Is this Brisbane’s most affordable French restaurant?

It has multiple spaces and loads of historic charm but it’s the value of the main courses that stands out at C’est Bon.

I’ve found the perfect restaurant for social distancing.

C’est Bon, opened in Woolloongabba in Brisbane’s inner-south by long-time, multiple-restaurant-owning chef Michel Bonnet in 2008, was remodelled and reopened mid-2019 by subsequent owners.

In addition to the updated dining room, there’s also a moody adjoining wine bar, a welcoming, architecturally appealing terrace at the back, including a section beneath a curved brick roof, a rooftop bar with sweeping views and a cellar for functions.

Options abound for alone time.

C'est Bon at Wooloongabba. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Pulling up a chair plushly upholstered in emerald velvet to the wide, wooden table in the main dining room, I also note we are just the second pair eating in.

It’s an attractive space, with angled mirrors running along one wall, a banquette along the other, white-painted brick walls and burnished wooden floors.

The adjoining Le Bon Bar showcases the original bricks of the heritage-listed one-time group of shops where a butcher, drapers and tobacconists once plied their trade.

Here, breakfast options of a croque madam with truffle and a crab and cheese souffle and later, cheese and charcuterie are on offer.

Back in the restaurant, the menu kicks off with amuse bouche including oysters, pumpkin tart and foie gras on an eclair.

The four entrees are langoustine brulee, beef tartare and our choices of the nicely presented Queensland crab with bottarga (salted, cured fish roe) and artichoke ($24) and an all-black gnocchi dish, with the dumplings enhanced by black garlic and mushrooms ($24).

C'est Bon’s lamb dish. Pic Mark Cranitch

Main courses follow a similar route of careful presentation and are very competitively priced. Barbecued lamb ($34) is nicely cooked, two chunks that are seared on the outside, pink in the middle, and topped with a little zucchini and a scattering of sliced, pickled walnuts.

Pork jowl ($32) sits atop a circle of sugarloaf cabbage dressed with apricot mustard and is a bit dry, although the moisture of the accompaniments help make up for that.

Most peculiar was the beetroot tarte Tatin ($13).

There was no pastry to be seen as you might expect with a variation of the apple tart made famous by the Tatin sisters, rather ribbons of beetroot tightly rolled into a cylindrical shape and offset with a puddle of ricotta.

More attention grabbing than the food is the wine list, which is hefty and a prize within itself with the by-the-glass selection running to 20, supplemented by an eight-strong Coravin choice. It’s a mix of French and Australian, with a strong lineup of Queensland wines thrown in for good measure.

By the bottle, the selection is wide and impressive, there’s even a big batch of magnums, although there are not a lot of options for the budget conscious.

Desserts, both $16, run to a big-flavoured cherry, chocolate, hazelnut confection and a deconstructed pommes a la crème, an amalgam of icy vanilla, honey, citrus and apple flavours and jelly orbs.

Pommes a la creme at C’est Bon. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Service from a friendly waitress is fine but becomes a little stretched when another table of four arrives towards the conclusion of our meal.

Although Stanley Street is a hectic thoroughfare, the dining room is quiet and spaces in the laneway out the back alleviate the horror of inner-city parking.

The restaurant is handsome and the drinks list is a flamboyant, deep-pocketed winelover’s delight, and while the food is rather subdued, the main courses in particular are cheap. And there’s plenty of room to enjoy them.

C’EST BON

Food 3 stars

Ambience 4 stars

Service 3.5 stars
Value 4 stars

OVERALL 3.5 stars

Must try

Cherry, chocolate, hazelnut dessert

Open Tue-Fri 7am until late; Sat 8am until late

609/611 Stanley Street, Woolloongabba,
[phone], cestbon.com.au