Bivouac Canteen & Bar — Restaurant in Perth

We booked dinner at Bivouac Canteen & Bar on Saturday night to celebrate a birthday. Having enjoyed several great meals there before, we were looking forward to another memorable dining experience at what has long been something of a Perth institution.

Unfortunately, this visit left us feeling deeply disappointed and sadly, it has changed our view of Bivouac altogether.

To be fair, the service was excellent. Our wait staff were attentive, friendly, and professional throughout the evening. However, that’s where the positives ended. I should note that after raising our concerns, the dishes were removed from our bill but the overall dining experience was still very underwhelming.

We ordered the Slow Cooked Beef Ribs with date and red wine sauce, pineapple chutney, truffle gremolata, and crispy onion ($48). The portion was generous, seemingly enough for two, but the quality was very poor. Only two small ribs contained any real meat the rest was almost entirely fat. The flavour was lacking, and there was no trace of the promised truffle gremolata anywhere on the dish.

The second main, Crispy Roasted Pork Belly with cauliflower purée, apple lychee and pear mostarda, king oyster mushroom, confit tomato, and green pepper & mustard sauce ($46), was equally disappointing.

The pork was dry, the skin rubbery rather than crispy, and the flavour profile bland, more reminiscent of boiled pork than a roasted dish. The cauliflower purée tasted like tinned apple sauce, and we couldn’t detect any of the green pepper and mustard sauce described on the menu.

We also ordered a side of Chermoula Roasted Brussels Sprouts with gochujang cashew, stone fruit dressing, yuzu maple, paprika & lime roasted cashew ($25). Unfortunately, these were neither roasted nor flavourful. They tasted as if they’d been reheated in boiling water and hastily plated, with no hint of chermoula or any of the other advertised flavours.

When we raised our concerns with the manager, he listened but immediately attributed the issue with the beef ribs to a supplier problem. This response felt dismissive and failed to acknowledge the lack of quality control from the kitchen.

When asked about the missing truffle gremolata, he didn’t offer an explanation or evidence that it was included in the dish. Regarding the pork and sprouts, he simply stated that they would be removed from the bill, which they were, but there was no genuine apology or effort to restore confidence in the restaurant.

We left disappointed, having finished our wine and lamented what used to be one of our favourite spots in Perth. The food style seems to have shifted dramatically, now leaning more toward Indian-inspired flavours rather than the Mediterranean-inspired menu Bivouac was once known for.

It’s unfortunate to see such a decline in both quality and culinary direction. While the service team remains strong, the food no longer lives up to Bivouac’s reputation...

Our recent visit to this restaurant was unfortunately very underwhelming, especially considering the price point.

It started with the duck, which was extremely disappointing. The sauce was overly salty and tasted burnt, while the duck itself was dry. When we mentioned this to our server, we were first told that "this is how the duck is supposed to be." Fine — and tastes are subjective — but the sauce was genuinely inedible. After the waiter tasted it himself, he admitted something had gone wrong. Apparently, the sauce had been made earlier that morning and had deteriorated in flavor. They did handle this by removing the duck from the bill, which was appreciated, but it’s a shame you have to argue first before being taken seriously — and even worse that a high-end restaurant would serve a sauce that isn’t fresh.

We also ordered hummus and flatbread. The portion of flatbread was completely disproportionate to the amount of hummus. For the price you’re paying, you expect at least enough bread to finish your dish. It felt stingy and poorly thought out.

Then came the most frustrating part: the end of the evening. The restaurant closes at 10pm, and we received our bill (around $200 for three people, minus $50 for the duck) just before closing time. By 10:06pm, we were standing outside. Staff had already begun putting chairs on tables before 10pm — we were quite literally being pushed out the door. It felt rushed and unwelcoming. To make matters worse, we were asked when we got our main course if we wanted to order dessert because the kitchen was closing. That kind of pressure ruins the experience. You feel rushed, unable to relax, and clearly not valued as a guest.

We also asked to split the bill, and instead of helping us, they told us to figure out the remaining amount ourselves — something you'd never expect at a restaurant in this price range.

While the staff was generally friendly, the price-to-quality ratio was extremely disappointing. The fact that customers are hurried out the door at closing time, is unacceptable in a place that positions itself as high-end.

Unfortunately, based on this experience, I won’t...

Have to say I had been looking forward to visiting Bivouac for a long time as I love middle eastern cuisine. Had a booking 12 months ago but it was cancelled when we arrived at the restaurant due to electricity being cut off to the building. Upon arriving at 12.30 today there was only one other table seated which should have been a warning. When I looked at the menu and saw a chicken tikka skewer and other Asian influenced dishes that should have been another warning. Unfortunately the food tasted like someone who has come about as close to cooking middle eastern food by having a late night kebab. There were no aromatic herbs or spices and who has ever seen a middle eastern menu without lamb on it which is the protein staple of that part of the world. Every dish lacked seasoning and flavour and the goat was served in a puddle of liquid that just made the pulled meat taste soggy, we left most of that $49 dish. The beef tangine was better but still badly lacked flavour. My taste buds still long for the incredible middle eastern flavours served by Ismail Tosun at Eminem's years ago. Not sure if the restaurant has changed hands recently but definitely will never be going back. Oh and the service was very average, there were only 4 tables seated when we left and the waiter left our empty glasses for way too long and then seemed surprised when we asked for another drink, plus we hand to hand him the dirty plates and cutlery from the entre that was covered in hummus etc as he seemed to think it would be ok to use those again for the mains. Not sure how a restaurant with only 2-4 tables could possibly be this bad but explains whey no one was coming in for lunch. If you enjoy authentic middle eastern food then do not eat here. For almost $240 (oh yeah the wine by the glass from average WA producers was about $16-$18 per glass) would have been much better spent by having a toasted cheese sandwich at home washed down by a $200...