REVIEW
The best restaurants create their own reality and France-Soir does it better than almost any other dining room in the country. It’s classically, proudly, archly, cheekily French yet so very embedded in Melbourne that it’s hard to imagine the city without it. Any day, any time, three decades past and surely three decades hence, career waiters dispense charm, along with flutes of Champagne and just-opened oysters, aged Burgundy and long-braised beef, peppered steaks and crisp, golden frites, inky espresso and fluffy îles flottantes. Classic dishes – buttery snails, mussels in white wine, a salade Niçoise, roasted duck with orange – are ever-present on the large laminated carte, with seasonal specials written in curly cursive (and in French, bien sûr) on wall mirrors. Everything is just so: the flavours true, the cooking capable, the service efficient and the dining room lovingly weathered. But the real France-Soir magic is the energy, panache and burble of the dining room and the feeling that being here is to be at the heart of a certain ruddy, rollicking slice of Melbourne life.
Phone:
(03) 9866 8569
Website:
https://france-soir.com.au/home
Bookings:
Bookings essential
Features:
BYO
Licensed
Bar
Vegetarian friendly
Impressive wine list
Accepted card types:
American Express
Eftpos
MasterCard
Visa
Chef(s):
Géraud Fabre
This review was made independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way.
Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide
Our guide gives a yearly snapshot at the best restaurants to eat at right now. The best-rated restaurants, as judged by the reviewers’ first-hand experience, form our national Top 50.
