La Louisiane — Restaurant in Adelaide

Ah, La Louisiane. A most unexpected yet profoundly welcome addition to the culinary fabric of Adelaide. It’s as if, one moment, you’re strolling along the all-too-ordinary King William Street, and then BAM, you’ve slipped through a secret door into a veritable Parisian bistro. A gastronomic delight, fit for the most refined Parisian restaurateurs or perhaps even the most jaded of them all.

As you descend that marble staircase, a tribute to the great American city of New York, you’re greeted not by the harshness of reality, but by the soft glow of flickering candles. The dim light bathes the scene in mystery, a prelude to the wonder that awaits. And there, standing at the foot of your journey, is a warm smile, a nod to the best of hospitality.

A special welcome drink ? Naturally. A special house made mini martini ? Would be rude to say no!!!

The bar itself, oh, the bar! Is a quaint little affair, exuding character like a forgotten film set from the 1950s. It beckons you with a cocktail napkin embrace that says, “Come, sit, stay.” And for a moment, you are transported not just into another space, but into another world, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, perhaps? The hustle of King William Street? What hustle? One would never know.

And then, the menu. Ah, the menu! A cascade of French history, beautifully drenched in modern Provencal elegance. It's a culinary sonnet, an opus, and you are but a humble listener caught in the rhythm of its offerings. Sea urchin. Salmon roe. Oysters. Caviar. Sashimi tuna, with a French twist. And of course, foie gras, because, why not? It's not just food, it’s an invitation to experience life.

But it doesn’t end there. Oh, no. The menu is also a love letter to those with a carnivorous bent. Beef tartare, steak frites, rib-eye to your exacting desires. But here’s the thing, you must indulge, the Gruyère Burger and those French fries. It is, dare I say, a near-perfect execution, a masterpiece that would make even the great Paul Bocuse look on with a knowing nod of approval. A joy, a revelation, a triumph of the modern French bistro.

And the wine list? It’s vast, my friends, a lush, sprawling expanse of carefully curated selections, primarily French, but sprinkled oh, delicately sprinkled with local, small-batch wines that could stand proudly next to any of the great Burgundies. Adelaide, meet Bordeaux. Bordeaux, meet Adelaide.

La Louisiane, hidden yet in plain sight, is a gem, a jewel, a slice of Paris right here in Adelaide. Bravo, La...

Im sorry to have to leave this review but i cant shake the dissapointment. How did most reviewers on here enjoy it so much? Did we have bad luck ? Too old for this easy-going casual although $60 for a steak isnt cheap? Chef on holidays? I made a booking more than 3 weeks ago for a Thursday night at 6pm. On arrival the hostess seated us in the bar in the walk-through right in front of the band. I kindly asked if we cant sit somewhere else like in one of the main dining areas ? But was told no, we could sit in one of the booths down the side of the bar. I therefore can not comment on the romantic atmosphere. All night i had to watch walk-ins be offered our original bar table but all declining it. I booked well in advance but was offered the worst table in the house? I wasnt going to make it more uncomfortable for my partner to ask to move again the second time. In any case, only after going to the bathroom half-way through the night did i see the other lovely dining room, both with empty 2 seater tables. Food: Excellent terrine which i felt was made in-house. Snails ive had much better although my wife said it was fine. Am i mistaken that the correct French bread should have been crustless soft brown to soak up the sauce? The steak was unseasoned, no salt at all while the huge pile of “McCains”-style chips was heavily oversalted. I would have been much happier with a 1/4 amount of fries, made in-house, not bought in bags. A bit of French aioli with the fries would have been great. The burger, sorry, but very boring with a chunk of raw onion on, not rings but a whole chunk. Creme brulee was okay but it was not cold inside and tasted eggy. Madelines were dissapointing as we love them. Only tasted it, could not eat it. Looked deep-fried? Tasty caramel sauce. Service from the manager was good, nice suprise with snails, thank you. Blonde hostess not so much and had difficulty understanding her. In the end had brief service from a young curly brunette lady which if she had been our server, probably could have turned out better. Felt very neglected in the bar booth area with regards to service. We booked more than 3 weeks ago but why take our reservation if you only have seating left for us in the bar ? We spent over $300 for two so not a cheap night out for what...

A nice night out with a few things we'd love to see tidied up to make this a better experience, especially with a premium price tag (our cover was $450 for 2 ppl).

The good: The atmosphere is great, such a perfect spot for this restaurant, you can imagine walking into it in France and being right at home.

Our waitress was lovely (Marie maybe?) - she made some great recommendations and didn't miss the mark, keep her!

The food overall was very high quality, the cheese soufflé was top notch, and quality of oysters with a mignonette, perfect.

We had the special, a 1kg rib eye with béarnaise, fries and greens. The quality of meat exceptional - well sourced!

The bad: We noted it was our 10 year anniversary in the booking, we were the first to arrive at the restaurant at 5:00pm for a 5:15pm sitting. No mention on arrival, or the whole night of our occasion unfortunately.

We were told on arrival we must be done by the 7:15pm sitting end as the restaurant was very busy tonight, this was fine but after our sitting, we finished a bottle of wine at the bar and for the next hour, multiple tables in our area remained empty, including our table for another 45minutes. Another table who had been moved to the bar said the same thing - hopefully something that could be fixed up by adjusting sitting times to be a little longer.

The $150 1kg steak main course (shared) - we got verbally quoted $100 at the table, found out it was $150 at bill time. Cook on it was meant to be medium rare, came out about 75% rare. We took about 400g home and finished the cook ourselves, delicious cut but for that price, it needs to be bang on from the kitchen. Also took 30-40mins to cook so recommend add this to reasons to review your sitting times, we couldn't fit dessert in our time left at the table.

Lastly, on things we'd like to see improved; the price on a basket of fries at $15 is just ridiculous, and the $15 plate of greens that was to accompany a 1kg steak, was quite underwhelming for two people - just a bit more generosity where you can as a restaurant goes a long way if you're charging $15 for sides.

We felt like we wanted to find this as a place we'd be back to many times, but sadly not sure, the little experience factors took the shine off a great...