Le Coq Healthy Rotisserie — Restaurant in Sydney

I feel really bad writing this review and I reached out to the restaurant more than once to better clarify my experiences there, and after a couple of tries I finally got a pretty curt response from them. Comms were always a tad tricky as there was generally no one there to take my call. Indeed, more than once I gave up and swung by the restaurant only to find no one from management there. Getting a call back was a feat.

Look, the food here is good and we loved how this place shone through COVID, I’m actually a loyal customer, but our recent bottomless brunch 60th birthday celebration was a bit of a debacle and ultimately embarrassing.

My partner’s special day started poorly. We were a party of 22 for a Saturday late lunch and upon our arrival (the 2 of us were 20 minutes early), we were offered tap water as we waited for our guests. Not an especially hospitable opening gesture for someone bringing such a big party. Indeed, their website homepage asserts that you get a free champagne for a birthday booking…but not for us.

It all really went downhill when the full party were seated and there were hardly any drinks on offer. Seems Le Coq can only bring one drink at a time, no matter the size of the gathering. Consequently, it took near 25 minutes for some of the party to get a beer and the wait staff, who were basically pleasant, were clearly overwhelmed. Because of all this, I was bizarrely roped into becoming a drinks waiter on the day. So, instead of sitting back and enjoying the lunch, the waitress had me take orders on my phone to assist. Because I was keen to get the party started I stepped up, but it was odd.

I know how a bottomless brunch works and having a couple of bottles of champagne good to go, along with a few beers as a start is not abnormal. Asking a guest to act as wait staff is.

Eventually, after the birthday celebrant’s intervention, bottles did finally arrive, but the tone was now set. I was embarrassed as I had coordinated 22 people for a zero birthday and the ‘special occasion’ gloss had evaporated.

I guess my point is that I reached out afterwards in the hope that the management might acknowledge that systems were not in place and say they, like me, were unhappy that the event didn’t go to plan. It shows willing. These things happen. We all have our good days and our bad days…which I get. But choosing to ignore my correspondence (which Le Coq request as a follow up to your meal with them) was telling. When I did get a response (after me prompting them…twice), it was brusque and offered no expression of regret.

Shame.

Sometimes all you need is to have someone agree that things didn’t play out right, share your disappointment, and move on. Really, at this point that would have fixed this muddle.

There’s a lot to like about this restaurant, but my advice is to keep the party small and the expectations about service low. And be grateful if someone actually answers the phone...

It was my birthday yesterday. I had booked a table for 5:30pm. It states on your website you can book at this time (previously when I made the booking and still today), also it states on google (previous to today) your opening and closing times and that you are open from 5:30pm for dinner. I arrived at 5:25pm to the restaurant, the lights were on in the restaurant, the windows were open, the small door to the left side of the restaurant was open and unlocked... (which after 5:30pm we went inside to call out for someone.) My friends arrived at 5:30pm, after waiting for five minutes and calling out we were puzzled. There were also other customers who I spoke to whom had just arrived at the same time as me and clearly had also made a booking for 5:30pm. Another customer said to me "Did you book for 5:30 too?" after we had all been standing out the front waiting for some time.

At about 5:40/45pm there was a chef who appeared inside, he let me and my three friends inside, showed us to our table and said sorry the waitress is running late.

We waited until 6:05pm until the waitress arrived. When the waitress approached us there was no apology or accountability, when I mentioned to him it was my birthday and I had a booking for 5:30pm he completely dismissed my concerns. He said I was wrong as Le Coq doesn't open at 5:30 and he doesn't know how I made that booking. If that is in fact the case, it is still the restaurant at fault, not mine. I should not have been made to wait over 30 minutes when I made a booking that was confirmed via email and text from Le Coq for 5:30pm. As I expressed my concerns and explained this to the waitress, he just sort of shrugged his shoulders, gave a nod and looked at me blankly.

Really disappointing for such a beautiful restaurant with amazing food. I have been here previously with never any issues arising such as this, always amazing and polite staff and service. I was excited to bring some close friends here to share my birthday with and to share such a great place and experience with them. Feeling disappointed about the service provided on my special day is a understatement. I feel that there should have been some form of compensation for the...

A few weeks back I was searching YouTube on how to roast chicken without it becoming dry and I discovered how French restaurants cook Rotisserie Chicken. A quick google search lead me to this restaurant.

I didn’t do any deep research on this place beforehand and just assuming it was a suburban chicken shop but I was surprised it is actually a casual fine dining restaurant with prices to match.

I was on holiday so I took the plunge and went in. I was told but the staff that the chickens are indeed cooked before placing in the rotisserie but were very coy about any other trade secret. I suspect it is poached in chicken stock first to evenly cook the meat and keep it moist before the skin is made crispy in the rotisserie.

A 1/4 chicken, duck fat potatoes and iceberg lettuce was $30 which is to be expected if it is indeed pre cooked in chicken stock. The test came in inspecting the chicken wing and the meat was succulent. A takeaway chicken shop would leave the chicken wing burnt to a crisp and inedible. This place is the real deal French double cooked rotisserie chicken.

After this I was still hungry and it occurred to me the fine dining menu is designed for people to have an entree and a dessert so I ordered the duck croquette and later the crepe Suzette.

The croquette where nice and reminded me of the croquettes that KFC use to sell in the early 80s. The crepe Suzette was excellent as well. I was freaking out over how the alcohol was burning clear. I had to wave my hand over the dish to tell when the flames were extinguished.

Overall I enjoyed my experience here. I wouldn’t eat here everyday due to the cost but I would easily...