Australia’s hotel restaurants are undergoing a renaissance

For a while, it felt like Australian hotel dining was destined to lag behind its northern hemisphere counterparts, relegated a cultural cringe. Savvy guests knew to skip the boring buffet and pricey room service club sanger and head out for a good meal.

But an Australian hotel restaurant renaissance is under way – travellers’ tastes have evolved, and hoteliers and top chefs are taking note, with a slew of significant launches slated for this year alone.

Bistrot Bisou marks restaurateur Luke Mangan’s first Melbourne opening in more than a decade.Credit: Jana Langhorst

IHG Hotels and Resorts’ Hotel Indigo Melbourne is the latest to unveil its new dining concept, with the opening of Bistrot Bisou on Friday by renowned chef and restaurateur Luke Mangan. It marks the chef’s first Melbourne restaurant in more than a decade, and quietly replaces the hotel’s Spanish diner Beso, which only launched in August 2023.

Featuring “modern twists” on French classics like steak frites and twice-baked gruyere souffle, Mangan has tapped Rory Kennedy (of hatted Vex Dining, Northcote) as head chef, teasing home-made rooster terrine, salmon smoked in-house, and dishes kissed by smoke and fire thanks to a new wood-fire grill installed in the kitchen.

Mangan, a veteran of the Australian hotel dining-scape – with Glass Brasserie at Hilton Sydney preparing to enter its third decade of service – says people are finally learning from the past.

Twists on classics … twice-baked gruyere souffle.

“The most successful venues are the ones that are operated like a true, standalone restaurant rather than a traditional hotel restaurant,” said Mangan.

“A famous hotelier once told me that Australians were great at running hotels but not so good at running restaurants in hotels. Once I heard this, I took it on board to ensure that every deal I work on, I create a restaurant just as I would as if it were on the street. They are restaurants that happen to be in hotels, not hotel restaurants.”

Stylish leather banquettes in the Bistrot Bisou dining room.

Bistrot Bisou follows on from Mangan’s casual French-Japanese-inspired newcomer Luc-San at Hotel Indigo Sydney Potts Point.

Since last year, Melbourne has already welcomed: glitzy Atria at the Ritz-Carlton Melbourne, driven by executive chef Michael Greenlaw (a Good Food Guide hat recipient); Maestro by celebrity chef Adrian Richardson in the multimillion-dollar Holiday Inn and Suites Geelong development; and Prince Dining Room in St Kilda’s The Prince hotel, steered by trailblazing Sydney chef Mitch Orr (Kiln), along with head chef Ben Parkinson (Pipis Kiosk).

Natural wine and sophisticated snacks by Clayton Wells at Oxford House’s Busby’s.Credit: Parker Blain

Hotel restaurants in Sydney are likewise fizzing with culinary credentials. Pier One’s new casual offering Pier Dining, helmed by French-born chef Dimitri Damman, is doing good things with seafood; in a homage to its early predecessor, Oyster Bar and Crab Cooker, the Sydney rock oyster gets star treatment, served freshly shucked or charred with smoked Wagyu fat and coconut vinegar.

Public Hospitality Group’s new Oxford House listening bar, Busby’s, is an all-stars operation with menus devised by chef Clayton Wells (who has since stepped back from his role as group culinary director), and with talent from P&V and Maybe Sammy.

Pier Dining is serving oysters charred with smoked Wagyu fat and coconut vinegar.

This year has already seen the launch of Sydney Common at Sheraton Grand, Bar Lettera at Citadines Walker North Sydney, Lumiere on Thirty Five at Sofitel Darling Harbour, and Pont Dining Room at Intercontinental Sydney.

Barangaroo’s Crown Sydney boasts four hatted restaurants alone, setting a new bar for hotel dining precincts. It’s star players, Oncore by Clare Smyth and Yoshii’s Omakase, still rank among the most sought-after bookings in town; meanwhile, on the ground floor acclaimed chef Alessandro Pavoni is plating up theatrics at two-hatted a’Mare, with a new “Italian Job” banquet concept, in which every course is prepared or finished tableside.

At a’Mare in Sydney, the pesto pasta is prepared tableside.Credit: Louie Douvis

On the horizon, House Made Hospitality, which operates Lana and Promenade Bondi, has revealed plans for four new venues within the iconic Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, part of a $60 million revitalisation, while hospitality veterans Ross and Sunny Lusted (Woodcut, The Bridge Room) are on track to launch two Iberian inspired venues at the soon-to-open Melbourne Place boutique hotel in September 2024.

With culinary tourism contributing over $10 billion to the economy in 2021, and Tourism Australia data revealing “great food, wine, and local cuisine” to be a major influencing factor in holiday planning (more so than natural environments), don’t expect the hotel dining boom to go away any time soon.

See bistrotbisou.com.au