Ludo — Restaurant in South Perth

I generally write reviews for only two reasons: an outstanding or terrible experience. Unfortunately, despite all the online reviews, I have to say our experience at Ludo was one of the worst I have ever had in Perth. We went there a couple weeks ago, I took a while to write this review to see if the frustration would dissipate but I’m afraid it hasn’t. Three girlfriends and myself had lunch at Ludo on a Sunday; the place was not overly busy but had a few customers. The setting is great I have to admit, that “speak easy meets french bistro” vibe is wonderful! Three of us started with Champagne & the fourth ordered a cocktail, which never came. The 2nd & 3rd bottle of champagne were served warm, so we asked to have it on ice, which the manager was happy to accommodate. Unfortunately, having the bottles behind the bar, we had to get up more than once to ask for top-pups; which defies the whole table service concept. Then came the food… we went for the feed me $75.00pp but decided to add more entree (as my girls and I love to try it all 😋) well we now regret! The highlights were the bread & butter and the oysters - fresh and tasty. The scallop were good but sharing was not a good idea as it was on the XXS size; the croquettas were very yummy. The steak tartare was awful: felt like they emptied the whole bottle of Tabasco in it; octopus and chorizo was bland & oily; the lobster brioche was disgusting: stale brioche and frozen cold lobster, bland, sad and very expensive for what it is; according to google crudo “can refer to meat or fish that's served raw and dressed in citrus juice, spices, olive oil, or a vinaigrette” well it was raw but there was no sight of dressing on it. Mains were not much better, dry chicken, dry fish and an “ok” duck. Mixed leaves salad was good though. All along we tried to be optimistic that it would have get better, but it did not and went worse! My friend had the chocolate fondant for dessert, which we all agreed seemed to have been made with salt rather than sugar! It was so yuck! Service when down as well, and we were getting more and more frustrated by it all, the food, getting up each time we wanted to have some of our bottle. We try not to let it ruin our girls time; finishing up with some espresso martinis (as we always do) what a bad idea! 🤦🏽‍♀️ I, myself had to return 2 cocktails to the bar as both of them were missing the main ingredient: coffee! I was greeted by the manager who agreed to redo them but not without some attitude. At the end, we received our $795.00 bill, without a hint of apology or care. We paid and left vouching to never return! Maybe we had the backup team on that day (front & back of house), but it is such a shame to know that the people who gave us the Old Synagogue and the Beaufort (2 great places) could be behind such a terrible place! Setting: 5/5 - Food: 1/5 - Service: N/A Value for...

We dined at Ludo on New Years Day in the evening, we loved the decor and the ambience that has been created in the basement restaurant location, feelings of warm french bistro. We were warmly greeted by the staff, we booked the $85pp feed me menu. The drinks menu provided ample choice and an extensive selection of wines. Upon being seated no bread & butter was provided for the table, i think that is a missed opportunity. Paper napkins over linen is another poor choice. Our meal began with the chicken vol au vents, which were ok but lacking flavour, we were then given the lamb shoulder cigars, which were tasty, well cooked and the pastry cigar was nice and crispy. We were then provided the king fish crudo, this had been over seasoned and was extremely salty not much else to taste. It seems the staff are only able to accept compliments for the food as when advised of the issue the waitress just looked uncomfortable and said nothing. The large plates were beef bourguignon pie and the confit duck leg served with mash and a mixed salad, both the mash and the salad were very salty and over seasoned, the open pie was ok, and the pastry was lovely and crisp and light, however, I was disappointed as it lacked the burgundy depth of flavour I would have expected, the duck was also again over seasoned and dry, as a staple on a French menu I would have thought the confit duck an easy go to. The final dessert course was the creme brulee and dark chocolate torta, both desserts were full of flavour and well presented the honeycomb and vanilla gelato were delicious. When we left again we were asked if the meal was good, again I did not respond in a positive manner but the staff are clearly not interested in honest feedback to help the venue improve but only interested in being told how good everything is, again I think this is a missed opportunity to grow and improve the offering and guest experience. I really wanted to like Ludo as I live in the area I am always happy to see new venues opening and I think in many ways what has been accomplished here is great, the decor of both venues is a triumph. I am going to chalk this down to teething issues with the menu and I will return and sample the A La Carte of my choosing, the feed me menu selection should be a selection of your chefs best. I think this is a great venue and I applaud what they are trying to do here, however, at the risk of sounding like one of my old school...

Located at the corner of Labouchere Road and Mends Street, located beneath the heritage listed former police station (which has been converted into a bar/cafe) is this amazing subterranean restaurant. It only opened in December 2023 and you wouldn't know it existed because it is completely underground.

We went there mid-week for dinner, to celebrate my wife's birthday. It is a surprisingly venue, with 140 seats. They do two sittings/night and despite being a Wednesday night in January was relatively full (glad I booked ahead).

It is like entering another world, the decor and red lighting give it the feel of a late-night Parisienne restaurant, whoever did the fitout did an amazing job. It is well staffed and our waiter, Tom, was attentive, prompt and provided quality service.

The menu was packed with a sumptuous selection of choices, so in the end we decided to go for the chef's feed me option $85/head including desert, which was four entrees (not including the house baguette with salted butter), two mains (with two sides) and two deserts. First up we had the croquetas (the griche sauce was the prefect compliment), braised lamb shoulder cigars (again the aged balsamic balanced it nicely), kingfish crudo w/finger lime caviar and chicken & mushroom vol-au-vents. Maybe too much pastry and not enough creamy chicken & mushroom.

Our mains were the chicken ballotine and pan-fried Rankin cod, accompanied with Paris mash and sauteed seasonal greens. I felt that the house jus could have been thicker and stickier, and the baby carrot puree didn't quite go with the cod. The Paris mash was so creamy, but it came in a cast iron saucepan which made it hard to get it out of. The deserts were a creme brulee with raspberry cluster - absolutely divine and dark chocolate torta caprese (including a birthday candle) with vanilla gelato and honeycomb. I'm not a chocolate cake fan so I found it too heavy for me.

I should mention the wine list, as it was extensive, comprehensive and provided you with such a wide range of wines. I'm sure that Tom would have been able to describe everyone of them too.

In summary the chef's feed me option was a good way to sample a variety of the dishes on offer but next time we will be selecting from the menu as there are so many tantalising options. We will be back as we found it a great experience...