Loulou Bistro opens at Martin Place with a steak frites sandwich and $2 happy hour
A first look at the all-day restaurant, complete with a reflective silver ceiling and oyster counter. It’s also open for breakfast, serving a sourdough crumpet with caviar.
Loulou Martin Place might have just missed last week’s Bastille Day celebrations, but its launch on Tuesday, July 22, is the latest instalment in a resurgence of French restaurants in the Sydney CBD.
The reflective silver ceiling sparkles at the 150-seat new bistro, which sits at one of the entrances to Sydney’s shiny new Metro. There are plenty of the design accoutrements you might find in a Paris bistro, including a large marble bar and patterned flooring. The new Loulou even has its own oyster and wine counter.
The Martin Place restaurant is an offshoot of the northside Loulou original that opened in Milsons Point in 2021. The blue design hues of its older sister have been transplanted across the bridge, as have signature dishes such as John Dory with a champagne sauce.
It joins a wave of CBD French arrivals over the past few years, including the rebooted Monopole and Manon Brasserie, and others that married French with other influences – Bistro Nido and The Charles among them.
Loulou head chef Ned Parker says French food has a resonance with Sydneysiders, “It’s comfort food to people, even that potato bake [everyone cooks at home] comes back to French.”
Parker worked in restaurants in Europe, including London’s three-Michelin-starred Ledbury, before joining Loulou at Milsons Point. While Loulou aims to be an approachable bistro, the chef doesn’t cut corners. The pepper sauce, for example, requires a two-day process to make the base stock.
Petit Loulou, which opened downstairs in February, will supply baked goods to the new bistro for its breakfast menu. Parker says commuters will be able to start the day with a caramelised brioche, sourdough crumpet with avocado (caviar is an optional extra) or a classic omelette.
During weekday happy hour (4-7pm) there will be $2 escargots and oysters, while the lunch and dinner carte lists Toulouse sausage with pomme puree, a mushroom and truffle vol-au-vent, seafood platters and French onion soup.
Steak frites are having a bigger moment than usual in the CBD, with 24 York opening on July 23 and taking inspiration from Le Relais de l’Entrecote in France, which has successfully leant on the dish for more than half a century. Bouillon l’Entrecote at Circular Quay is another go-to venue for French-style steak and chips.
“Our focus won’t be on steak,” says Parker of the opening menu at Loulou Martin Place. However, with steak frites one of the bestsellers at the Milsons Point restaurant, it’s still a feature dish, along with a version encased in a baguette (listed on the menu as “Sandwich Americain” with sauce andalouse).
“We want to bring that feeling of a neighbourhood restaurant across to the city,” Parker says.
Plans are under way for the brand’s further expansion, too. Later this year, a fast version of Loulou will open at the Qantas Domestic Terminal at Sydney Airport.
Breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday; dinner Monday-Saturday
1 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, loulou.sydney
Scott Bolles writes the weekly Short Black column in Good Food.Connect via email.