bibo Wine Bar — Restaurant in Sydney

Charged my account a "no show" fee of $70 after we were on time for our reservation and spent over $200 on food and wine.

Prior to this surprise the Monday following the meal on Saturday, I would have given this restaurant a passable 3 stars based solely on the amazing food. However the service was completely lacking, the staff were running around like headless chickens and created a stressed out environment. After we were seated we waited 10 minutes before anyone came to the table to greet us and then we waited over 25 minutes for drinks to be brought to the table.

After ordering we asked for wine recommendations to match our dishes given the restaurant advertises a sommelier in house to suggest wines, however the waitress simply suggested a nice wine rather one that paired well. After the main course was brought out, it took another 10 minutes for the paired wines and sides to come out, by which time the main was cold.

The food itself was good, the produce was high quality and after receiving our starters and wines we could forgive the clearly terrible management/service and enjoy the food and wine.

But, this is definitely not a fine dining, relaxed experience as boasted on their website and the food is not enough to carry the chaotic environment. I would def. not go back and def. would not recommend it.

Also please refund the "no show" fee you charged my...

We are regular diners at Sydney’s most exceptional restaurants and had walked past Bibo a few times. It looked nice from the outside so we decided to give it a try. We ordered the mushroom for entree and it came sitting on a thick layer of mayonnaise-type sauce. Couldn’t taste the mushroom over the thick coating and the mayo. For mains we tried the special which was saffron risotto with beef and also ordered the Market fish. The risotto had nice flavours but it’s texture was not nice - it was very soggy and thick like a rice pudding and way too much cheese. It arrived without the beef and when we asked the waiter, he said it came served separately. When it did arrive, the beef tasted bland and had no flavour. It seemed like they just mixed in some plain Passatta sauce and served it up. The market fish was cooked well but the flavour combination was weird - it arrived sitting on a bed of puréed sweet potato with no crispy skin as promised by the waiter, and topped with a tonne of roasted coconut flakes. We ordered the cauliflower as a side as recommended by the waiter and it was covered in a capsicum flavoured mayonnaise. We couldn’t eat it, it was mind boggling as to why they felt the need to drown a lovely oven roasted cauliflower with mayonnaise. The only enjoyable dish of the evening was the bread and...

All I can say is wow!! I booked Bibo’s private upstairs room for my best friend’s hens dinner and I have been blown away from start to finish with their service. Hilary had been my main contact from the very beginning and was very transparent, accomodating and kind about the booking process and what was included. She then made sure to answer any last minute questions I had in the lead up so promptly with no problem at all! The night of, our host Matthew was just absolutely fantastic. What a kind, charismatic host who went above and beyond for us - nothing was ever too much trouble. I mistakenly forgot to mention a few allergies we had (fish being one which was also the main ingredient in the starter), and it appeared to be no issue at all, Matthew made it seem so simple to get an alternative meal organised and it was delicious. It was the small things that really made us feel taken care of, and I was so impressed! Alongside this, the food was absolutely perfect and the space is gorgeous for a moody, intimate function. I can’t wait to come back and try normal dinner service, but I can’t recommend booking Bibo for an event enough - and especially with Matthew’s service!...