Best French restaurants in Melbourne to get your fill
Say bonjour and bon appetit without having to step foot on a plane at one of these French restaurants lighting up Melbourne. From the a crunchy-crusted baguette to the best duck à l’orange this side of the Seine, here are some of the state’s finest French eateries.
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ELEGANT, refined and absolutely delicious – French food has a particular charm to it, and Melbourne has more than its share of wonderful eateries.
From the a crunchy-crusted baguette to the best duck à l’orange this side of the Seine, there is no shortage of choices if you’re looking for a taste of Paris in Melbourne.
Our food reviewers have scoured the state and here are some of the finest French restaurants that have cracked the delicious.100 list of Victoria’s best restaurants.
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PHILIPPE
Philippe Mouchel has long been giving this city lessons in French, but his eponymous basement bistro feels as fresh as ever.
Everything is correct and proper, but never stuffy or stiff, largely thanks to a pro front-of-house team who work the room with care and flair. And then there’s the man himself, ever present at the pass, finessing each plate as it leaves the kitchen.
Stick to the script with Mouchel classics like his rightfully famous rotisserie chook, Bannockburn bird with succulent flesh under crispy, mushroom-stuffed skin.
But go ‘off-piste’ and be just as content. France’s version of thin-crust pizza, tarte flambee, is topped with outrageously smoky bacon and soft onion for a sensational starter, while the Mayura Station wagyu is expertly cooked and rested, its charry crust and blushing inner spot on.
So Frenchy, so chic, and so very good.
PHILIPPE
115 Collins Street, Melbourne
03 8394 6625
Must-eat dish: Tarte flambee
Cuisine: French
Chef: Philippe Mouchel
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch Mon-Fri 12-2:30pm; dinner Mon-Sat 5:30-9:30pm
Instagram: @philippe_restaurantmelb
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: No
MIDNIGHT STARLING
Liberté. Egalité. Fraternité. Kyneton?
Yes, for the best duck à l’orange this side of the Seine, head straight up the Calder to Midnight Starling. Here you’ll find Steven Rogers putting his experience gained in Parisian kitchens to good use across a menu that comes in both a la carte and degustation form.
Either way, there’s plenty of crusty baguette hot from the oven to slather in good salty butter. You’ll need it, because the sauces are wipe-the-plate good, such as a classically decadent sauce champagne that moats a perfect piece of hapuka topped with crisp whitebait, or a deeply delicious dark number, filled with cured hock depth, that surrounds the pork neck with caramelised apple.
A wine list that looks to Europe and central Victoria in equal measure, service that’s city sharp but country warm – with options to eat either in the bluestone cellar or in the charming wood-panelled dining room – and Midnight Starling might not be a revolution, but it’s certainly a revelation.
MIDNIGHT STARLING
60 Piper Street, Kyneton
03 5422 3884
Must-eat dish: Duck à l’orange
Cuisine: French
Chef: Steven Rogers
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch Sun 12-3pm; dinner Wed-Sat 5:30-8:30pm
Instagram: @midnightstarling
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: No
THE MAYFAIR
The Mayfair has the kind of swagger that gives a city a grown-up edge. Elegantly evoking NYC supper clubs of old, this restaurant and late-night lounge has a multitude of uses, and is proof that hotel bars can have character.
Whether it’s live jazz and a nightcap, a past-your-bedtime bite or date night under flattering lighting, both food and drink shine. Co-owner Joe Jones handles libations with care and flair, his killer cocktails including the bittersweet Fall Back, with whiskey, Applejack and bitters.
On the plate, the made-to-order crumpet heaped with crab, caviar and a dash of curry remains a rightful signature, but the gougère – puffy choux filled with comte custard – are supremely snackable, too. Mains move to Milawa coq au vin, and the humble bavette steak, charred, sliced and teamed with a textbook-good Bernaise.
With a post-10.30pm menu of oysters, steak tartare and an outrageously oozy burger thick with smoked gouda, staying up late is great.
THE MAYFAIR
Sofitel Forecourt, 45 Collins Stret, City
03 9654 8545
Must-eat dish: Crab crumpet
Cuisine: French
Chef: Sam Stafford
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch Tue- Fri; dinner Tue-Sat
Instagram: @themayfairrestaurant
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: Yes
DU FERMIER
“Sometimes I worry we won’t meet expectations, that people will be disappointed,” says Annie Smithers of her humble dining room in Trentham, where it can take months to secure a table.
It’s often said but rarely executed so seemingly effortlessly, so completely comfortably: lunch at Du Fermier really is like being welcomed into someone’s home. Someone’s home, mind you, that has a stocked cellar of lovely local drops and beautiful Burgundies and a damn fine cook in the kitchen.
The longtime champion of central Victoria now has a 23-acre property on which she grows the bulk of the produce she then transforms into four daily-changing courses of comfort executed with élan.
In the cold of winter that might mean a delicate, silken cuddle of cream of chicken soup luxuriously amped with truffles dropped in that morning, and a bitter orange marmalade that cuts through thick custard in a brioche butter pudding that’s one-part old-school, all-part class.
In between you might be served a refreshing salad or excellent charcuterie, followed by a platter piled high with the best roasted pork and a heap of crisp crackling, fabulous roasted potatoes, sharp red cabbage and earthy sweet beetroot puree,
In terms of the perfect lunch, consider expectations met. Book now to avoid disappointment.
DU FERMIER
42 High Street, Trentham
03 5424 1634
Must-eat dish: Cream of chicken soup
Cuisine: French
Chef: Annie Smithers
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch Fri-Mon 12pm
Instagram: @du_fermier
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: No
BISTRO GUILLAUME
Sure, there’s crunchy-crusted baguette, served warm from the oven ready to slather in salt-flecked butter, and the definitive onion soup that’s decadently rich and sweet and comforting. There’s steak tartare, of course, and twice-baked souffle and roast chicken served with buttery mash, but it’s not just about sending a postcard of Paris pastiche at Bistro Guillaume. And those who go off-piste will be rewarded.
For there’s a spectacular fish tartare, lightly salted with oyster cream and tiny bursts of finger lime. It’s modern bistronomy writ in delicious and extends to white peach gazpacho with underlying raw garlic heat surrounding sweet tiny beefsteak tomatoes with shiso leaf brightness. What a bright, light delight.
Sweet, accented service keeps things on theme if not always on point, and if you can’t go past the classics, then Bistro Guillaume remains as comfortingly consistent as ever. If, for nothing else, that Paris mash which is a doona of butter that never fails to swaddle away the blues.
BISTRO GUILLAUME
Crown Complex, Southbank
03 9292 5777
bistroguillaumemelbourne.com.au
Must eat dish: Fish tartare
Cuisine: French
Chefs: Guillaume Brahimi and Aaron Starling
Price: $-$$$$$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch and dinner daily 12-2:30pm, 5:30pm
Instagram: @bistro_guillaume_melbourne
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: Yes
THE BATHS MIDDLE BRIGHTON
It’s hard to imagine fighting fit Brighton Icebergers settling in for a leisurely lunch after their morning dip in the Middle Brighton Baths.
Should they ever feel inclined, The Baths Upstairs Restaurant will reward them with hearty food, seriously good wines and a wide angle view of their preferred swimming hole. A lot of us have already discovered the charms of this recently refurbished place, not the least families who are well served with a sprightly Kids Menu (12 and under).
Beer-battered fish and chips with crushed peas is clearly the crowd favourite, but The Baths kitchen punches out more adventurous fare as well. Roasted barramundi comes with braised witlof and a tarragon veloute; meltingly soft braised beef cheek sits atop a reef of creamy mash; and a cassoulet of confit duck leg is well stocked with beans and sausage.
Portions are generous, so an entree of mushroom risotto with mascarpone or smoked eel with glazed turnips may suffice. Still, you’d be wise to leave room for cheese – an enticing list – and dessert. Not even an Iceberger could resist the ‘Floating Island’ with caramel brittle and toasted almonds.
THE BATHS MIDDLE BRIGHTON
251 Esplanade, Brighton
03 9539 7000
Must-eat dish: Cassoulet of confit duck leg
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chef: Martin Bleich
Owner: Paul Rayner
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Breakfast Sat-Sun; lunch and dinner daily
Instagram: @thebathsmiddlebrighton
BYO: Sun-Mon only
Separate bar: Yes
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