Bistro Fax

I'd walked past this place many a times, and after reading very mixed review about this place, I wanted to find out for myself.

Food

We started off with some warm sourdough rolls served with butter. They were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Pleasant enough with that sourdough tang, but unadventurous.

Slokky's Slow cooked pork belly with mustard cabbage and lentils ($28.50) sounds exactly like that offered by other restaurants in town. It was a lot leaner than we thought though. It was still soft and moist however, and flavoursome. The crackling was certainly crunchy, in fact, it was really hard! The lentils swam in a rich broth.

And here's where my problem was. I ordered the Pappardelle with braised rabbit, peas and tarragon ($28.50) came with wide ribbon pasta with generous chunks of rabbits and fresh peas, swimming in a strong red wine and stock jus. I didn't get to enjoy the dish for very long though because I bit into a big lump of pasta all stuck together, with the inside not cooked through. This kind of thing is unacceptable even at home, let along at a restaurant charging high 20s prices. So for the first time in my life, I sent a dish back.

Their reaction was standard restaurant, we were offered free drinks. I got a lemon, lime and bitters (pretty average), and Slokky, for some strange reason, decided he didn't want free stuff, even though he always wants to drink Coke at other times. They also offered us more bread, at which we both declined. Finally I persuaded Slokky to take up his free drink offer for a cappuccino, which I really needed. I was glad I did because their Espresso di Manfredi brand was excellent and smooth, with non of that bitter taste.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

Typical hotel dining room. The space is split into 2 levels, with a semi-circular bar and a very high ceiling on the bottom level, and banquettes with spacious chairs and startched tablecloth on the upper level. The clientele at lunch time is the order corporate crowd, who all seem to enjoy a wine with their lunch and who seem to want to linger.

Rating - 1.5

Service

Well, I had a very strange lunch, made more so by the wait staff. From the outset, the attire and the atmosphere eluded to hotel restaurant standard. The staff showed you to your table and unfold your napkin. They offered us the wine list and a choice of water. Menus were delivered promptly and orders taken without any problems.

The food took awhile to arrive but we were enjoying the bread roll. We watched as one of the staff delivered the wrong order to the table.

Later on, after I sent my meal back, waiters came to offer me free drinks and bread, and were very apologetic. They managed the situation very well, and the head waiter personally delivered my replacement meal.

As soon as we finished eating though, they cleared our plates and bought us the bill without us even asking. That was a bit strange, but the restaurant wasn't full and they weren't attempting to to rush us out or anything. What if we'd wanted dessert or had an e-card? Maybe they operated on the cafe model, where you get the bill after you've been delivered your coffee. You can then linger for as long as you like. Who knows, all I know is that they had to recalculate once we gave them the e-card.

Rating - 3.5

C-factor

Well, our meal came to $28.50 after we used the e-card. Of course our drinks were free. This place deserves extra mark for being the first restaurant where I've sent food back. (But not the first restaurant where I've got food for free, that honour belongs to Wagamama.)

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 13

Info

27 O'Connell Street
(Cnr Pitt Street)
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 8214 0400
Website