bistro gitan

i honestly refuse to believe that anyone would write a bad review of bistro gitan. the staff are warm & friendly, the food is absolutely delicious and the atmosphere is wonderful. easily in my top favourite spots in melbourne.


-----25 may, 2012-----

a fantastic dining experience!. i would gladly come back here again and again. went with 5 people and tried all different menu items and everything was superb. i had the escargots, home town hapuka, pear tart and left there incredibly content.wineselection was excellent, many great liqueurs available and the coffee was perfect. service was amazing and atmosphere was very warm and friendly whilst being quite a fancy dining experience. would happily recommend to a french food lover. you will not be disappointed!!

another delicious experience. i ate at bistro gitan last week for lunch and, once again (this was my fourth or fifth time there) was so impressed and satisfied with all aspects of the experience. young, friendly and enthusiastic staff, the perfect piece of steak with chippies (and wonderfulwineto match) and a selection of desserts that i am still dreaming about (calorie central but once you taste them you won't even care!). also, food andwineis very well priced, which means receiving the bill isn't a scary thought. will be back...again!

the restaurant setting was intimate which i really appreciated. we weren’t given a drinks menu which was confusing at the beginning when we were asked what drinks we would like. the zucchini flower entree was exquisite and really set a high standard for the night. however i feel like bistro gitan were just short of our expectations. the steak tartare was pleasant but i feel like it lacked a little flavour. the charcuterie board was unexpectedly disappointing - the meat just did not taste good. the spatchcock tasted quite lovely and we had no complaints. the rockling was dry and i was not the biggest fan of the sauce. thewinewas really lovely otherwise. overall i feel as though i would not come back again because i feel like the quality of the food was subpar and could be slightly improved

utterly amazing! 10/10. from the moment we walked in the scene was set, the look and feel was so amazingly staged, it felt like a close friends home immediately and we were encapsulated in the mood from then on. we were warmly greeted by a waiter straight away and had our winter coat's taken from us and then sat down at our table. the selection of great wines was so vast that we had to sip water for quite a few minutes while we decided! we proceeded to order our food andwineand before we knew it, the entree was served, we had a selection of dishes which we shared and they were all simply sublime, in both taste and appeal. now i'm not sure of the time between our entree and mains but, it was perfect, we seemed to get lost in the charming atmosphere and affability and before we knew it, the next course arrived just as the hunger bells were ringing. i can't say a bad word about our evening at bistro gitan, the mains were majestic and delicious (once again the 4 of us shared), and how can anyone complain about the price when meals are basically at pub bistro prices!!!
congratulations to the staff and chef, you're doing an excellent job! i will be back time and time again.

a very pleasant lunch!. a friend suggested bistro gitan for a catch up lunch and we were not disappointed. a lovely room looking out over the autumn hues of fawkner park. we started with the seafood soup which was delicious and i followed with the main of tasmanian trumpeter which did not disappoint. we shared a bottle of castro martin albarino which i can heartily recommend so much so in fact we ordered a couple of extra glasses. all in all it was a pleasant dining experience. our waiter was a little speedy - slopping thewineinto the glasses but did manage a smile at the end. main courses getting up to $50 each if you add a couple of side vegetables but then that's on a par with other melbourne restaurants. we'll be back!

four friends enjoying dinner on a friday evening. what a great night, it started at the front door & just got better from there. excellent food,winelist & service. we will definitely return. 😎🍸🍸

managed to get a last minute booking on a weekend night. friendly service, goodwinelist and a french inspired menu greeted us. oysters were great, beef tartare was ok . not chopped fine enough for me a lacked seasoning but the ingredients were good. the garfish was fresh and tasty but could have had more of the baby squid in the salad as advertised.
the mains were good, well cooked and presented nicely.
desserts were good, especially the lemon tart.
overall a good experience, just a little pricy

3.4. very nice place. atmosphere was good, food was good, drinks were good, service was good. all with one significant exception which i’ll cover shortly.

i was greeted cheerily on arrival. we all were. staff attentiveness and efficiency was good and we all got our drinks and meals in good time. things were humming along nicely. i had the scallops for entree and that was a lovely dish. the scallops were plump, juicy and flavoursome. it was a lovely start.

our table was very efficiently advised by our server that there was only one of one of the specials - veal with brussel sprouts etc - still available. much to the disappointment of a couple of our party, i snapped it up immediately as it sounded delicious. anyway, the dish came and i started it and then realised there were no sprouts. i’m a brussel sprouts nut. i enquired where they were and was told they’d run out. i was disappointed but fine about that happening. what i wasn’t happy about at all was that no one actually informed me of the exclusion of a key ingredient from the dish. i was even more surprised that i actually had to ask for something else as some sort of compensation. i asked if another vegetable could be provided and eventually was offered a small portion of braised cabbage which was very nice.

anyway, i’m a pretty calm and affable soul normally and was throughout this matter but it did annoy me intensely. basically, what happened made no sense in a customer or commercial sense. first, if the vegetable highlighted in the meal description isn’t available, just say so and let the customer know. don’t assume that they won’t notice the omission of a key element of the dish. it’s sort of insulting or at least unthinking. second, offer something else immediately, especially if you’re caught out as they were here. how much does it take to offer a substitute vegetable. a couple of dollars? why did i have to ask for something else when i’m paying serious money not just for this dish but for the overall meal. i was surprised. this is a very good restaurant and matter was handed poorly. the dish was lovely but it didn’t have one of the key things i wanted in it. in the end i was actually made to look like the awkward one for pressing for a substitute vegetable. that’s not good enough.

the matter caused problems for the table. two of my companions thought i’d done the right thing calling the matter out and asking for something else. my other companion would have preferred i let it go. i won on the numbers 3-1 and probably won on entertainment value too. but, i would have preferred the matter hadn’t arisen at all. i wanted to talk to my friends about anything other than the inactions of the restaurant.

my dessert was a citrus slice of some kind with a citrus sorbet. i should have been concentrating a little more but wasn’t. all i recall is that the dish was very nice. it was a lovely dessert.

we enjoyed our meals overall. they were generally high quality. service was generally very good, except for the matter mentioned, especially from jade. it is a very nice restaurant to while away the time as well.

we had a couple of rieslings and a pinot noir through the night from the very goodwinelist. the aussie riesling trumped the alsace riesling. seriously bone dry beats dry. we finished the night with dirty martinis which were nuclear strong and exceptionally good. we were advised that they were the strongest in the city. they’re certainly the strongest i’ve ever had. they were exceptional.

it was a very nice but not inexpensive night overall. this is a good restaurant except in respect of the incident mentioned above. i am still pining for those missing sprouts.

the service was amazing, the host is very prompt and friendly, our table waiter was superb, oysters & entree was so so so delicious, but to be honest we were disappointed with both of our steaks (daily special eye fillet & porterhouse) it was cooked perfectly medium-rare, but somehow it was very chewy and lacking of flavour. 
other than that i am happy with the service, other food &winelists :)

and beautiful venue too xx

we have been long time regulars at bistro gitan. the food is always excellent . the lunch deal is inticing for a quick business lunch we recommend it very highly....but,
the maitre de chef can be extremely pushy with comments starting from ..wouldn't you rather have sparkling water instead of tap...what no petit?(small starter) before the moyen (entree). why a glass ofwinewhen you can have a bottle. what no dessert? it goes well beyond helpful. we are waiting for him to suggest we supersize our fries and would we like a coke with that burger (drive thru style).
so if you can be firm with him you will have a wonderful experience...you could always do with a coke and fries of course with your le big mac.

my favourite place for steak and chips or for something a little more fancy, bistro gitan consistency severs up beautiful and mouth-watering food. the waiters are friendly and known thewinelist well. it’s busy throughout the week but definitely worth the wait. for those who have a small appetite, i would make the strategic move and order the garfish for main so you have room for dessert. if you’ve just come from a hour/s odd exercise and after eating no more than a salad for lunch, than order the steak and chips with a side of greens.

my favorite restaurant in melbourne. i'll qualify by saying there have been plenty of more impressive restaurants i've been to, but as a local bistro that draws me back again and again it hasn't been surpassed. i've eaten here several times with work, family, friend, from small groups to large, sat at the bar for drinks and a snack, and i have yet to leave disappointed. has a solid standard menu but the daily specials board always delivers something new and interesting. greatwinelist. lovely atmosphere. unfussy service. delicious food. will be back soon.

excellent food and outstanding service. greatwineselection. a real gem of a place. my only reservation was that it was too loud and crowded but everything else made up for it in spades.

perfect in every way. delicious food, wonderful staff and atmosphere to write home about. the weekly specials are always superb and thewinelist is the best i've seen.

i keep coming back regardless of the time of year whether for lunch or dinner or a glass of interestingwineand charcuterie plate. i will be interested to try hotel gitan and its mixed reviews.