L’etoile Restaurant & Bar

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  6     

Great location, and gets a good vibe. Some energy and noise, but still a nice feel. Can get a bit crowded, and this impacts on service as the staff are a little over-run. Wine prices get a little crazy, but the selection is considerable. The menu is solid as is the quality and presentation. None of our dishes were defective in any way, and some aspects were outstanding. Overall, for the price there, perhaps, needs to be a little something extra, not brilliant, but a pleasant experience nonetheless.

Sep 18, 2009 

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

The old local space is as lovely as ever. Capricious but chirpy service. Lovely food let down by a bouillabaisse that was light on flavour, saffron and seafood, but pleasant enough. Beef was tepid in centre. We'll come back for another try, in summer perhaps.

Sep 16, 2009 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

What a pleasure. Our meals were cooked to perfection, we felt welcomed by all staff including Manu himself. The atmosphere was perfect. What really stood out was the friendly staff, and also that Manu came out to have a chat to diners, he seems so humble by his achievements and I can't wait to go back.

Sep 12, 2009 

5.8 Average

Food  5      Ambience  8      Service  5      Value  5     

Visit the restaurant two weeks ago. We were looking for french cuisine in our area. Using eatability recommendations, out of top ten restaurants we choose this one. Call to book a table, left message and 10 minutes latter we had call back. Nice work. Made a booking for four people. Almost full on wednesday night. Great wine list. Some good french white wines.

Service slow. Too busy and not many floor staff. For every single order we were looking for a waiter. Had to request for table water, site plates for bread and butter, new bottle of wine, dessert menu, etc. Choice of four entree and four mains. Snails, average and no taste, just lof of anize, salad and duck livers, great, bacon crispy and livers fresh and tender, fishermans soup, average.

For main, fish, salmon had extensive amount of almonds, overloaded, 3 fillets per portion, one of them hidden in the middle, dark black, skin was burned and bitter. We had ask for remake. The other fish was excellent, opposite of what we had
butchers cut, meat dish with rockford cheese sauce. Not great, I don't recommend.
Deeserts, ok, the strawberry mousse best out of the four.

Dinner for four $480. I was expecting much more for the prices and the reputation among the dinners. Must say it was disappointing. Not coming back. Only french in that restaurant was the waitress and the wine.

Sep 10, 2009 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

Terrific food, friendly service.

Sep 10, 2009 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Lovely. Very attentive waiters who really made you feel welcome. Not as expensive as you would expect. Left a very big tip. Definitely recommend.

Sep 07, 2009 

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

The restaurant itself is nicely laid out and has a good balance of being intimate yet busy. We were seated in the back section and the heaters provided more than adequate heat. First thoughts on the menu were that it was going to be difficult to decide. Everything looked good. Eventually I had oysters which were on special for the night. My wife had the much publicised scallop sausage. Both were excellent.

For the main course I chose the beef in Roquefort sauce, my wife had the duck. Both were somewhat disappointing. My beef was undercooked from my order, though the sauce was excellent. Also it was a poor cut despite the claim of it being grade 6 wagyu. The duck was perfectly cooked but in desperate need of a good sauce. We were full enough to not worry with the desserts.

Service through the night was adequate. We were given the wrong cutlery and the two waiters in our section did not seem to know what the other one was doing. We were asked the same questions more than once about our order, drinks, etc.
Value was ok but I did feel a bit short changed.

Overall the restaurant just needs to tighten up a little bit. I had a nice dinner yet came away feeling a bit underwhelmed by the whole experience. Maybe my expectations were too high, especially having eaten at Manu’s previous establishment where we had an excellent meal. I wouldn’t write it off completely but there are better quality restaurants out there aiming at the same market and I will go to those before I come back here.

Aug 10, 2009 

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

This is the kind of food that's a pleasure to eat. We had a nice dining experience at this restaurant. We were seated outside though the inside looked much more inviting in the cold weather. However, the heaters kept us warm. The wines and cocktails were both good. The scallop sausage was just to die for! It was perfect melt in your mouth sausage with a beautiful sauce. I had the beef, however, I thought the salmon and the duck mains that my friends ordered were tastier.

The desserts were beautiful too. We had the creme brulee and the chocolate mousse. Both winners. Service is attentive but the food did take a while to arrive. But with such amazing tasting dishes, it was certainly worth the wait. Have recommended this to many people since and they have all enjoyed this restaurant. Well done L'etoile!

Aug 03, 2009 

4 Below Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  2      Value  3     

We went to this restaurant with high expectations. As soon as we walked in there was a buzz of waiters, all seemed very stressed and not attentive. We were set down in the back courtyard under cover with 3 heaters blaring away. The table was too close to the bench seat, so in pulling it away, the leg fell off, no waiter to be seen. The aperitif I ordered was not carried, and no alternative was offered. No bread was offered, we had to ask.

Wine service was ok. Once ordering, the soufflé was fantastic, thanks Manu. The Boeuf a la Boucher was tasty but too tough for this kind of selection, The Confit de Canard was ok but not brilliant. Service was all over the place. Selections were not remembered, positions were not remembered, plates were handed across tables, and the standard of dress was not consistent. However, the price was high, and my expectations were not met, not going back.

Jul 28, 2009 

9.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

My new favourite restaurant. Exquisite food, sincere unaffected service, charming and quietly buzzy atmosphere. Every mouthful a divine experience, capped off by the most unbelievably delicious apple tart tartin around and a smiling farewell at the door when we left. It's a pleasure to dine somewhere the waitstaff seem genuinely happy. Eat here - don't delay!

Jul 25, 2009