Fresh User Reviews for Bistro/Brasserie in Sydney

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  9     

Ate early at 6:30pm, we came for the Wednesday special, mussels cooked in a variety of way for three. The servings of mussels were enjoyed by the three of us and consumed with gusto. Our fourth member enjoyed a tender steak. Before and as we ate we all enjoyed the fine beers on tap!

The atmosphere is excellent and even though the restaurant area was next to the bar the noise level was acceptable and a good conversation was able to be conducted over the meal.

For visitors to Sydney, easy access to this area is possible by the bus system.

May 31, 2012

4.4 Below Average

Food  1      Drinks  7      Ambience  7      Service  6      Value  1     

The refurb really opens this pub up, the indoor areas are many and comfy compared to the previous options. Pity the food has got worse, yet more pricey. $26 for a curry is way pricier than the thai or indian restaurants nearby. $18 for a soup? Go there for a drink before or after your meal elsewhere.

May 30, 2012

9.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  10     

The food here is made with care and attention and our taste buds loved every mouthful. The menu is modern, but also everything you'd expect from a classic dining experience. Carole and the team made us feel like members of her family. The service was casual, friendly and laid back and the atmosphere relaxed. As Molly would say: "do yourself a favour..."

May 29, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  7     

Great breakfast. High quality ingredients. Bacon ang eggs cooked perfectly.
Coffee great. Friendly, attentive nice staff. They like our poodle also which is a plus. Highly recommended.

May 29, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  7     

Great food as you would expect. Good service as you would expect. Nice ambience. Even the occasional famous face would appear. A very enjoyable night out.

The only thing I would say that I found awkward was eating in the dark outside. Just a tad more light please so I can see what I'm eating. Highly recommend the dessert even if you can't fit it in. They even do a good, satisfying pot of loose leaf tea, a mark of a good all around restaurant. Would definitely go back again.

May 29, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

Booked in for a mid-week meal for a special occasion. We were the only couple in the entire restaurant, so felt a little awkward. The waiter we had was absolutely professional. Pity about his colleague who kept pacing the restaurant with obviously nothing to do. Food, however, was delicious (duck entree was nice) and worth the slight awkwardness. Furnishings were impressive. Worth trying, it has promise.

May 29, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

My husband and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary at the Macleay Bistro on Saturday night and how fantastic it was! Greeted by the friendly staff we were shown to our intimate table and began with a glass of Italian prosecco.

The celeriac soup and pâté were both gorgeous starters. My husband enjoyed his chicken ballottine and my slow braised lamb was out of this world! Not being able to manage a dessert, petit fours including chocolate truffles and soft nougat were the perfect accompaniment to a lovely cup of coffee. What a fantastic evening!

May 29, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Drinks  9      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

One of the best places to eat in Crows Nest. Fantastic food and delightful service every time. Cosy atmosphere, a real gem indeed.

May 29, 2012

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

I went to Macleay Street Bistro for dinner last Saturday and must say that the food was great and the staff were very attentive. I had a fabulous entree of crisp crab dumplings and for mains I chose the pork cotolette, both were well prepared, tasty and just lovely.

The service from the staff was attentive. I think this restaurant has a new energy now with new staff and new menu and will just gotten better and better. Welcome back Macleay!

May 29, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

Macleay Street Bistro has bounced back after a couple of years in the culinary wilderness. It's a great place to go, again. Had lunch there recently and it was just great.

The dinner menu is scaled back and made lighter for lunch, perfect Ocean Trout with exactly the right amount of freshness in the fennel purée and amazing asparagus on which it arrived. That came with a truly great iceberg lettuce salad with the most carefully selected baby herbs (all iceberg lettuce should be treated like this and maybe its reputation would be stellar instead of same same..) This and a glass of the excellent Cotes du Rhone and you couldn't ask for a better lunch in Potts Point.

Dinner is great too, I've been a couple of times. It's great to see this place renewed and revived, it's such a culinary institution and they have obviously have put the effort back in to getting it not just right, but really right. Great food, the same (but also recently renewed) room that makes you just feel like settling in. It's a great night (or noon) out.

May 29, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

Went there for a quick Sunday lunch in the. The place was quite full around 1:30 pm.

Ambience: The atrium was the only area servicing lunch, like a courtyard it was not a bad area to spend a couple of hours.

Food: Had three kinds of their home-made terrines, two were really nice, but the foie gras/mushroon/veal roll was sort of tasteless and too fatty, would not recommend. I ordered it because it looked good on the board, look can be deceptive!

Beverage: Had several wines by the glass, not a bad selection.

Service: Our waitress was very friendly and the service was good.

Value: $70 for a light lunch and two wines, it was okay. Might go back to try the full menu.

May 28, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Went there on Friday night without booking during Vivid Sydney. The Rocks area was packed. We were lucky to get a table there.

Ambience: Very nice and warm with a classic look. The tables were not packed into the room to create more seatings. One of the better dining rooms in Sydney regardless how much money you pay.

Food: We had the specials of the day which were fish and rib eye. Nicely cooked and the servings were generous.

Beverage: Good wine list with some half bottles.

Service: Attentive, quick and friendly.

Value: For around $100 per person, that is good value.

May 28, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

I was very happy to have chanced upon Maggies during a recent visit to Potts Point. We wandered in to this fabulously kitsch Tyrolean wonderland on a cold night, and the vibe inside was buzzy, fun and cosy.

The service was exactly how I like it, very efficient and friendly without being overly familiar. The menu (both food and drinks) is vast, and the servings are huge. We were slightly concerned they were too big, but we managed to work through it all, because the food is just great: traditional Austrian/ German and middle European dishes. There were 6 of us, and we all really enjoyed our meals.

The Jaeger schnitzel seemed to be the hot favourite, but my personal highlight was the creamed spinach, the only time I have ever tasted better than my Hungarian grandmother's.

The prices were quite reasonable, especially considering the size of the meals.
We would all definitely go back, and I would recommend it for a fun, filling, low-key night out.

May 27, 2012

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Drinks  9      Ambience  6      Service  10      Value  10     

We have been here many times for celebrations. We have always found the food great. It is mid range in price but I feel they are well worth it. The serving size is reasonable and the food is perfectly cooked.

We held my Dad's 60th there last week. It was fantastic! The function manager was nothing but helpful. The food platters were Great! Everyone commented on how nice all the food was (Mate skewers, pizza's, seafood platter).

Their brewed beer is lovely, with the apple cider being a refreshing drink.
Highly recommended!

May 27, 2012

3.3 Below Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  1      Value  1     

Totally not recommended and completely agree with the comment posted on 7th May 2012... Service was horrific! The head waitress seriously have an attitude problem and for a table of 12 costing us over $1,200, we deserve better attitude and service than this. Loosen up lady! And the head waiter... Stop giving us dirties just because we are sharing our dessert! Such condescending service.

What a waste of my time and money! With already a very limited menu, one would think the restaurant will provide a better service to compensate but this clearly not the case. In addition, we brought our own cake and they want to charge us $15 per head for cakage?! Oh but apparently you get a scoop of ice cream with the serve! Haha what a joke!

May 26, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  8      Drinks  6      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  9     

We went there for a dinner before going onto our movie. Food came out quickly and staff were attentive and helpful and tapas are delicious. However, the drinks selection could be improved.

Ambience is quite nice. Restaurant feels cosy but in a nice way. It is a great little gem in crows nest. We discovered it on the way home and glad we did.

May 26, 2012

6.8 Recommended

Quality  6      Food  7      Drinks  7      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  8     

I am a local and have been here 20+ times. I am usually pretty happy with the food, drinks and service. The people seating you and taking your order are usually pretty friendly. If you go on a Friday or Saturday night there is usually quite a long line to order, but it tends to move fairly quickly.

I've had a few mistakes made with my order in the past (for example, my request to have sauce on the side is usually ignored), but the value for money is quite good, as the portions are huge and there really isn't much over $30 or so. My parents usually get the roast of the day which is really cheap ($6.50, as I recall) and they are always happy with their meals.

One thing which would really improve this place was if they were to bring out all the entrees, all the mains, and all the desserts at the same time. It is not fun having to sit for ten minutes waiting for your friend's food to come out while yours goes cold. Once my ex had to wait an extra 20 minutes for his. We all started eating because the wait was too long and, by the time his food finally came, we had pretty much finished ours.

Overall, a decent place to eat. Could do with a few minor improvements, but not bad for pub grub.

May 26, 2012

1.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  2      Service  2      Value  1     

This is the worst buffet I ever had. Oyster not fresh, balmain bugs are Blue, prawns head are black, cooked food can tell is been reheated and heated, I only ate breads and chocolate cake! My friend recommended me and I took eight people there and felt so bad and I have to buy macdonald after for them as we are not full at all. I would never recommend anyone to go there. Star city is good price and Sheraton on the park for the quality food but not four point, I am furious.

May 25, 2012

6.6 Recommended

Food  6      Drinks  5      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  6     

My wife and I popped for lunch after a movie @ the Ritz this afternoon. From the specials board we both chose the Beef Daube Pie with Chocolate Mousse for $16. The menu had the price @ $20. The waiter, a very polite young French fellow, was surprised that the board was so wrong and he appropriately charged us the $16.

The pie was 'homemade' and pretty good albeit the meat a bit dry, but I didn't mind that too much. It came with a green salad dressed with a good quality balsamic vinegar. However, the mousse appeared to be a little old being thick and dry on top. It tasted Ok. The coffee was not as good as it should have been. However, it was a nice place to sit on a sunny afternoon.

Overall, our experience didn't convince us to return for an evening meal.

May 25, 2012

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  7     

Great place to eat, friendly staff, had my birthday here with friends and will definitely be back.

May 25, 2012