Bon Ap' Petit Bistro — Restaurant in Melbourne

Tried out proper French for my birthday and i will definitely be coming back for more! I was greeted (and wished happy birthday) upon my arrival - which goes to show the staff’s attention to detail! Have booked birthday lunches / dinners in the past at other places which received no acknowledgement.

We went with the 2 course meal in the end as it worked out better for us (plus there wasn’t many desserts to choose from), $50 per person was so worth as we got to choose from the wonderful and diverse selection of Entrees and Mains.

We were served some complimentary bread with our entrees, which were a little too hard for my liking.

The marinated octopus was so incredibly tender, and it was marinated with olives, potato slices and dried tomatoes which all complimented each other great. I used my bread to soak up the very tasty oil that was at the bottom of my bowl.

The salmon was amazing! Thick cuts, amazing texture and very generous portions. The cheese cream paired so well with the salmon, the fresh salad gave each mouthful great zing from the lemon vinaigrette.

Ordered our steak rare and it did not disappoint, the mushroom sauce was so tasty! I love how thick the cut of steak was, really helped preserve the juiciness and flavour. The french fries were the best fries i’ve ever had. So extremely crunchy and tasty.

It was my first time trying Beef Tartare, was a little apprehensive and scared it would smel bad but I really enjoyed the condiments added to it and the egg yolk made it all so smooth and creamy. Definitely well executed and so easy to eat. The side of salad helped cleanse your palette. Fries again, we’re superb.

We were thoroughly satisfied with our meal and cannot wait to come back to try other dishes!

📸 POULPE & POMMES A L’HUILE SAFFRANEE (Marinated Octopus), SAUMON EN GRAVLAX (Salmon Gravlax), STEAK TARTARE AUX COUTEAU, STEAK AUX POIVRES

📸 Escargots, Ratatouille, POISSON DU JOUR (Fish of the Day), POULET PURÉE (sous-vide chicken), STEAK TARTARE AUX COUTEAU, STEAM AUX POIVRES, TARTE BOURDALOUE (poached pear tart), FONDANT CHOCOLAT...

Unfortunately we did not experience the same experience as the other reviews. We decided to have our colleagues leaving dinner here (returning home to France) we have been here plenty of times with a mix of good and bad customer service. Last night took the cake as the worst. Our party was booked for 6pm I was the first to arrive at 5:57 on arrival I mentioned the name the booking was under only to be rudely responded ( always rude bearded waiter) with “well how many people, because there could be a million people with that name.” Then I was seated in the upstairs dining room and asked if we could please turn the heater on just to take the chill out the air the waitress was happy to do that. As we all started arriving that’s when things took a turn. Our waiter was awful rude and pushy. We understood the table was for a 2 hour sitting but there was no need for the rudeness and told to get off by 7:45 so you better order now, especially when the bill was close to $700!. I asked for the steak medium and another 2 friends ordered the same but medium rear. Starters came out fast yet felt like we had to scoff it down with constant reminders of the time.. then the mains where I was hit by the plate on the shoulder probably due to the waiter rushing down the orders, my steak looked a little on the rare side so I swapped mine around with my friend as we thought maybe the waiter had mixed up the plate.. (easy to do) thankfully I did because the other steak was almost blue.!there was no mention if everything was ok with the meal..and the waiter being so rude there was no way anyone was going to risk even more abrupt responses. The time had come for our rude waiter to rush us downstairs saying you can eat dessert at the bar (no thanks) and to be completely ignored once at the bar. We decided to pay the bill and get the hell outta there. Unfortunately this used to be a nice place for us to come and have an afternoon happy hour wine and cheese but the amount of chances (and money spent) we have given Bon Ap’ only to be meet...

Last night was my first visit to Bon Ap and my group and I were very excited. We were seated in this lovely, secluded table because it was a birthday celebration which I was thought was nice.

The food was a very mixed bag. We ordered the cheese plate and I found that for $32, the portions were very small. The fig paste and crackers mentioned on the menu were not included, and subbed with grapes and bread without informing us. Two in our party ordered the duck à l’orange and LOVED it. All three desserts were very well received. However, the mussels as well as the leek entree lacked flavor and were disappointing.

The service was extremely off-putting. Our waiter was inattentive, curt, and made it seem as if we were a nuisance. As we finished our entrees and cheese plate, he rushed in to clear the table, and didn’t even ask if we wanted to hang on to the cheese board and keep picking. He literally had his hand on the board to take it away, without asking if we were finished, and then very tersely asked if we wanted to take the rest of the cheese before he took it away. It was extremely rushed and quite rude. It was apparent to us (we have all worked in the service industry) that our mains had been fired prematurely and they were eager to get them out.

Were it not for the service, I would be eager to come back and try it again. But after that, it’s a no-go. A meal like that (and that expensive) should be an experience, and good service is massive...