L’etoile Restaurant & Bar

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

What a great night we had. The service was lovely with our french waitress and the food was great. I had two of the best entrees I have ordered for a long time, the scallop sausage and the rabbit terrine. Yum! will definitely be back to sample those again.

Dec 05, 2009 

3 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  3      Service  3      Value  3     

With Manu Feildel my favorite chef on ready steady cook and french being one of my favorite styles of cooking I was very disappointed with the whole experence of his new restaurant.

It start with us turning up to find out that they had lost our booking. Then having our table of two about 5 cms away from the two table next two us. Very romantic not and I thought everything french was meant to be romantic. Not this place. The menu was very small and unexciting. Surprise surprise the food was just as boring when it came out. I've been to much better byo's that charge far less. Will not be back.

Dec 01, 2009 

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

What a nice change to be able to book a Sydney restaurant and not be told to pick the early or late sitting. The service was very friendly and the food excellent. The scallop sausage is really interesting and we loved it. For mains we both had the Boeuf du Bouche...mmmmmmm! Cooked to perfection. We'll definitely be back because the food is great and the staff know how to make you feel welcome.

Nov 30, 2009 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  8     

Visited this restaurant last night and overall had a very satisfying night. I would recommend the scallop sausage and the kingfish with beans. The other courses me and my partner had were ok but nothing fantastic. Great service, its actually been a while since I've left a decent tip but this place definitely deserved it!

Nov 23, 2009 

5 Average

Food  3      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  4     

I visited the restaurant during the recent International Food festival. They had a menu on offer, which proved to be a piece of steamed fish in papillotte, and, well that was it! A coffee and a glass of wine was offered. How the hell can you call that a menu, when any one who has ever been to France knows that the french take their lunch and dinner menus very seriously indeed!

At least three courses, and never an unaccompanied piece of fish or meat should be in a menu, otherwise its a rip off. I find this trend to serve the minimum possible as a very unfortunate and stingy trend in Sydney restaurants.

Nov 16, 2009 

6.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  5      Value  5     

A visit to L’étoile last night left my girlfriend and I pleased but not overly impressed. First of all the service was quite slow, we had to wait ten minutes before getting menus and another ten before we ordered drinks. The wait for our mains tested our patience and came very close of just being too long.

Our first bottle of wine finished, the waiter simply removed our glasses and being thirsty types we were not particularly happy! Overall and despite the friendly enough staff the service was mediocre. The food itself was good, the terrine de lapin et foie gras enjoyable and the boudin de st Jacques quite amazing. The sauce and accompaniment of the boeuf du boucher sauce Roquefort were excellent but the cut was on the tough side. The cote de porc was also good and working well with the cider and fennel combination.

The creme caramel we shared for dessert could have been creamier and the cognac glasses were not warmed enough. The atmosphere was agreeable and unlike many restaurants in Sydney we were able to talk without using megaphones. The wine list had a fine selection and we particularly enjoyed the Ferraton Crozes-Hermitage.

Finally the giant dollar sign ring worn by our French waiter would have looked better on Snoop Dog but if was a good subject of conversation YO! Would we go back there? Probably not, Tastevin’s outstanding service and Tabou’s authentic Parisian feel (we still need to check it under its new management) are topping our list.

Nov 11, 2009 

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

Visted L'etoile last night with my husband. We hardly get out anymore as we have a 2-year old so were really looking forward to trying L'etoile after all the positive reviews.

I started off with the scallop sausage, which was absolutely divine, and my husband had the rabbit terrine which was lovely although not as noteworthy as the sausage. We followed these with the lamb shank and pork fillet. The lamb was very tender and fell off the bone, although I didn't think the sauce complemented it very well. The pork was a hit with my husband.

We managed to leave enough room for desserts and so had the Creme Brulee and Pear Tarte Tatin. Both were underwhelming, the Brulee just didn't seem creamy enough and the Tarte Tatin came out overdone (nearly burnt). Very disappointing after you would expect an establishment such as L'etoile to excel in this area!

If you do visit L'etoile, go there for the service, which we found second to none. Our glasses were constantly full, waiters were attentive and friendly although saying this, it was hard to get their attention once the restaurant was full later in the night. Overall a nice experience but food was a bit disappointing.

Oct 02, 2009 

6.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  7     

We discovered this place by accident and were able to nab their only table. Unfortunately, it was by the kitchen door which soured ambience a little and I thought a few less seats would also improve things.

The service at first was excellent but began to go down hill rapidly as the place got busier. Again a few less seats would improve things dramatically! The staff appear to try hard and are certainly pleasant enough but are simply swamped once the place is full.

I'm at a loss to the complaints about value in some of the other reviews as my bill came in considerable lower than I expected. $135 for 2 courses and drinks for 2 is perfectly reasonable (if you want $50 a head stick to Thai people!) and for the person complaining about the price of the Pinot Noir. You do realise NZ Pinot starts at around $40 a bottle from a Bottle store don't you? How can you be surprised at $120 for an above average bottle in a restaurant?

The food was above average without being exceptional. I began with the Hare and foi grais terrine. This was easily the highlight of my night and had my main matched this for quality, my rating would be much higher. The dish brought back fond memories of Paris and I would highly recommend it. I followed this with the Beouf a la Boucher which was slightly over cooked for my taste, however, the sauce was flavoursome without overpowering the meat.

My partner had the white asparagus as a starter, which was prepared to perfection followed by the Kingfish which was again ever so slightly over done. Overall a satisfying and pleasant meal well worthy of its Chiefs hat rating. I will most likely return.

Sep 26, 2009 

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  6     

I went to this restaurant recently on a Saturday night. It looks great from the outside and the decor and setting have really welcoming feel. We were led to a courtyard table out the back but, unfortunately, on side of the table had a wooden bench instead of seats. It was uncomfortable and difficult to get on and off with three people sharing it. I expect chairs at a one hat restaurant.

Overall the service was friendly although our waiter didn't have too much knowledge about the wine list and couldn't really provide me with a convincing overview of two wines I was interested in. One thing I've notice in Sydney restaurants lately is that the wine mark-ups seem to be increasing significantly. I suppose restaurants have to make money somehow and putting a big mark-up on a relatively obscure or imported wine is the easiest way, because the average diner has no idea how much the wine is actually worth.

However when you're paying $80 a bottle, you expect a reasonable level of quality, and the wines we had seemed fairly average for the price. The list is more limited than I would have expected also. The food was acceptable, but I expected better-maybe too much media publicity for the chef/owner recently, heightened my expectations!

Sep 24, 2009 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

I loved my experience at L'etoile. We booked a table of 4 a couple of weeks ago. We don't live close by and travelled an hour by car to get here so I was hoping it would all be worth it. The waitstaff were very nice and a pleasure to speak to. I loved all my 3 courses. Especially the goats cheese salad. My husband didn't like the bacon flavour thru the beans from his duck (as he doesn't eat pork), but other than that everything else was great!

The prices are good too, so I'm sure we will be back one day soon I hope. Manu made me feel very welcome. I will look back on this experience with fond memories. Thankyou to everyone at L'etoile for a great night.

Sep 18, 2009