Tabou: French, Surry Hills (9 Oct 2009)

527 Crown Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

http://tabourestaurant.com.au

Excellent French Cuisine

Tabou has been a long standing French favourite of mine. If I had to recommended a French restaurant in Sydney this would be top of my list. I've always enjoyed their food and the decor and seating will make you feel like you're in a French bistro in Paris — it does for me anyway. Prices aren't cheap but neither is the quality and ingredients so when it's a special occasion I try not to think about the prices and just enjoy and savour the delicious dishes on offer. The Soufflé au Fromage is excellent and if your a cheese fan you'll love it — so much lighter than it looks yet still richly fulfilling. The Nage de Crabe reminds me of a Bouillabaisse. It's broth is so good and I'd happily have a huge bowl of it. I'm a huge fan of crab but not the act of getting to the meat — the messiness of cracking the shell was worth it though.

The combination of ingredients for the Confit Duck Leg is more to my liking than the Onde version and the Steak Frites Salade using Tasmanian Angus sirloin is cooked to medium-rare perfection which comes with a lovely fresh side salad. The Vanilla Créme Brulée is possibly the best one I've had for a long time — you won't want to share and goes well with a nice glass of Muscat de Frontignan Languedoc Avarus. The Assiette au Chocolat looks delightful on the plate and fulfills the chocolate cravings although my number one spot for a chocolate treat at the moment would have to go to the Valrhona Chocolate at Aria.

All the wines were very good and you can definitely tell the difference between a real champagne and a sparkling wine but at $26 a glass it sadly doesn't happen often. A variation of the Bellini with rhubarb instead of peach was a pleasant alternative to the classic. For the meat lovers there's a 1.1 kg Côte de Bœuf for $120 which would be a real treat to share with a couple of people. The service has always been friendly and welcoming and even though they might not always be actually French they definitely know their menu and wines. My preference is dining downstairs which I find has more atmosphere.

Other French restaurants visited:

• Tabou - Surry Hills, 27 June 2010

• Sel e Poirve - Darlinghurst, 1 Dec 2009

• Tabou - Surry Hills, 9 Oct 2009

• Onde - Darlinghurst, 25 Sept 2009

• Chez Pascale Cuisine Francaise - Sans Souci, 8 July 2009

Baguette and butter

Soufflé au Fromage: Twice baked gruyere and goat's cheese soufflé $20

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Nage de Crabe: Blue swimmer crab broth, rouget, scampi, almond cream $26

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Confit duck leg, puy lentils, cavolo nero $30

Steak Frites Salade: Tasmanian angus - hereford grass fed sirloin 250 gsm $32 with Café de Paris sauce $4

NV Gosset 'Brut Excellence' Champagne $26/glass

Kir Royale - Champagne, Créme de Cassis $14; Bellini with rhubarb $16 'Foo Foo Laru'

2007 Sancerre Pascal Reverdy 'Terre de Maimbray' Sauvignon Blanc, Loirse Valley $15

2005 Mt Gisborne Pinot Noir Macedon Ranges VIC $13; 2004 Chateau la Roque 'Pic Saint Loup' Mourvedre Grenanche, Languedoc $14

Muscat de Frontignan Languedoc Avarus 2006 $12

Vanilla Créme Brulée $12

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Assiette au Chocolat: Assorted textures of chocolate $15

Table with a street view

Downstairs dining

Upstairs dining

French wall posters

Entrees menu

Mains and sides menu

Côte de bœuf 1.1 kg for $120

Dessert menu

The bill

L'Occitane liquid soap






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