bistro gitan

perfect for long lunches. skilled, knowledgable and friendly waiters. the food is beautifully rustic; the space elegant and inviting. my favourite restaurant for a lazy, boozy lunch with my favourite people. heading there tomorrow and will probably order the snails, potato and cheese gratin and at least one of the daily specials...again.

i had walked past a number of times on my way to south yarra and the restaurant always looked popular. we were walk ins and a table was found for us. the food was delicious and service was very attentive. i had the hapuka which was cooked to perfection. we also shared the potato gratin which was divine! definitely would recommend

love this place! recently moved into the area and think it may be our new local. great food, great staff and great atmosphere. especially love their specials! do yourself a favour and book a table!

a most pleasant celebration. we came to the bistro gitan to celebrate my wife's birthday and could not have chosen a better restaurant. it was a success in every way. we managed to park right outside the door. late due to traffic gridlock resulting from tramway works in chapel street the staff were sympathetic and friendly. the ambience was excellent and the wait staff were most helpful and efficient. rather than have main courses we settled for the tapas and entrée style dishes a charcuterie plate and a mousse for dessert. the dishes included "beignets" "trotter" croquettes, calves liver etc., every dish being an absolute delight. the portions were quite generous and the waiters advice excellent. we could not have had a more delightful evening. we'll certainly be back soon.

nice place, poor and ignorant service. the meal began well. an interesting, lively place. initial courses good except for overcooked rockling. but, after our main course, service virtually disappeared; our waiter never reappeared but was seen clearing tables. i attempted to gain the attention of another waiter without much success (to the extent that the neighbouring table empathised with our difficulty). eventually, another waiter came by and took coffee and dessert orders. one of my guests ordered a grand marnier with his coffee. the waiter returned, explaining there was no grand marnier and asking would this do? - holding out a bottle of drambuie. bizarre! my guest very politely said 'no' and ordered a cointreau. in due course the cointreau arrived - in a glass swamped with ice! when you add in things like plates being scraped and stacked at the table, other restaurants in the vicinity look increasingly attractive.

bravo gitan. saturday 12th july, we left it too late to book a table at the 3 french restaurants we phoned before stumbling out of desperation on bistro gitan, by the end of the evening we were so happy we had not been able to dine at our 3 previous choices. the roaring log fire was most welcoming, the bottle of bordeux most pleasing, the atmosphere typically french, loved the white table clothes, and parquet floor, the restaurant to our minds had an old, settled, classy feel to it. our waitress's knowledge of the menu and special boards was quite impressive. we started our food journey with an appetizer of scallop for me and pork croquet for my hubby. if this was a taste of things to come then we were going to be very happy. we were, the entrees, mains and desserts were to die for. the whole affair came to $228. not cheap, but or a special treat with wine and beer a plenty we were happy to pay for what was a truly memorable meal. we will be back.

delicious everything.


-----15 may, 2012-----

disappointing. disappointed with service - once we had ordered the waiter never came near us so they could benefit from more wait staff. we had to keep asking for water.

my trumpeter fish was lovely but the fillet was very small it didn't represent value. my friends enjoyed their meat dishes.

nice atmosphere but i won't be going back in a hurry.

over priced. went there for a special night. bouillabaisse was a main, but very small. main problem was the mussels were shell only, no mussels, 1 prawn and soup absolutely bland. very disappointing especially for the price.

is this french? i was not pleased.... this supposedly had great reviews since it is the son of jr who own the restaurant. i went there all excited but thought the dishes were ordinary. it didn't give me the wow factor. i was rather unimpressed and especially when one of the steak had to be sent back because it was more rare than medium rare. i rather pay to go to other restaurants than gitan. the owner is blessed to have built a name for himself because of his father but the dishes didn't feel french at all and very very ordinary.

good - but for the steak. wine - great
service - fantastic
venue - fantastic
entree - zucchini flowers were excellent
scotch fillet was poor. too rare, not hot, too salty, gristly

i had to order a beer to deal with the salt

which is what i can say about bistro gitan in general. the food was decent, the service was friendly and efficient and it was a fun night in good company, but nothing was memorable. there really needs to be one knock-out item on the menu, and there simply wasn't. it's a shame because all the right elements are to there, but as show business says, there's no x-factor. still, for a nice-enough night out with excellent service, bistro gitan is a sensible pick.

this family gets it right!. first time friday night dinner. full house, busy & bustling. everything fabulous. superb, engaging & earnest service from the 2 gents with trimmed beards. had a superb chianti & always a winner heathcote shiraz at fair prices for the venue. don't know what the reviewer complaining about the steaks meant...we had a perfect medium rare scotch fillet & the hapuka fish & entrees were pleasantly light. positioned so differently to jaques reymond (favourite..every 2 yrs!) though service so attentive, environment fantastic- there is a magic about the place. looking forward to next time!

magnifique! every boccatto was a celebration, the service was warm and impeccable, a wonderful experience.
we were a party of 7 celebrating a birthday and we couldn't have ask for more. thank you!

first time french. what an experience! the wine, the food, every bite was sensational. the staff were great. had to wait 40 minutes for our dessert though which was a disappointing end to the great night.

i came with my french friends because i knew they had raclette on that day. desappointing. the waiters brought us a tiny amount of melted cheese on a plate, spaced by 15 or 20 min each time for 5 of us...so we were eating the chacuterie and potatoes instead. if you put such a dish on your menu, you have to do it the traditional way. otherwise there is no point.