Loulou Bistro, Boulangerie & Traiteur — Restaurant in Sydney

Food was nice, but nothing could make make up for the abysmal service. I have never felt less welcomed in a business. We had an 8pm booking on a Monday, which I’d strongly recommend they stop taking as not one staff member wanted to be there.

Despite calling ahead to say we’d be 5 minutes late, the door was locked when we arrived and multiple staff just watched us try to open for a few minutes before reluctantly coming to ask if we had a booking. They then seated us along with about 6 other full tables into one section of the restaurant, despite there being ample space to spread diners out. No one talked us through the menu or the wine list, our waitress - a young woman - just came over 5 minutes in to tell us the kitchen was closing and we needed to order. She could offer no insight on a comprehensive wine list. Did not mention specials. Took our food and drinks order, got both wrong, and shortly after, food was dumped on the table in front of no one in particular.

Despite having many diners still mid-meal, staff then flung open balcony doors (freezing) and started dragging in tables in to reset for the morning.

I saw another table get so sick of waiting to make a drink order, they poured themselves a glass of a neighbouring table’s wine by mistake and then were so mortified they drank it in one go.

No one offered us dessert menus or even asked how our meal was. We were simply brought the bill when our plates were cleared (9.30pm), as were the other remaining tables.

When we asked if we could have another drink, a new waiter - a young man - was so reluctant to accommodate we just gave up. To his credit, 5 minutes later he came back and apologised / said we could, but then also knew nothing about the wine list so suggested we just have the same again. We did, only to be told half way through the bottle they’d just recommended that we’d need to leave in 10 minutes as they were closing.

End to end, the worst dining experience I’ve had in ages. I get it’s a Monday, but don’t take a booking if you’re not willing to offer an experience worth...

Attended Loulou Bistro for a group event. We all had the shared "Friends & Family" menu which I think is $85pp. French food is my absolute favourite cuisine, and walking in I had high hopes - lovely decor, adjoining patisserie and a pretty good looking menu. Unfortunately, after 3.5 hours to serve 3 courses, I walked away disappointed with the restaurant (although had a great time with our friends).

Wine list, whilst pretty expensive, was extensive which I took as also a good sign of things to come. This unfortunately was not continued throughout the lunch. Firstly, after selecting wines, we had to follow up several times (and waited over 20mins) for our drinks. This was a trend throughout the lunch, super bizarre as we weren't ordering anything unusual.

The starters were ok - chicken liver parfait was the best. But bizarrely the endive salad came out significantly later than the others, to the point where I thought we were just going to mains.

The mains - bizarrely came out as a single small portion with crispy skin to share between four, but was tasty. Chicken was a bit dry and sauce was unremarkable. Portions were inadequate for the price.

Our friends brought cakes which were portioned up and served by the kitchen. Not only did they cut all the pieces at wildly different sizes, they miscounted to had to take back some of the bigger pieces to sort out.

Really odd. Food was ok but slow and small portions, service was not up to scratch (not rude, but just like confusing how they struggled to complete simple things like get drinks in reasonable time), ambience ok. For similar pricings at other Sydney French restaurants, I would take my...

If you’re looking for a chaotic place with questionable service and surprise fees, look no further — this place has it all.

The lunch started off strong when a waiter spilled a full bottle of water all over our table, coaches, and my clothes. No towels, no assistance — just a casual seat swap and a shrug from the manager: “We’re all human, mistakes happen.” How comforting.

The food? Decent. Not mind-blowing, but it did eventually arrive — after we sat through a 30-minute intermission between entrées and mains. Apparently, the kitchen only begins cooking the next course after they’ve cleared the previous plates. Efficient? Not quite. It’s not steak BTW.

Now for the real gem of the lunch — the birthday. We brought a cake (as one does for a birthday lunch) only to be told it’s $5 per person for “cakeage” — something not listed anywhere on their website. But wait, it gets better: even if we wanted to buy a cake from their own pastry, we still couldn’t eat it in the dining area. So what’s the plan, blow out a candle on a little free financier?

When we raised concerns, the manager offered us… another “sorry” and a vague hope for our understanding. Apparently, endless apologies are the house special.

Top it all off with a 15% Sunday surcharge $35 — for what, exactly? The spilled water? The invisible cake policy? When we asked about the $5 cake fee being part of their “company policy,” we were told it wasn’t listed because… well, it just is. Right. Very transparent.

In short: overpriced, underdelivered, and full of surprises (not the good kind). If you’re celebrating something special, do yourself a favor — go...