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There is something about the French that just does it for me. I don’t know if it’s the accent, the joie de vive, or the gratuitous use of butter and cream in their cooking. But my heart just skips a beat at the mere mention of such sensual francophile things. So I was more than eager to check out the new chéri of the Melbourne restaurant scene, Bistro Guillaume.

The venue itself (in the Crown complex) is lusciously fitted out, my eyes instantly drawn to the puffy-pantaloonesque light shades in the main dining area. The rest of the space is quite open and fresh, which I felt was at odds with my impression of “traditional French bistro” - my expectation only. But, I do rather like it. The long white marble benchtops and tables were impressive, although I did find them a little chilly on my indecorously placed elbows.

I near drooled on the table as a wedge of crusty baguette (from Noisette in Port Melbourne) was placed before me, a pat of unsalted French butter in a dish to the side. At this point of the meal I was happy to just munch on a stick of it for the rest of the night, such was it’s wonderfulness.

The seared scallops with cauliflower veloute, shiitake mushrooms and veal jus ($16) was a most satisfying dish. To start with, plump seared scallops (still “pink” in the centre) were plopped onto a ruffled sheet of silky cauliflower mash. The meaty shitake, pan fried in butter (yes, you could tell), were dotted around the plate, pairing oh so well with the sauciness of the veal jus.  In my mind, one of the great things about French cuisine is the mastery of the sauce, and this had it in spades.

The steak tartare ($22) was hand cut dice of beef, already mixed with an eggy, capery, herby, cornichony, worstershirey dressing.  Some lattice potato crisps sat to the side, and a vinegary peppery (excuse the overuse of the -y’s) micro herb salad added much needed counterbalance. A flawless rendition of a classic.

When made up as a ‘perfect bite‘ it was a irresistable.

The duck confit with Brussels sprouts, speck and mustard sauce ($35) was, to quote EG, just sensational. The confit was tender to the point of falling off the bone, and the richness was offset by the sharpness of the mustard sauce.

The Bistro Guillaume fish and chips – whole whiting with pommes Pont-Neuf and beurre maitre d’hotel ($45) has very much become a signature of the restaurant, and with such spectacular presentation, you can’t half see why. I pity the poor apprentice chef who sits out back with tweezers de-boning this baby, but boy, is it worth it!  The fish itself was cooked just right and crumbed from top to tail.  A thick disc of herbed butter sat in the cavity, melting ever so deliciously coating each forkfull of flakey fish. It sat balanced on a jenga-esque pile of potato chips - you know these babies were cooked in some kind of goose/duck fat.

As a side we had ordered the ratatouille ($8), which came in a cute little blue Le Creuset. It had all the traditional elements; zucchini, onions, tomato, capsicum and eggplant, sauted with a generous glug of olive oil and seasoned with thyme and other herbs.  Well executed.

With Phillipa Sibly at the dessert helm (oh, she so impressed and surprised me at Circa), I was expecting something a little more “inventive” on the sweets front. To be honest, she was half the reason I wanted to try Bistro Guillaume in the first place (despite the omission of the dessert menu online - a travesty if I do say so myself!). Unfortunately I think she may be toeing the Guillaume line, which is kind of a shame as I love it when she plays around with her food.

The dessert menu covers the expected classics, and Sibly executes them VERY well. The crème brulée à la mandarine ($18) was a citrus infused burnt cream custard, with a light layer of hard toffee offering the perfect “crack” when going in with the spoon.  To the side, a shard of crunchy biscuit offered another vehicle in which to scoop up the velvety cream.

The soufflé du jour ($20) arrived puffy and proud in its cute copper pot, and by the time I got my camera out and farted around with the settings, it had deflated ever so slightly.  The flavour was apple crumble…that’s right…fanbloodytastic apple crumble.  It wonderfully captured the essence of baked red apples, cinnamon and butter and was sprinkled with crumbly biscuity bits and caster sugar.  A soft quenelle of cinnamon ice-cream sat to the side. This was a home run effort.

Unfortunately the coffee came with a hefty price tag ($5), but despite that, it was a damn good coffee. It is also a necessary requisite for ordering the sélection de petits fours ($5).  From left to right, madeleine au miel (a warm soft honey madeleine), pâte de fruits (blackcurrant jelly), tuiles aux noisettes (hazelnut biscuit) and truffles au chocolat valrhona (deep dark devastatingly good chocolate).  I just wish there were two of each!  On retrospect though, VDM does so much better on the petits fours front.

All in all we both really enjoyed our Bistro Guillaume experience.  So I was surprised to read around the blogsphere some words of discontent. On this singular dining experience, the only thing that didn’t impress me was 1. the exhorbitantly expensive wine list and 2. the dessert issues mentioned above. Other than that, the food, service and ambience were fanastic.

Food porn alert: watch (and listen!) as Chef Guillaume Brahimi decadently creates boeuf bourguignon on Food Safari with a haunch of wagyu beef. Mon dieu! I must admit I do cringe somewhat at the use of such an expensive piece of meat for what was essentially a means of cooking up rather tough cuts of meat.  But oh….I guess if you’ve got it, flaunt it.

Written by mellie on September 15th, 2008 | Tags: Bistro Guillaume, French, restaurants | Category: dining experiences |  Print This Post |  Email This Post | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL