Fresh User Reviews for French in Sydney

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  6     

Wow this is the best meal I have had for years. We used a voucher, however, this won't influence our next visit. This place had wonderful feel and is where the old Gotham bar used to be. Wonderfully presented and felt very rich. We got a few drafts from being near the door but that is the only negative.

The service was excellent and the waiters courteous, knowledgeable and efficient. The crepe to start was wonderful, however, I was very envious of my partner's cheese souffle. The souffle was quite wonderful. The uber winner of the evening was the Chateaubriand. What a wonderful piece of meat. So wonderfully cooked with pancetta surrounding it and jus to die for. The accompanying vegetables were great, green beans with a mustard sauce, fluffy mashed potato and something which has now gone to the back of my mind.

$70 for 2 which was great value considering the immense size. There was no way we were going to have dessert, however, they brought around a tray, how evil. I had a citron tart and my partner the pear tart tartin. The accompanying creme fraiche ice cream, sublime. The only issue was we were not warned they were $18. I thought this was too expensive. This did not ruin my enjoyment of the evening, however, and as wines were reasonable I was not unhappy with the price overall.

This place is most definitely worth a visit.

May 31, 2012

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  8     

It's a bit disconcerting to see such bad reviews of Peppercorn. My husband and I have been here at least 3-4 times and we have not had a bad experience. Some of the dishes we've sampled are the lamb brains, the fillet steak, the rabbit pie, steak and guinness pie, the pate, etc. I have to say that the lamb brains are wonderful. Beautifully crisp on the outside and juicy and tender on the inside.

The fillet steak always comes medium rare as requested, well rested, and is lovely and juicy. The steak and guinness pie has a lovely pastry crust and the filling is just so tasty. We were just at Peppercorn last night too, and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. I truly believe that this place deserves a chance in this tough economic climate, and we should support our local favourites.

May 31, 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

7.3 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

7.3 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  5      Value  6     

Beautiful restaurant, unique location. Really liked the food, french modern Aus cousine. Dessert, I only liked one out of the two dessert. Wine pairing, slightly disappointed with the white wine selection. I don't think the wine pairing complimented every dish. Pasta and razor claim/crab dish was the highlight for me.

I was unhappy that at one stage, the courses from the degustation was being served at 30 minutes intervals. We arrived at 12:30pm, but ended up being served the meals the same time as someone who arrived at 1:00pm. I understand that the kitchen makes them in batches, which is fair enough. But we were there from 12:30pm till 4pm, which made the experience long and draining. Hopefully the kitchen service can be better managed.

May 28, 2012

6.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  5     

For the money we paid, our expectations of the food just wasn't met, we didn't feel "wow" about any of the dishes. Both the quail and beef dishes were chewy, mainly because the fillet wasn't cooked enough and sinewy.

Service was great, we were never left wanting for anything. Our water glasses and wine were being continually topped up without asking, and the dishes came out at the right times.

As for ambience, it is certainly an experience to walk into this haven in the middle of a busy City, but decor of the upstairs room is just dull.

May 27, 2012

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  6      Service  9      Value  9     

There is a lot of good food in Concord but this is clearly the best. Great for a special occasion, great service and the food is really lovely.

May 27, 2012

2.3 Not Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  1     

Zumbos creativity is thoroughly let down by extremely arrogant and indifferent staff. I have stopped going there after being disrespected by kids behind the counter. If these guys ever read this, look up "borrowed social capital". Yes it is made up 3 independent words and it s a social theory which states that people without talent try to bask inother peoples glory. Seriously, paying $9 for a piece of cake and attitude to boot. No thanks.

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

3.5 Below Average

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  8      Value  2     

Adriano Zumbo has begun to delegate his creations to his staff and no longer delivers the surprising delights he is known for. The presentation looks good though. If he doesn't do something about it he will lose all the good will that made him famous.

He is definitely a talented artist and there are few others that come close to him in Sydney but, unfortunately, they are employed at multiple hat restaurants. I used to purchase at least one cake every 10 days from the Balmain store but the last 3 were definitely inconsistent and not up to standard. The last time a young lady who I think is the senior staff insisted some raspberry delight was to die for, unique and absolutely her favourite. Turned out it was a raspberry flavoured cheesecake.

May 26, 2012

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  6     

We dined at 7:30pm on a Friday night. We ordered the degustation with matching wine.

The service was fantastic, both professional, yet friendly. The staff were very attentive, and we never wanted for anything.

Unfortunately, having visited other well-known degustation restaurants, both my fiancé and I did not think that Tetsuya's stood up to it's great reputation, especially when considering value for money. The food could not really be faulted, but we have both have tastier elsewhere, with more wine (only 4.5 glasses for accompanying wine), for less money.

Perhaps, our greatest disappointment was the ambience. We were seated upstairs in a rather loud (loud enough to hear nearby conversations), open planned room. It was quite bright and offered no intimacy.

May 26, 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

8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

I've now been to Grub & Tucker a couple of times. The first visit was as "full paying" customers. I ordered the burger and my partner had the salmon risotto. The burger was okay, but I think the days of the outstanding burger that isn't from a gourmet burger shop have passed. The salmon risotto on the other hand was delicious! A massive serving as well.

This prompted me to jump at the chance of a voucher deal that gave us a full 3 courses for a ridiculously cheap price ($39!). Having had one meal there, we were fairly confident it wouldn't end up like our last voucher (La Kasbah). The voucher menu was separate to the full menu, but it still gave plenty of choice for each course. We started with the Garlic Prawns and Garlic Mushrooms. The prawns were fresh, juicy and tasty. I could have done with more garlic as was the case with the mushrooms, but I Love garlic!

For mains, we had the lamb shank and the barramundi. The lamb shank was fall off the bone tender, but lacked a "wow" factor flavour. It was lovely, just not Wow. The barramundi was much the same. Perfectly cooked, but the tomato relish with it lacked any real flavour. I mentioned it to the waitress when she asked, saying that it could have done with, perhaps, more herbs during cooking, and she happily passed it on to the chef.

The desserts were a step above. My partner loved her Chai and ginger creme brulee, and I inhaled the berry trifle, and loved the pashmak that was put on top.

Service was very friendly, non obtrusive and efficient. Could not fault it at all. Overall, the food here won't blow your mind, but it will satisfy you, and give you a pleasant meal out for a reasonable price, even without a voucher.
I'll definitely be going back again.

May 25, 2012

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  9     

I went for my friends birthday party. It was incredible. Everything was just perfect. The price $69 was totally worth it!

The food was delicious and for service, they were a bit in a hurry but it was all good! I'd like to come again.

May 24, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  6     

I've only had the almond croissants and almond choc twists so far and they're the only reason I keep going back.

May 24, 2012

7.8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  8     

Went there for lunch on Sunday. The outside area is nice with enough heating and blankets to keep you warm.

Food: The soufflé we had for entree was nice and so were the cassoulet and pork belly for main. But I think the chef modified the French cuisine a bit to suit local palate. I find them under seasoned and slightly undercooked especially the cassoulet. But it was still nice.

Beverage: Good selection of French and Local wine by the glass for a suburban bistro.

Service: Friendly and pleasant.

Value: Really good value for what you get.

May 23, 2012

8.2 Recommended

Food  8      Drinks  10      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

I loooved the look and feel of this pub, its warm and friendly. The outdoor areas are heated!, leafy, well lit and comfortable. Nothing like a good quality wine with escargot, the bistro menu is huge too with alot of choice and items to share. The staff look really happy too! Some locals were telling me about the daily specials and that the steaks are great. I will be back!

May 23, 2012

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  9     

I have been to Thirteen three times now and definitely intend to go again. The ambience and feel of the restaurant is very pleasant and relaxing. The owner looks like Bilbo Baggins from Lord of the Rings and he is the most gorgeous friendly host and waiter.

The food is delicious. The first time I went, I had the best garlic prawns I've ever eaten but by the time I'd come back a second time, the menu had changed. The new prawns entree was delicious but I craved the garlic prawns so the third time I went, I called ahead and asked for the garlic prawns and Thirteen graciously agreed to make them for me.

The mains are all fantastic. I highly recommend the beef and lamb. The only area I think that Thirteen is ever so slightly let down is desserts. The creme brulee is very enjoyable but the other desserts are not quite up to the standard of the delicious entrees and mains. Do not be deterred by that though. They are worth a try and I think it's just that the entrees and mains set a high standard.

Overall though, Thirteen is one of my absolute favourite restaurants. Definitely worth trying.

May 23, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  6     

My value rating dropped because of $20 BYO charge. I like it because it's very local and has a great pate entree.

May 22, 2012