Vamps

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  7     

Went to Vamps last night and sat in the court yard, the people are fantastic and the food was great (just a bit salty for me as I have a very low salt diet). Big servings. Very pleasant night out!

Feb 26, 2012 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  9     

On the 27th Jan we celebrated our Ruby wedding Anniversary at Vamps. A party of about 16 people enjoyed the food and the wonderful atmosphere. Where else would a waiter from Indonesia play jazz on the piano after a great meal. I highly recommend Vamps for a great night out. Thank you Tony and staff.

Feb 09, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

We've just had a wonderful 60th birthday celebration held in Vamps Upstairs Room. A Saturday lunch which was a great success and enjoyed by all. Tony and his staff couldn't have been more helpful and friendly (Rudi, one of the waiters, has piano playing talent and burst into a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' to the enjoyment of all - and the quality and range of food was amazing. The Upstairs Room has a wonderfully festive vibe - we had 25 and there was space to move yet a great feeling of intimacy, too. Our guests kept congratulating us on finding such a terrific venue. Thank you Tony and staff of Vamps -Sandra and Trevor.

Oct 18, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  8     

We looked for a place of my wife's birthday on Eatability in Paddington and Vamps had such a reliably high score and good comments we decided to try it. I am happy to say that all the good words were right! Great service (admittedly a Tuesday night but there were a good number of people there), very nice and very good quality food, the duck and the seafood crepes and the pate, fantastic. We'll be back.

Went again for my birthday and am happy to say that the food and service continue to be top class. My ranking stays as is if not better!

Aug 20, 2011 

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  8     

Somewhat of an oddly named restaurant with open planned kitchen that turns out good food by passionate, professional staff. We had a very enjoyable night and will be back.

Aug 10, 2011 

5 Average

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  1      Value  7     

Lets start from the beginning.
We arrived at this place with high expectations but although this place is really cozy and the atmosphere is friendly it went down hill quite quickly.
Firstly, the quail entree was really nice, but uh oh, surprise, there was a live snail in the pumpkin salad and yes although this restaurant is French, it was not part of this dish! The salad tasted nice, eg the diced pumpkin cubes were delicious but with all that slimy snail juice through it... eeeeewwww, enough said.

When we pointed this out to the waiter, guess what, he didn't even apologize for it or offer to take it off the bill or offer another salad: Nothing! No offer to make amends for this very gross error (excuse the pun) whatsoever. So for this huge blunder they're worth only 1 star for service!

Next was the mains... I had roast duck with cherry and red wine sauce. I ordered this dish specifically because of the promise of cherries in it. Much to my dismay, there was a paltry 2 only cherries in the dish and they were those cheap canned variety. Worse still there were peas mixed throughout the red wine sauce: I can understand peas alone or cherries alone, but together is a weird combination. The seafood crepes were nice overall on the positive side.

Lastly the desserts, there was nothing wrong technically with the desserts except that they weren't exactly anything fantastic, particularly for a restaurant so highly rated. I have had much more interesting and creative desserts at Etch and L'Etoile which are of a similar rating.

And then finally they charged us for 2 glasses of wine we didn't even order. Ok they did realise their mistake and take it off the bill, but we're not going back after the snail incident!

Aug 06, 2011 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  10      Service  9      Value  8     

We went here last night after exploring Paddo as we haven’t dined in this area before but only live around the corner. We walked past and it was very busy and inviting and made us want to go in. Pate was lovely and the extra bread was required.

Mains were quick and tasty and we found lots of other tempting dishes on the menu that we will go back and try another night. Very enjoyable and love BYO.

Jun 17, 2011 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  7     

I have been to Vamps perhaps 8 times in the last 10 years and each time is a complete pleasure.

Owner Tony waits on tables and is friendly and engaging year in year out. The food is french bistro style, very tasty and just what you'd expect from a tiny corner bistro on the streets of Paris.

The atmosphere is intimate which makes it perfect for couples or small groups and a-la-carte and fixed menus (very french) are both available.

Traditional French Onion Soup, steak, Duck in orange and Crepes Suzette are all must orders and this place is just superb because of it's simplicity !

In a city where restaurants are trying to out create each other with cutting edge techniques, go back to Vamp's for down to earth, simple French food in an intimate and homely atmosphere.

May 20, 2011 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  7     

Been here lots of times. Mostly the food is fabulous. The service is always very attentive. Love the open kitchen and cosy french feel.

May 22, 2010 

6 Average

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  5     

The setting is informal and relaxed. The staff are very friendly and helpful, but the food is a bit of a let down. And for a restaurant serving up mains for around $30 it's just not good enough in Sydney.

We shared an entree of the prawns served with a mango coulis, the sauce was pleasant enough but the deep fried prawns were v odd. In fact the oddest looking entree I have had in years. As for the taste, well after we managed to bite through the crunchy surroundings that looked like a strange alient creature, the prawn was decent enough but why not just serve up a prawn without all the deep fried nonsense which added nothing to the flavour.

For mains my friend ordered a medium steak, which was brought to the table well done, another ordered medium lamb which was v v bloody and I ordered the hare pie which like most pies in Sydney simply consists of a shortcrust pastry lid, not a pie at all. The hare was tasty but the was way sauce too runny.

For dessert we went for the cheese but shouldn't have bothered. We were meant to be in one of Sydney's top French restaurants, yet there was not a single French chz available. Only small slices of King Island (readily available from any supermarket) at around $8 a pop. The brie was cold and the accompaniments were odd, raisins, some nuts and thick and heavy bread.

All in all I would not recommend this place, especially when you have L'Etoile just around the corner.

May 14, 2010