeling quite uncomfortable. The various business colleagues agreed it's not a restaurant to be recommended above the food and we won't be returning to.
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Dobson73 -
See my reviews 2, 23 September 2008
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| Overall |
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Average |
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Food 5 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 7 |
Value 1 |
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I don’t know why there are only drinks but not food rating available for this particular restaurant. I understand they have a Bar section but I accessed this via the restaurant links so they need to correct this. So I gave it 5 out of 10 for drinks but when it should be food.
Agree with previous poster. My god, I was disappointed with their food. I cannot believe how much it was raved on about by The Age editors, who I believed visited during lunch time(s)? I visited during dinner time.
The food was nowhere near what it could have been. Never mind the ambience or service, which are pretty good. For the price they charge here, the food ought to be way better.
Had scallops with cauliflower veloute with reduced Veal stock. Its nothing special, as I could cook it myself very slightly better for way less money. But the price for a few pieces of this Fruit of the Sea? I would rather pay the same for a Wagyu burger at the Rockpool & Grill Bar section, which is comparable in price.
Duck confit with brussels sprouts. Okay, this is about the only part I agree with The Age. It tastes fantastic, especially its accompaniment. However, it is not hard to get a salted Duck confit wrong. The biggest problem? The dish costs $34 dollars and you get ONLY and get this part right, ONLY 1 duck leg. And it wasn’t even big. If you order duck confit from Bistro Vue, at least u get a few pieces of breast meat. Or France Soir or Aux Batoilles, you get the whole leg and the whole breast. For $34, it was like an entree size dish or even smaller. I would pay $24 for it, but not $34 for 1 duck leg, trying to be disguised and passed off as a main course dish. I could eat 4 of them.
The Bershire pork cutlet, which is similar to Kurobuta Pork. This is honestly rubbish. Shoya Japanese and Oyster on Little Bourke cooks the same pork way better. Here, it is dry (even if cooked medium-well only, not well done), the skin crackle is thick and not crackly, and the juice is about the only good part. But the pork is so dry; I wonder if they even know how to cook.
Veal sweetbread. Hmmmm. Ok. Sweetbread isn’t usually cooked all the way to well done. But it’s a 'gland', so if they insist, after my complaint, that under-cooking to the point its bleeding is good, then they seriously need to reveal it. It was tough and chewy, not to mention had blood taste. They did not believe my complaint, and insisted they were right as if I as a customer am not allowed to complain. So if they TRUST their own cooking so well, then why was the supposedly marbled with fat Berkshire Pork on the same night, so unbelievably tough and not near edible quality? If that was a normal piece of pork, I have no doubts it wouldn't even be chewable. In that sense I should be critical of their service, but otherwise the service was okay. They just need to learn how to cook to perfection.
All of my friends who visited there could not believe how bad the food is. Bistro Vue and France Soir are way better when it comes to bistro food, at least the food isn’t as cold when it comes out, plus the dishes are bigger, for the same prices.
Bistro Vue is way better than this, by the order of 3-4 folds, and having said that, I didn’t even think Bistro Vue is top stuff because, a Bistro shouldn’t be top food right? But at least get the basic cooking done right, or the portion right. Even Nobu has bigger dishes than this.
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Iruka -
See my reviews 86, 26 August 2008
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| Overall |
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Below Average |
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Food 6 |
Ambience 3 |
Service 6 |
Value 2 |
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Had better meals in a pub... don't bother with this restaurant - food is just ok but not worth anything near what was charged (I was taken as a guest and I was still annoyed at the price), decor and ambience were ordinary at best. Avoid!!!
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muebergang -
See my reviews 2, 25 May 2008
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 comments
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