L'Amuse Bouche — Restaurant in Sydney

My wife and I had been searching for a French restaurant in Sydney to enjoy some comforting dishes and reconnect with a taste of home. We came across Amuse Bouche, which boasts an impressive 4.9 rating, and felt confident this was the place to try. Upon arrival, the waiter proudly emphasized their high quality and claimed they were the best French restaurant in Sydney.

Excited, we ordered the boeuf bourguignon, snails, ducks and few sides. Unfortunately, our experience fell far short of expectations. For those French or familiar with boeuf bourguignon, it’s a quintessential French dish, featuring slow-cooked beef that’s tender and lean. What we received was the polar opposite—the worst boeuf bourguignon I’ve ever had. The meat was riddled with fat, making every bite unpleasant. It seemed as though they had used the cheapest cut of beef, such as silverside, which is completely unsuitable for this dish.

The snails were equally disappointing. They lacked the flavorful infusion of garlic butter and seasoning that defines this classic dish. Worse still, they tasted old and unappetizing.

Even the bread, a cornerstone of any French meal, was substandard. Frankly (No exageration), even basic supermarket bread from Coles would have been better.

One of the dishes we tried was just below average and completely forgettable.

The only thing remotely French about this restaurant was the butter tablets.

I am genuinely surprised by the high rating and apparent bias. In France, a restaurant of this quality wouldn’t survive. To make matters worse, this deeply unsatisfying meal cost us a staggering $160...

I went here tonight and the food was delicious. I did feel the host and waiter was very rude - I was a single person so obviously I didn’t have lots of money for the business to take. So instead of attending to me I had to wait very long to get a drink to get my bill, whilst the two other tables who had more guests had the waiter have 5min conversations with them whilst leaving a simple and straightforward customer like me waiting. It is bad enough going to dinner by yourself but to then have the waiter isolate you and not even say goodbye when you leave whilst hugging and kissing the other guests who leave was not kind. Do better.

UPDATE as per comment I also find it condescending to suggest as a single person I’m unqualified to leave a balanced review because I was ‘alone.’ That has nothing to do with just serving someone when they want a drink so they don’t have to walk up and ask, and also explaining the other nicities the restaurant provides, and also saying goodbye - none of which were met. Yes, you may strive to treat all your customers equally but you certainly failed to ask if I wanted another drink and say goodbye (and there were only two other tables in the restaurant present), so in this case of, on the balance of probabilities I’d say that falls more on the unequal side. Maybe it wasn’t because I was single, maybe it was because I am Eastern European maybe, and ethnicity has something to do...

Went to this restaurant for our anniversary dinner and left a bit disappointed. We used to be regulars here back before a new owner took over and it has unfortunately lost most of its charm. The dishes are very VERY expensive, especially for this location just off Taylor Square, and we didn’t find the food up to scratch. The baguette wasn’t free as it should be or even $5, no it was $5.50 and turned out to be one of those bake at home ones from Woolies. Literally- same taste, same look. The so-called “Foie Gras” was a liver pâté that maybe had a sliver of Food Gras in- if any as it had zero of the typical taste. The beef tartar was okay but clearly made from meat out of the freezer which is a total no go. My partner had the special of the day “value” steak and boy, was that a nasty cheap cut of meat! To top it all off, the initially super eager service ended being up being too busy when we and another party wanted to get the bill and leave, while the non-empowered second in charge backpacker waitress could not even process payments and just stood there while we were waiting to finally leave (slapped with a massive credit card surcharge, no less). Never again- I predict this place will be “For lease” once again...