bar margaux

great service, attentive and personable staff, nice selection of cocktails and wine by the glass, only me as a real drinker so i did not explore the by the bottle wine list. frites were well cooked and perfectly seasoned, my partner thought her vego pasta a little lack lustre, my duck breast was correct doneness, but it did not have a good texture, the skin was not crisp and it was all a bit one dimensional, with chewy connective tissues. sous vide is not a good method for duck breast i think; i would prefer to wait a little and have it cooked to order. the raspberry soufle was delicious, dish of the night. we loved our outing here but probably would not go here for the food, and, the everleigh is closer.

where to begin with this sad excuse for a “french” bistro (spoiler: nobody working there was french or seemingly had any knowledge of french food or wine). firstly, i’m not sure if they’re saving money on energy bills but there is no light in this place. mood lighting is great but maybe make your menu a bigger/darker font so we can read it without using our phone lights? the whole meal was a comedy of errors. the only vege main option is the saddest pasta you will ever eat (basically plain pasta with peas) and mine came out so over-salted it tasted like sea water. of course none of the wait staff asked why i didn’t finish this inedible meal. cocktails were completely forgotten, someone’s main was forgotten, and to top it all off at the end of the meal when bringing our bill out we were told there was a 10% surcharge because there were “more than 6” of us dining and “it’s just our policy”. i have never heard of this policy before and it’s pretty sneaky mentioning it at the last minute. moving forward, my policy will be never to step foot in this place again.

bar margaux is by far the most incredible restaurant myself and my partner have ever been to! the staff who served us were absolutely amazing, they made us feel right at home and we’re extremely helpful with explaining the menu and giving advice for alcohol, dinner and dessert. the food was insane. and the price we were absolutely shocked by (in a good way)
we love you guys we will 100% be visiting you when we come back to melbourne ❤️

went to bm last night before lockdown v5. unfortunately the steak was below par however restaurants can’t be expected to get it 100% right all the time. especially in the current climate. we passed our feedback onto the waitress. we were thanked and told the chef would be told. the waitress returned and apologised and offered us free drinks (which we didn’t take). well handled. when i ordered i had asked for hot english mustard however they didn’t have any so the chef sent us a hot chilly salsa instead. the staff are very discrete and attentive. also they are spot on with covid safe practices. a table in between diners. unlike a lot of restaurants which try to get as many patrons in; which i understand given the troubles the hospitality industry find themselves in. but the obvious limiting of patrons at bm and effect on their income is refreshing, welcome and given we are battling an outbreak, made me feel very safe. 5 stars because i’ve been before and the food has always been great and well done to the staff. we had a great night!

booked a table with some friends and upon arrival was asked to wear a face mask. i said i have a lawful medical exemption so cannot wear one and yet i was still refused entry and told that even with my actual written medical exemption from my doctor, that i am still not welcome! clearly this venue do not know the law, no one can be refused entry with a lawful reason for not wearing a mask. utterly disappointing and will never return to this bar, nor will i be recommending it to my family or friends. so many better bars in melbourne that don’t discriminate! big thumbs down for this place.

service was good, ambience is loud and hip. food was good and very much french - all slightly too heavy and salty for my liking. had the onion soup, escargot, beef tartare and steak frites.

bar margaux is a place i would definitely recommend and even visiting again.

entrees we ordered the onion soup, escargot and pork rillette. all were delicious but my favourite was the pork rillette.

mains we ordered the steak and duck fries. pretty basic and tasted good. also ordered cocktails with our meal which was delicious but a warning to those who don’t drink much theyre quite strong 🙃

to finish it off the staff were well presented and friendly. some items on the menu were in french would recommend familiarising before hand as you have limited time to dine.

tonight was time for date night - during “normal times” we go out quite often “just because” and it was time to do just that but instead stay in “just because”!

the cook at home menu from @barmargauxmelbourne really intrigued us and sounded great!

overall the food was very rich and tasty which largely made up from the extremely substandard ordering and delivery process which put quite a dampener on our special night! i also managed to somehow completely stuff up dessert which just required heating in the oven - became a pancake not a cake which was such a shame!

we picked an entree, 2 mains and a dessert to share which was more than enough for 2 people!

1. soupe à l'oignon (french onion soup with gruyere, croutons and chives)

2. coq au vin (braised chicken in red wine with mushrooms and lardons, served with pomme puree)

3. beef bourguignon (braised beef in red wine with mushrooms and lardons, served with pomme puree)

4. pear, dark chocolate & pain d’épice cake (with vanilla crème fraîche)

one of the perks from iso life is to be able to partake in fine dining at home. bar margaux's full menu is available for takeaway and thought and care has been put into packaging them neatly and keeping the food warm.

an excellent meal, one with more hits than misses. the mains were delicious, especially the beef bourguignon and cassoulet. bold and rich in flavours, and deeply savoury.

the pine mushroom, and puy lentils and winter greens were the perfect accompaniment to the mains - light on the palate and balanced out the richness of the mains.

a most enjoyable meal, and i can't wait to dine in in the future.

went here with some friends to try out this ‘new and trendy’ place.

the place has a great vibe - fantastic soundtrack, a cool art deco design, and a good crowd.

the french food is really good, but perhaps a bit expensive for what you get. you would be likely to find food of an equivalent, or better, quality with a larger serving size at another french restaurant. but i suppose you don’t go to a place like bar margeaux just for the food.

the drinks are great, and there’s an extensive drinks list. however, they are very expensive, so prevented us from indulging perhaps as much as we otherwise would’ve!

we waited a very long time for the main meals to arrive too. i’m not sure whether that’s a tactic to keep you ordering the (expensive) drinks, or whether the service was just poor on the night we went. but we were there for just over three hours and had only had some shared entrees and mains, and was only just offered the dessert menu. for a total dining time of three hours i would’ve expected to have ordered and been served dessert in that time! we ended up calling it a night instead of ordering dessert, so they missed the chance there.

this is a great late night bar, especially with the late night dining options, but perhaps consider going to a dedicated french restaurant of quality french fare is what you’re after.

bar margaux have absolutely nailed it. such a gorgeous venue with friendly, switched on staff who were so knowledgeable about the menu. great drinks list too with great wines by the glass on offer.

the steak tartare is a must have and the charcuterie plate was really good too. baker bleu bread is used here and it was another highlight.

had the tuna nicoise and the lamb dish, both were full of flavour and i’d definitely return for the lamb. finished off with crème brûlée because who wouldn’t? you’re missing out if you don’t try it. also had the pot au chocolat which was equally delicious.

we will return here often for the atmosphere, lovely staff and more delicious food & wine.

the entrance was suspicious but soon after that i was surprised bi the number of young people aging good time here.
amazing cocktails and very professional and friendly service by the lovely italian girl giulia.
will be back.

great venue but blatantly overcharge and up sold on the wine. waiter said the bottle we requested was out of stock but had ‘something very similar’ which happened to be almost twice as expensive when the bull arrived. after the second bottle ran out we were again told we could get something similar which, when the bill arrived, was even more expensive ($150). wrote a complaint but no response from management. suspect this is something that happens regularly

gorgeous venue with stylish and intimate design. very traditional french menu and exceptional cocktail list. we started with oysters and champagne and then went for steak frites and side salad for main. oysters were fresh and the vinaigrette was one of the nicest i’ve tried. the steak was perfectly cooked and the chips were tasty. i went for the bordelaise sauce instead of my usual pepper. probably wouldn’t do that again- a bit too rich. cocktails were on point- would recommend both the maidstone (similar for a clover club) and signature margarita (but with absinthe). service was also very friendly and attentive.

the new cool kid on the block. nice fitout although the acoustics were awful as it was quite noisy and not very busy. had a few of the irish coffee for dessert and they were really well made. gonna have to try these cheeseburgers and duck chips at some stage.