Giles French

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Warm setting, brilliant food. Superb from start to finish and a dining experience bristling with panache. Obviously a top class kitchen management has laid the foundation for this impressive operation.

Aug 21, 2011

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  7     

Bustling eatery boasting a prompt service and very good Malaysian standard.

Aug 21, 2011

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.8 Average

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  1      Value  5     

Good food in an average setting at a reasonable price. However, a truly astonishing moment spotlighted the cashier's nonchalance/sheer lack of manners, in not managing to say thank you when we paid the bill. That pathetic incident is enough to prevent us returning. Dear Management - please ensure all staff familiarise themselves with proper etiquette.

Aug 21, 2011

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

7 Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  10     

Best to book a day in advance to avoid the otherwise torturous wait which was exacerbated by a terrifying visual assault from posters spruiking out from the Capitol Theatre opposite. The crammed footpath interchange bench guarantees that this is not the type of place where you can sit back and get too comfortable. More devotion could be paid to the cleaning of the wine glasses and dishes. However, the food was supreme. Exquisitely flavoured, visually impressive, and Heaven to the palate.

Mar 03, 2011

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  10     

Wedged between The Golden Vile and City Zoo Freaks, this serendipitous nook offers flashbacks to a sense of normalcy. Commendable food. Very friendly Staff.

Mar 03, 2011

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

Warm setting, brilliant food. Superb from start to finish and a dining experience bristling with panache. Obviously a top class kitchen management has laid the foundation for this impressive operation.

Aug 21, 2011

7 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  6      Service  7      Value  7     

Bustling eatery boasting a prompt service and very good Malaysian standard.

Aug 21, 2011

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.8 Average

Food  8      Ambience  5      Service  1      Value  5     

Good food in an average setting at a reasonable price. However, a truly astonishing moment spotlighted the cashier's nonchalance/sheer lack of manners, in not managing to say thank you when we paid the bill. That pathetic incident is enough to prevent us returning. Dear Management - please ensure all staff familiarise themselves with proper etiquette.

Aug 21, 2011

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

7 Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  3      Service  5      Value  10     

Best to book a day in advance to avoid the otherwise torturous wait which was exacerbated by a terrifying visual assault from posters spruiking out from the Capitol Theatre opposite. The crammed footpath interchange bench guarantees that this is not the type of place where you can sit back and get too comfortable. More devotion could be paid to the cleaning of the wine glasses and dishes. However, the food was supreme. Exquisitely flavoured, visually impressive, and Heaven to the palate.

Mar 03, 2011

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  10      Value  10     

Wedged between The Golden Vile and City Zoo Freaks, this serendipitous nook offers flashbacks to a sense of normalcy. Commendable food. Very friendly Staff.

Mar 03, 2011

2 Not Recommended

Food  3      Ambience  1      Service  1      Value  3     

One of Sydney's worst Korean restaurants. Spasmodically reasonable service ruined by one appallingly unfriendly male waiter. As to the food, oleaginous muck. The Spicy Chicken with Cheese was blitzed with tonsil-burning aplomb, rendering the chicken and cheese redundant.

The Chijimi (pancake) was the only menu item worthy of a pass mark. If you are seeking an eatery where poor customer service goes unchecked and food is overwhelmingly not up to par, then certainly give this place a try.

Nov 13, 2010

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.5 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  5      Service  3      Value  1     

Signature Thai, top contender in the Gastronomic Stakes for outrageous misnomer of the year. Blunderingly incompetent food coupled with painfully slow service. I can’t remember the last time I went to a restaurant and found the food inedible. The embarrassing Duck Hoisin was aided and abetted by the Yum Puk(e) Nim (soft shell crab dish) mired in an overdose of fish sauce.

Nov 07, 2010

4.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  2     

Bistro Bruno is not within a bull’s vuvuzela of achieving the high standards one would expect of a restaurant purporting to be top class. The ‘Modern Australian Cuisine’ concept is both nebulous and laughable. ‘Ristorante Try-Hard’ would be more apt. The omission of warm plates for the mains was a giveaway as to BB's real standard.

Starters: The so-called ‘Japanese-inspired Ceviche’ was an inglorious misfire - soya sauce to the max in addition to a sacrilegious frying of the soba noodles. The vulgarity of fried soba noodles presented in what resembled a nuked spinster’s hair netting, was neck and neck, in terms of horridness, with the Fettuccine Titanic of the Mains. The salted duck plate kept the disappointments flowing with a bewildering absence of duck flavour. The comparatively pleasing Woodside Goat Cheese dish seemed to be an anomaly.

Mains: Fish of The Day was enjoyable, with a synergy of flavours and workable ingredients. However, the empty mussel shell plating was a ridiculous adornment. As for the ghastly cafeteria-standard Fettuccine Pasta, this err… let’s face facts, Greasy Slop-In-Horrifying Raw Egg Sauce, was simply vile.

Desserts were a mixed bag: The Banana Caramel Crumble, a scale model of flooded roadwork pothole, whilst the Belgian Mousse, though quite tasty, was disturbingly feculent in appearance. I would have scored the food lower, however, the bread rolls were very good, and deserved of a point.

Bistro Bruno would be well advised to rein in the over ambitious elements, and also be mindful of slaughtering flavours and food character.

Jun 14, 2010

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  7     

One of Balmain's standouts and there aren't many. I realise that such a glowing claim isn’t ostensibly a gold-plated endorsement, given that this pathological-perambulator precinct is lacking in fine dining options. However, Blue Ginger is certainly worthy of inclusion in the upper bracket of Sydney gruelhouses.

Memorable dishes included the delectable Salt and Pepper Squid and a gorgeous dessert which completed a highly successful engagement with the gustatory receptors. Although I’ve witnessed better, the service was prompt and professional. Décor is modern and in harmony with a lighting mode that is kind to patrons’ hair transplant scars.

May 30, 2010

8.5 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  9     

Impressive standard at genuine value. The Special Lunchtime set (available only Saturdays and Sundays), is almost quintessential Japanese, but for the lack of a dessert. The salad plate was delicious as was the Agedashi Tofu, and vibrant melt-in-the-mouth sushi and sashimi. The Miso soup was slightly disappointing in that it lacked dashi flavour.

The decor is typical Japanese in its simplicity and tastefulness. Service is again culturally representative which means ‘polite and efficient’ without any forays into wasteful discourse. So, you're very unlikely to get a response as to “how’s your mother’s chooks?”. The non-invasive music is a nice touch.

May 30, 2010