Bistro CBD

This is a favourite that I’ve been to a few times over the years. I’ve always had a good experience, so was looking forward to going back now that they have earned themselves a hat from SMH.

Food

The food has always been pretty good, but I’m glad to see that it has actually picked up a lot, I’ll say it definitely justifies its one hat status now. We started off with some nice sourdough bread, with a golden crunch, smeared with some wonderful butter.

For mains, we decided on the winter sounding braised beef cheeks with dutch carrots, goat cheese mash and onion rings ($32). The beef cheeks were lovingly gamey. It wasn’t very soft but was rightly firm. The dutch carrots looked lovely but it didn’t look that different. The goat cheese mash was a notch above your normal mash, having that sharp bite to it. The onion rings were very sweet and paired beautifully with the soft cheeks and the complex gravy sauce. The crisp skinned atlantic salmon with potato roesti chestnut mushrooms and sauce bois boudran ($33) had the crispiest skin I’ve ever tasted – I wonder how they do it? It was like biting into some very thick chips! The salmon was great quality and was NOT COOKED THROUGH, unlike some other place. The rich sauce has penetrated the meaty mushrooms and some sundried tomatoes added sweetness. In short, both dishes were winners.

Rating - 8.5

Atmosphere

Definitely business lunch central. More specifically, suit central. Women were few and far between.

People lounged on the banquette and brown suede chairs, drinking wine, doing deals. The middle of the room is dominated by a bar, white columns break up the space and there are some interesting artwork on the wall.

Rating - 2

Service

Besides the food, the service has picked up too. There are a lot of waiters servicing the full room. Drinks, bread, food, bill, they have their hands full. At least they don’t need to ask who has what dish when it’s delivered. They bring the bill without you having to ask, and are pretty nice to deal with. Nothing extraordinary though, but it’s not that kind of place.

Rating - 3

C-factor

The prices are on par with one hat restaurants.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 14

Info

Level 1,
52 King Street
Sydney
NSW 2000
Phone (02) 8297 7010
Website