When the light (or second Negroni) hits just right, an evening at this date-night favourite can transport you to faraway places. Oysters, wickedly silky duck-liver parfait, terrine and other bistro hits taste straight outta Montmartre, while celebrated signatures (Duck frites! Crab toast!) and a buzzy three-tiered dining room feel more than a little Manhattan. But it’s the typically Antipodean one-two of spirited, unstuffy service plus the kitchen’s wry humour that confirms, oui, Le Rebelle is a French-Australian national helping make Mount Lawley’s resurgent Beaufort Street precinct great again. Kingfish loin and belly plus an oyster cream carefully set with fish roe and finger lime equals a colourful ode to the ocean. A meaty tranche of swordfish and pickled chicken hearts swimming in a glossy pepper sauce coolly flips surf and turf. Thirsty? French and local names happily coexist on a drinks list that’s both approachable as well as aspirational.
