France-Soir - South Yarra

The first thing I noticed about France Soir is that it definitely resembles a French bistro. It is very inconceivable from outside, but inside it is beautiful;...

Back to France Soir on 21 October 2017. It remains one of my favorite places in Melbourne. Excellent food, beautiful wine list, great atmosphere, cheeky and...

The food would have been worth 4 stars here, but I only give it 3.5 because of the seat to be confined. I'm sure that the liveliness and the crowd just testifies how...

Booking was made earlier in the day for six people We arrived that night to find no booking was documented and the staff member was off duty so couldn't confirm Had to wait awhile whilst other patrons had finished their meal for a table They were very busy as it was a Saturday night and they made you feel like it was your fault

Ok. This review is coming from someone who has ALWAYS liked AND supportedFrance-Soir. I used to go there regularly but, for unrelated reasons, Ihadn't been for ages until last Saturday night. I have a wide palette, happyto eat 2 or 3 courses, drink good/expensive wine, and spend money. But I dohope, if not expect, some reasonably accommodating service, and some quitegood food. I used to get this at France-Soir, fairly consistently. LastSaturday night was completely different. I think things have deterioratedover time plus, having been to many other quality restaurants in Melbourne,and in Europe and London, my standards and expectations have shifted. Thewaiters seemed more rude, less interested, more bored, more harried, andunreliable. We had to pour our own Badoir, and pour our own expensive Shiraz($180 bottle) after the first glasses were finished, and we never got our 2ndrequested bottle of mineral water. The Steak Frites. It used to be a go-todish. My béarnaise sauce was good, but that's all. The steak wasultra-ordinary. It was thin, a bit fatty and lacked flavour. I genuinelycould've got a better steak at a cheap suburban pub for $12. And they servedmy wife my steak, and vice-verca. Not to mention the usual cramped tablesand the noise. We would've ordered dessert but by the time the waitereventually got to us, we couldn't be bothered. When I leave any restaurant,I ask myself, will I come back here again? The answer this time is differentto all previous times at France-Soir.