Bistro Moncur

Ph: (02) 9327 9713; Woollahra Hotel, 116 Queen St, WOOLLAHRA 2025 www.bistromoncur.com.au

French, $$$, ** for Food & Ambience
Open Lunch Tue-Sun noon-3pm; Dinner Mon-Sat 6-10.30pm, Sun 6-9pm, Closed Monday lunch; Licensed; AE DC MC V EFT, Seats inside 108, Outside seats, private room, Kids welcomed
Chef (Scott Mason & Kylie Collins Grey, 2007-11-3) Owner (Damien Pignolet & Ron White, 2007-11-3)

Mietta's Review
Bistro Moncur defies change, since 1993 this place has been the benchmark for bistro style in Sydney. The menu features the classics of French bistro cuisine in a smart but no nonsense atmosphere. The no bookings policy remains and tables keep turning over. The service is pleasant, efficient and the wine list has some excellent choices. There are some memorable dishes with perfect flavours and consistently good regular favourites, such as the Sirloin Cafe de Paris, Bistro Moncur pork sausages and mash potato, French onion souffle. Can be noisy - highly recommended.

Other published opinions

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 16/20, Two Hats "Everything about Bistro Moncur screams quality, from the warm welcome at the door to the much-loved Michael Fitzjames mural stretching across the wall"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide "This Woollahra lady has had a subtle nip and tuck, highlighting her best features. The comfortably familiar atmosphere and signature mural remain but the addition of a barrelled ceiling of slatted timber gives the room a modern edge"

Sydney Eats 2008 "It speaks volumes for the quality of Sydney food that its top seeand-be-seen joint also serves some of the finest bistro food in town"

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2007 Score: 16/20, Two Hats "The senior meat-market in the adjoining bar may be nicknamed Jurassic Park, but there's nothing dated about this veteran player. Reliability of the highest order combined with seamless service that's affable yet not familiar is the essence of Bistro Moncur's durability - though it keeps up to date with nifty offerings such as a pear and prosecco bellini aperitif."

Gourmet Traveller 2007 Restaurant Guide Score: ** "Ah, Moncur. Some baulk at the idea of a bistro charging these sorts of prices. What they perhaps don't recognise is that for the money, you get total consistency, and it's these guys who set the standards."

Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2006 score 16/20, 2 Hats "Moncur is remarkable. How else can you describe a restaurant that just gets better, setting new standards every year? Start with some of the best and friendliest floor staff with an in-depth knowledge of their food and put them amidst the polished timbers and playful and distinctive wall-length Michael Fitzjames mural. Add time-honoured classics"

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide ** "There are few better ways to spend an afternoon than pondering Damien Pignolet's smart bistro menu from a breezy perspective above Woollahra. The consistency ofthe cuisine and service draws a mixed patronage, from well-heeled locals returning from their neighbourhood providore, to ordinary blokes seeking a great steak."

Sydney Eats 2006 "The original upmarket pub bistro and still one of the best, this stylish space echoes with the happy sounds of the posh, the poseurs and the flushest of the Paddington push as they chow down, cheek by jowl"

SBS Eating Guide to Sydney 2005 "The concept is Parisian bistro and the chef is Damien Pignolet, one of our best-known Aussie-French chefs. He's been doing the modern French thing in Sydney for many years now, and achieves it with style."

SMH Good Food Guide 2005 Score 16/20 Two Hats Good Wine List "Let's be honest. We've doubted this stalwart in recent times, as restaurant competition has remained fierce around the state. But Moncur is better than ever, a rare feat after a dozen years. Much of the menu may sound like modern Sydney, or modern New York, really, but the cooking remains steeped in French technique - a revelation to anyone thinking French means heavy"

Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide 2005 ** Good Vegetarian Options "It would be easy to dismiss Bistro Moncur as a magnet for the superannuated see-and-beseen scene. Easy, that is, were it not for the fact that the food here is undeniably excellent, its consistency second only to that of the restaurant's service. Simplicity inspired by French provincial dining is the order of the day."

Sydney Eats 2005 "The original upmarket pub bistro and still one of the best, this stylish space echoes with the happy sounds of the posh, the poseurs and the flushest of the Paddington push as they chow down"

SMH, good living, 3/2/04, Matthew Evans, Score 16/20,'Comforting occasionally sensational, food is (still) served in a pub dining room in posh old Woolahra.Shame it doesn't take bookings...But overall,it's a great place to dine and Sydney is a much richer place thanks to Pignolet and his blueprint for a modern bistro.'

Daily Telgraph NSW Restaurant Guide 2004, Best Restaurant in a Pub Hotel, A slick buzzy atmosphere in this popular French-style bistro in leafy Woollahra with Damien Pignolet's French-influenced menu.

SMH GFG 2004, Score 16/20, 2 Hats-Really lovely, Good wine list,'seems to have been around forever-yet trying to secure a table, even on a school night, can see you waiting among the well-heeled in the bar next door...Deceptively simple, generous and beutifully cooked probably sums up a menu that offers so many dishes you will want to eat'

Gourmet Traveller Guide 2004- two black stars for casual dining, excellent wine list- details updated- country's priciest bistro, very loud when room is full, food is very good value for money, service is rough, the sirloin with cafe de paris butter is a signature dish.