La Riviera Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Sydney

This place has a wonderful atmosphere and a great selection of food and wine.

Outside of that, our visit had a number of issues that unfortunately bring my scoring down.

Upon arrival, our waiter filled our glasses with sparkling water. As such, we assumed this was included. Our group tends not to drink this but opted to be polite and drink it. Upon receiving the bill, we discovered that we were charged for 2 bottles of sparkling and 3 bottles of still water, despite not being advised of a cost and not requesting the water. Throughout our seating, the waiter continued to refill glasses without being requested to.

Two of our guests were running late due to a personal issue. On their arrival, the waiter made quips about them being late. Despite this most likely being playful (and to encourage a tip), our guests and I did not appreciate it as they already felt guilty for being late.

The Steak Frites was ordered by one of our party and was brought out very undercooked compared to what they requested.

We all declined dessert at the end of the evening, and I requested the bill. Before the bill was brought in, they brought in a serving of ice cream and sang happy birthday, which we deliberately did not request. Upon receiving the bill, we had also been charged for the ice cream, which we did not order and assumed was complimentary due to the circumstance.

The food is wonderful but I don't believe I...

Tucked away in Sydney’s legal district, La Riviera is a charming hidden gem that transports you away from the busy bustle of the CBD. We discovered this restaurant across the road from the Wilson car park, and it captured our eyes instantly. We decided to stop here for a quick dinner before the orchestra. Classic, yet livened up with a modern twist, the ambience transports you back to 1920s France or Italy. We were welcomed with a smile and led through the bar and up the stairs, to a table that was dimly lit by a beautiful copper lamp. We ordered two lychee martini mocktails, however the waiter served us alcoholic martinis instead. This minor mistake was redeemed through the octopus entree, which was seasoned and cooked beautifully and well-paired with the potatoes. For mains, we ordered the steak frites with chimmichurri, ricotta ravioli, and broccolini. We couldn’t fault any of them, but the star of the night was definitely the ravioli! We regret not staying for dessert. We were also pleasantly surprised with how promptly the food and drinks were brought to our table. La Riviera is definitely a hidden gem and we can’t wait to...

Firstly I want to say that we had the ABSOLUTE best experience with choosing La Riviera as our intimate wedding venue. From the beginning, owner Kevin was incredibly accomodating, kind and responsive. It made planning our wedding breeze and makes us want to do it all again!

The venue is so stunning and exactly the vibe we were after - candlelit, romantic and moody. The restaurant is already so beautifully decorated so there wasn’t much we needed to add!

The food was also highly impressive and we couldn’t fault any dish - my personal highlights were the spanner crab tagliatelle, wagyu tonnato, Cappellacci and also my fave lychee Martinis!

Last but not least, the hardworking and friendly staff. Dressed impeccably and the best service, always topping up our drinks and helping out when our candles burnt out. I had so many of our guests reach out to me specifically to compliment the service. Huge shout out to Linda who helped get an espresso martini stain out of my wedding dress at the end of the night!

All in all, we could not recommend this place enough and we hope business continues...