Bistro Bruno

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  9     

This is my first Eatability review, and I really felt driven to write it because of what was a fantastic experience at Bistro Bruno.

Full marks overall, but can I focus on one dish? The tiger prawns in garlic broth was one of the best dishes I have ever tasted. Service was attentive, other dishes very good, children happy. What more can I say?

This is an outstanding restaurant that punches well above its weight in food, service and value.

Response from Management:
Dear innerwestdiner,

I am genuinely chuffed that your first Eatability review came as a result of a very positive experience at Bistro Bruno. I am also a fan of that prawn dish. All that garlicky goodness.

Thanks for taking the time to post a few words about our restaurant and we hope to see you again in the near future.

Regards,

Erez
Owner

May 14, 2012 

6.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

Tucked away in a Balmain side street this is a setting of traditional Victorian restaurant ambience. White tablecloths, warm welcome.

We perused the menu for some time. The ingredient combinations didn't really make the taste buds tingle. It was a struggle. The menu is not available on their web site. If it had been I think we may have made a different selection of restaurant.

We finally settled on the pate entree to share followed by the sirloin and the rack of lamb. The hand cut chips and green beans were extras. Nothing exciting as the menu options frankly just didn't grab us.

A couple of bread slices arrived, sans olive oil or balsamic vinegar. One side was not freshly sliced and was completely dried out. Why do restaurants do this?

The pate was excellent. The sirloin and the lamb were cooked to perfection. Seared on the outside, pink as required inside. Terrific. The eggplant mash that supported the lamb rack didn't add value and was a distraction. The hand cut chips were perfectly cooked, but limp and on the temperature side of just warm. Not sure if this is as designed but if you are expecting crunchy hot chips you will be disappointed.

The cheesecake was delicious. Service was attentive and unobtrusive. There is clearly skill in the kitchen, and the meat was fantastic, but we felt the menu was trying to be too clever with combinations that just didn't work together for us anyway.

Response from Management:
Dear sioseeker,

You are a CH erished guest if you provide constructive feedback and I am always grateful to hear the opinions of our guests.

I am most pleased you found our food to be "excellent", "cooked to perfection" and "delicious" although I am disappointed you found fault with some of our ingredient combinations. Our menu is, we feel, made mostly of classic Bistro dishes and ingredients but I have discussed your comments with the chef and, like all feedback, we will take it into account.

Our menu & wine list change often and if you consider visiting again you will find a current version of both available on our website where they are updated in real time and have been since we opened.

Finally, it is our choice to serve butter with our bread but always have excellent olive oil on hand for those who request it.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your experience on Eatability and we hope to see you in the restaurant again in the future.

Regards
Erez Gordon
Owner

May 09, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

My friend and I went to this restaurant on a Friday night and absolutely loved it! Bistro Bruno is like a gem of a restaurant nestled away in the suburb of Balmain. The food was delicious, my favourite was the seared tiger prawns and octopus in garlic and parsley broth..Yum! Great ambience and the staff and service were fantastic! Had a great night! Would definitely go there again!

Response from Management:
Dear Keshendree,

Thank you very much for your kind and generous words regarding your dinner at Bistro Bruno. I note this is your first Eatability review and I'm pleased you enjoyed your experience enough to share your thoughts with the online community.

I hope to see you in the restaurant again soon,

regards,

Erez

Apr 24, 2012 

5.3 Average

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  6      Value  2     

We went on a Friday night 4 guys and 4 girls with 2 children in tow. On arrival, my friend asked if a children's menu was available and there were two choices, fish and chips or pasta. That's fine but being charged $30 per meal was truly shocking considering an adult main ranged between $30-$38.

The women at the table were still hungry after eating the "tasting menu" all 5 courses. Considering the competition in Sydney, this is not acceptable to walk away feeling hungry after paying $70.

Response from Management:
Dear Vespa,

Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback about your dining experience with us. I appreciate the effort you have gone to. Honest responses such as yours enable us to continually improve our product and service.

I am sorry you felt that aspects of your meal were not of value for you. We work hard at providing high quality food and service for all our guests and are always concerned if our guests do not feel we have succeeded.

I will discuss your comments with the chef and we will work to rectify any issues.

In your comments you only discuss pricing and volume so I trust the quality of the food was to your satisfaction.

Once again thank you for your feedback and I hope we may see you in our restaurant again in the future.

Yours gratefully,

Erez Gordon
Owner

Apr 04, 2012 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  10     

Very good food, nice and friendly staff, made my wife's birthday lunch a memorable one! Worth the extra trip from the city!

Response from Management:
Dear Michael,

Thank you for the endorsement and thank you for choosing to dine at Bistro bruno to celebrate your wife's birthday.

Regards,

Erez
Owner

Mar 16, 2012 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  10     

If you don’t live in Balmain Bistro Bruno is certainly worth travelling to.
Food, wine and service to please the customer. Relaxed, sophisticated and interesting, everything is just right! I left feeling thoroughly satisfied with my experience.

Response from Management:
Dear MCMLVI, 



Thank you for your generous words on eatability. 
We are truly pleased you found our restaurant and dining experience as satisfying as you did and furthermore that you took the time to tell others about it. 
We look forward to seeing you in the restaurant again soon. 



Kind regards, 


Erez 

Owner

Mar 11, 2012 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

We went to Bistro Bruno after a couple of years for my birthday this week. The food was delicious and plentiful, I would have loved dessert but couldn't after an entree of pipis and chorizo linguine then poussin. Great experience, waiters were very friendly and attentive and did not object to BYO - Policy is on website to avoid any confusion. We will definitely be back.

Response from Management:
Hi jk653,

Thanks for dining with us recently. And thank you also for sharing your thoughts on eatability. We're a little disappointed you didn't get a chance to try our desserts but perhaps you will the next time you join us for dinner.

Thank you also for understanding about our BYO policy.

Kind regards,
Erez
Owner

Mar 08, 2012 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

Highly recommended! We went for the first time just after valentines day based on a recommendation from a friend. We really enjoyed our evening, the restaurant feels intimate although it has the capacity for alot of people, the staff were fantastic, very attentive and always filling up water glasses.

For entree we had the oysters (special for the day) and pork belly which was moist and crisp on top. Mains were the poussin and confit of duck, both which were lovely and rich and delicious. Our favourite part was the hand-cut chips though, more like roast potatoes to die for! Somehow managed to share the cheesecake for dessert and roll ourselves outside. I thought for the quality of the food and service it is very reasonably priced and we will definitely return.

Response from Management:
Dear karen_k76,

Thanks very much for your kind words. Those hand cut chips are certainly popular judging by the number of tables which order them. I'm pleased you enjoyed them and the rest of your dishes.

I will pass your comments along to the staff and kitchen and look forward to seeing you again in the restaurant soon.

Cheers,
Erez
Owner

Mar 03, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Great atmosphere and friendly, professional staff. We thoroughly enjoyed our linguine with pippis and chorizo, as well as our caprese salad for entrees.

The rack of lamb main was very good, but was far surpassed by the 400g Angus rib eye fillet, which was one of the juiciest steaks I've enjoyed dining out. Highly recommended.

Response from Management:
Hi Stripeycat, 



Thank you very much for your recommendation. I'm pleased you enjoyed your evening with us and in particular your steak. The choice of multiple steak cuts is a new addition to our menu and we look forward to always having a great selection of meats for our guests. Hoping to see you in the dining room again soon. 



Regards, 


Erez Gordon 

Owner

Feb 28, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  10     

Had dinner here on a Saturday and we really enjoyed the cured king salmon for starters.

The mains was very nice as well. We ordered the beef tenderloin and the suzuki mulloway fillet. The beef was cooked nicely, it was tender and tasty, the fish was a bit bland, however, and, unfortunately, we found a fish scale. Guess that can't be avoided, it didn't spoil our night anyway.

For dessert we had the white chocolate cheesecake. This was the highlight of the night. It's definitely worth trying, as it's not the traditional cheesecake you'd expect.

The service here was very good, staff were very attentive and always made sure our water glasses were full. We'll definitely come back and try the other dishes.

Response from Management:
Dear hungrybug, 



Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on your Bistro Bruno experience. I'm pleased you enjoyed the majority of your dishes and found our service worthy of comment but I am sorry you found the Suzuki Mulloway bland. I have brought your comments to the attention of the chef. We look forward to having you in the restaurant again soon, perhaps to try our new "beefed up" menu. 



Kind regards, 


Erez Owner

Feb 14, 2012