|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Awards
|
2007 |
|
SMH Good Food Guide 2007 - Editor's Picks - Favourite Bistro |
| |
2007 |
|
SMH Good Food Guide 2007 - One Chef's Hat |
|
Related Editorial Content
|
| |
User Reviews on Bistrode
|
| |
|
Displaying 1 - 10 of 41 comments
|
| |
|
Page:
1
2
3
4
5
Next
|
|
| |
|
|
| Overall |
  
|
Recommended |
 |
Food 7 |
Ambience 6 |
Service 7 |
Value 7 |
|
|
My partner in crime loves this place because of all the offal - pig's head terrine, veal tongue and lentils and dishes like the roast hare for two with red cabbage. If he was writing this review the score for food would be much higher. But he's not I am!
The seafood dishes don't have the same sort of love put into them. Except for a lovely starter of calamari with a tomato salad. The side dishes are very plain. Wine list is great, if on the expensive side. Lots of aged wine which is great to see.
The room is a little cheerless no matter what they to do to it. Service was very competent but not warm. Our table had a lot of fun despite the atmosphere (no music at all, even when the tables dwindled down to about 3).
Desserts are always great, we had a sublime chocolate fondant pudding with a milk and mint sorbet. Heaven. So good to end on a high note. For me this restaurant is a hit and miss affair. We do go back but it's a while between visits.
|
| |
|
Was this review helpful?
|
|
| |
todi -
See my reviews 18 , 22 August 2008
|
Manage this Listing to respond
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Overall |
|
Recommended |
|
Food 8 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 7 |
Value 8 |
|
|
This one is a hidden gem. It is a great experience for any lover of fine food and wine. The restaurant is simple, neat and tidy as befits a place where the focus is on food and wine. Our meals were cooked to perfection with strong emphasis on flavour and friendly presentation. Terrine and eel entrees were a joy and the mains of calf's liver and Waygu corned beef came from a kitchen where the chef really knows his business.
Service was sound and the server certainly had a good knowledge of the wide range of lesser known wines presented. We enjoyed a Lake George Pinot Noir and Grappa that were excellent, all on the server's recommendation. If you are looking for a place where the wine and food are the establishment's focus and the chef really knows his business this is the one for you.
|
| |
|
Was this review helpful?
|
|
| |
|
jbburro -
See my reviews 18, 06 July 2008
|
Manage this Listing to respond
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Overall |
|
Average |
|
Food 7 |
Ambience 1 |
Service 6 |
Value 6 |
|
|
Dined as a group of 4 at the late session (8:00 pm) on Saturday night. The ambience is purely functional with no soft furnishings or other decor to distract diners. Partly due to several loud (uncouth) tables, magnified by the hard surfaces, it was not possible to have a conversation among our group without leaning across and speaking more loudly than normal. If not in company, we would have left before ordering.
The service is cool and professional, rather than warm and friendly, with courses arriving fairly quickly and glasses filled as needed. The meals were as described in the menu and presented simply without artifice. Flavours were clear and we all enjoyed our choices without finding anything to make us sing praise. I thought the wine prices rather high margin when no BYO option is offered. More a location for a casual lunch than a fine dining experience for mine. Unlikely to return.
|
| |
|
Was this review helpful?
|
|
| |
|
margaux9 -
See my reviews 5, 09 March 2008
|
Manage this Listing to respond
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Overall |
|
Recommended |
|
Food 7 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 9 |
Value 8 |
|
|
Charming.
Went for Valentines Day and the service was fantastic. The food was reserved, however, each dish contained a highlight. It was a set menu so, unfortunately, was unable to see the wider menu. Not budget, but certainly worth the expense.
|
| |
|
Was this review helpful?
|
|
| |
|
judastraveller -
See my reviews 4, 18 February 2008
|
Manage this Listing to respond
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Overall |
|
Average |
|
Food 3 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 8 |
Value 4 |
|
|
Firstly it's important to say this was a Valentine's Day 'special so a fixed menu was the order of the day. I hear love can make you blind which I think the kitchen staff were hoping as you wouldn’t want to see the tosh we were served tonight.
We got there on time and were dutifully given a table all good so far. The bread arrives minus the butter (present on all other tables except ours). I asked and it arrived after briefly being forgotten for a few minutes. It was stone cold great I love sawing through butter and 'pressing' it into my bread.
God I'd love a drink. I've been given an expensive wine menu would be good to order something off it. Eventually after thumbing through it during entree AND starter I was finally asked if I'd possibly like to order our wine. The wine arrived. It was amazing; a great selection, lovely and things are looking up.
The 1st course arrives. Cold, rare quail (my description here was not was what listed on the menu mind). Back to square one. Marinated in what tasted like a lovely light citrus dressing can technically 'cook' a meat. But a real hot pan frying/ grilling I've found can do a slightly better job something me and the kitchen staff obviously disagrees with.
Let me take you back to my high school economics class. Mrs Peach says in a stern but advisory manner don't ever, and I mean 'ever' UNDER COOK two types of meat. Foal and Pork. Why I ask? Because who ever eats it might be become very ill and 'really' get to know the intricate patterns of their bathroom tiles for at least 12 hours. Ok advice taken, let’s move forward.
2nd course, now this is better and it was. Zucchini flower lightly battered with a very good selection of blue eye fish - nice. 3rd course was beef. Not sure which type of cut. In a restaurant asking for the best part of $300 for 3 courses I'd 'expect' a good cut. Not Bistrode - "hey these customers are high on love tonight so let’s serve them rump of silver side or something". It was chewy, cold and undercooked (like the quail so at least they're consistent) with an extra serving of gristle. But I'm high on love (and the good red wine) so I plough on to dessert.
So we've made it to dessert which like the 2nd course was lovely and something you would expect from this level of restaurant. The rest well I'm a 'glass half full' kinda guy (well not tonight I drank my wine quickly to wash down the under cooked food!) so I will try it once during a normal menu and let you know the results.
Mr and Mrs Bistode please take note that I’m normally pretty nice but given the price and the 'really bad' food I felt had to write this 1 hour and 30 minutes after leaving. I hope you take note for the 14th Feb 2009.
|
| |
|
Was this review helpful?
|
|
| |
|
bluejam00 -
See my reviews 5, 14 February 2008
|
Manage this Listing to respond
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Overall |
|
Average |
|
Food 8 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 3 |
Value 3 |
|
|
Went to Bistrode late last Saturday night. Got a booking for 8.30 pm which was all that was available which was a bit of a mistake in hindsight. The food was lovely. I had the smoked eel and bacon for entree and corned beef for main, my partner had the onion tart followed by the steak and we shared the honey tart for dessert, all very delicious.
The main problem with the evening is we felt we were getting rushed out the door the minute we sat down. The entrees were served about 2 minutes after they were ordered and there was only about 3 minutes in between the entree and the main being served. So much for leisurely enjoying our meal! We were planning on having a bottle of white with our entree and then ordering a bottle of red for our main but even though we are seasoned drinkers, we still couldn't match the cracking pace the waiter and kitchen were setting for us.
When it came time for dessert, there was no offer of coffees etc, just a menu handed out. The waiter was pleasant enough when speaking but the service lacked a warmth that I think is needed in a cosy, intimate setting like Bistrode. If the staff are worried about working late, perhaps, they shouldn't accept bookings so late. Also the owners missed out on the extra cashola we would have spent, had we not been given the bums rush as soon as we sat down.
Especially disappointing as we had gone there for our 5th anniversary and were hoping for a lovely night out. If only I had read some of the reviews beforehand, we wouldn't have bothered as service is still quite strange and for what we paid, really deserved something a lot better. In short, great food, poor service!
|
| |
|
Was this review helpful?
|
|
| |
|
Fez70 -
See my reviews 1, 21 January 2008
|
Manage this Listing to respond
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Overall |
|
Recommended |
|
Food 7 |
Ambience 7 |
Service 5 |
Value 6 |
|
|
Went to this place on a Friday night and although a little late, was accommodated for quite nicely. Service was attentive that night, however, was a little put off by the waiter's method of service. He'd reach across in between people without first excusing himself, he'd whip up wine glasses off the table without notice. I found it a little odd, but would best describe it as uncourteous. However, when I passed him in the hallway, he'd step aside to let me through which I thought was nice, so I got a little bit of a mixed message.
I wouldn't say the service was either good or bad, just, odd. The food was good, if a little small in portion for the price, but somewhat understandable that the Strodes have quite limited room in the restaurant and have little turnover. There was a mistaken order but the service staff were kind about it and offered to make it the next order. Given it was the restaurant's mistake, it would have been nice to offer something quick in the meantime but I couldn't fault the staff for being nice about the mistake.
I did have a minor gripe about the wine though, the Pinot was served a little warmer than I'd have expected, but after letting it cool down a bit and after it opened, was fine to drink. Perhaps, a little out of character for a Marlborough Pinot though, the spicy character reminded me of some quick-ripening picking more associated with the hunter. Overall a good night with good food and only marred by the odd service. The menu's also a little short of choices meaning that my next visit will need to wait a while.
|
| |
|
Was this review helpful?
|
|
| |
|
electricblue -
See my reviews 2, 14 January 2008
|
Manage this Listing to respond
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Overall |
|
Average |
|
Food 6 |
Ambience 5 |
Service 5 |
Value 4 |
|
|
Went to Bistrode on a Saturday which in hindsight may have been a mistake...I thought it was strange that a one hat restaurant doesn't have a Champagne (ie French sparkling) by the glass. Anyway by time I even got to ask that question we'd been there 10 mins, with no service to be seen.
We were seated in the back room and there was literally ten minutes at the start of the evening with no waiter in sight. So eventually we ordered some gin and tonics to start, which were forgotten on our bill at the end of the night. My girlfriend ordered a chilled avocado soup with prawns. The dish was one of the worst I've tasted this year, completely lacking everything from taste to texture. The other dishes were very good, including a duck salad for main.
The service was really, really poor, although our waiter seemed frienldy enough. I'm going to give it another chance becuase every restaurant has bad nights.
|
| |
|
Was this review helpful?
|
|
| |
|
brunelleschi -
See my reviews 16, 20 December 2007
|
Manage this Listing to respond
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Overall |
|
Average |
|
Food 6 |
Ambience 5 |
Service 7 |
Value 5 |
|
|
|
We arrived without a reservation and were looked after as though we had one! The food was safe, however, I did feel that it was prepared beautifully (maybe slightly small portion wise). The service was of a high standard. I will give it another go and report back.
|
| |
|
Was this review helpful?
|
|
| |
|
changelling -
See my reviews 2, 12 December 2007
|
Manage this Listing to respond
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Overall |
|
Recommended |
|
Food 8 |
Ambience 8 |
Service 9 |
Value 8 |
|
|
This restaurant gets a GONG in my book ! The wait staff were charming, hospitable and knew their product - we were a touch early for our booking, they, nonetheless welcomed us warmly.
For starters we had the smoked eel with cabbage and bacon and a soup, For mains we had veal liver, trout 'special' and the smoked cod and trout pie - delicious - almost wanted to lick the dish clean ! Desserts consisted of Welsh Rarebit (yes dessert !), honey tart and rhubarb savarin - yumm.
The wines are reasonably priced for what they are and where they come from - there's something for all budgets, by the bottle and by the glass - the wait staff profer great suggestions to match the meals if requested. Jane and Jeremy are the true professionals I want to find in the restaurant trade.
In my opinion, this restaurant is every bit deserving of the Editor's Picks from the SMH Good Food Guide 2007. If I absolutely had to find a 'fault' with Bistrode - it would be the mighty uncomfortable chairs . . . . meanwhile I can't wait to return.
|
| |
|
Was this review helpful?
|
|
| |
|
Eatstreet -
See my reviews 23 |
Special OffersRegisterTell a FriendAdvertiseRestaurateursLogin
Hi, Anonymous
Favourites
Map
Weather
Tell Friends
Print
Add to your list
