Picky Piggies: French

Situated in one of Sydney's touristy hot spots, La Renaissance makes no compromise to the quality of ingredients they use in creating fine French pastry. This is one of the places we always come back to when craving for sweets. Don't miss this one when you are taking a stroll through the weekend The Rocks Market.

Monet $9 (T/A) $9.5 (Dine In)

A cake that is simply divine - we were never enthusiasts of white chocolate, but this cake is one of the reasons why we always come back to La Renaissance. With a centre of creamy bavaroise, lychee jelly and soft sponge cake, each element brings a textural sensation to the tongue. Fresh raspberries embedded in the cake release a fruity note while keeping the richness of the white chocolate under control.

Tranche Au Chocolat $7 (T/A) $7.5 (Dine In)

Moving onto something richer, this Tranche Au Chocolat had a fuller body. The smooth chocolate mousse, and the nutty dacquoise made with walnuts and pistachios are sandwiched together to create a beautiful layered cake. It was soft and moist with a dark velvety tone to it, each bite had a lingering aftertaste.

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 6/10
Atmosphere: 6/10

Highlight:

There's always a big selection of cakes available
The cakes are consistent in taste every time

Lowlight:

The dine in environment is not as polished as the cakes

Website: https://larenaissance.com.au/
Address: 47 Argyle St, The Rocks NSW 2000
Hours: Mon-Sun 8am-5pm
Phone: (02) 9241 4878

No comments

Located inside an office building, it's hard to notice this French bistro if you don't know to look for it. Guillaume is keen to bring a true french experience with some of the classics including snails, parfait, tartare just to name a few. The restaurant's blue tone and dim lighting help set a relaxing and intimate mood.

Chicken Liver Parfait w Pear Chutney $20

We are not big fans of offal, it is something that falls under the category of acquired taste - it is something that you either love or hate. This parfait had an intense flavour, the paste was smooth and can be easily spread out. On the side, the salad was pretty much a pile of basic greens while the bread was stale (showing little effort).

Country Style Terrine $21

This slice of compressed meat was served cold, with a good amount of seasoning and a slight firm texture. It was better enjoyed alone than having it with the bread and the salad.

Escargot En Persillade $24 per doz

For some eating snails can be a mentally challenging task, but once you overcome that barrier you'll find it tastes just like prawns or other shellfish. These crawly creatures were baked in garlic butter, and when they arrived at our table they were still burning hot. The meat had a springy texture and a rich buttery and parsley aroma, the only drawback was the well of oil - simply too oily.

Steak Tartare w Pommes Gaufrettes $28 (S)

Another French classic - steak tartare is made with fresh raw beef that is finely diced and then marinated with onions, capers and other seasoning. The beef was fresh and coated with marinate and aided with thinly sliced potato wafers. We liked how the potato wafers were fried perfectly, but found the marinate had a dominant tomato flavour (almost like ketchup), which overpowered the other flavours.

Twice Baked Soufflé w Roquefort Sauce $21

A toothsome dish that is made to impress - the picture says it all. It was airy, fluffy and heavenly good - the pool of melted cheese was super cheesy. I'm glad we got the smallest size, because it was quite a heavy dish.

Passionfruit Soufflé w Creme Anglaise & Passionfruit Ice Cream $25

You can't call it a French meal without getting dessert. The soufflé had the perfect rise, with a beautiful passionfruit fragrance and was teamed with a scoop of passionfruit ice cream. The choice of ice cream was a bit of an overlap to the soufflé in our opinion, perhaps switching to a creamy element could better compliment the acidity. A light dessert option for those who are watching their weight.

Opera Gateau w Coffee Ice Cream $20

Guillaume had mastered this cake well. Each layer of almond sponge was soaked in a coffee syrup, and separated with a thin ganache. The coffee ice cream was milky and rich. Everything was spot on.

As far as food goes, it isn't groundbreaking, but the menu certainly tick the boxes for classic French food.

Food: 7/10
Service: 6/10
Atmosphere: 7/10

Highlight:

Good desserts
Amazing soufflés

Lowlight:

French pub food at fine dining prices
Guillaume is clearly a restaurant that caters to the corporate lunch market, and not the ideal choice for casual diners

Website: http://bistroguillaumesydney.com.au/
Address: 259 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
Hours: Mon-Fri 11:45am-9pm
Sat 5-9pm
Sun Closed
Phone: (02) 8622 9555

No comments

Picky Piggies

Pages

About me

Labels

recent posts

Blog Archive