Bistrot 916, Potts Point, Sydney

You do not have to leave Sydney and go to France to have delicious French cuisine. We have a great selection of French restaurants in our city. This includes one of my favourites, Hubert. Speaking of Hubert, their ex-head chef Dan Pepperell has opened a new restaurant in Potts Point called Bistrot 916. Yep, it’s the same dude that created all those dishes we fell in love with when Hubert first opened. 

Bistrot 916 is named after the fact that it’s a Bistro and that the phone number of the restaurant starts with 916. It’s located in the heart of Potts Point right where Lotus and The Fish Shop by Merivale used to be. The space has a moody contemporary Parisian vibe. It’s a casual restaurant but in the higher end of the spectrum and food prices are quite decent for its category. I went to visit the restaurant a few weeks ago with one of my best homies, Chocolatesuze.

 

We started with the lamb’s brains with smoked eel mayo ($18). This sounded daunting at first as I’m not a brain kinda guy but if it’s chef Dan’s creation, then it has to be good right? As expected, it was so amazing. So the brain was cooked like a croquette where the inside was fluffy (I honestly can’t think of a better description haha) with a golden-crisped coating. The smoked eel mayonnaise was thick and bursting with umami! Hack: leave some mayo aside if you order any dishes with chips/fries.

 

Then came out the Tuna tartare & beef fat fried potato ($26). This was probably my favourite dish during our visit. There was so much umami from both the tuna and potatoes. The potato was soft inside and loved the crispy caramelised bits on the outer layer.

 

The duck frites ($44) was delicious. The skin was slightly crisped, and the meat was juicy. The meat didn’t taste gamey, but it could also be due to the sauce that if came with, which masked it. The chips were crisped and perfectly seasoned.

 

I do prefer the steak frites ($56) to the duck though. The well-seasoned steak was cooked medium rare and was also packed with umami especially around caramelised bits. I would have preferred a thicket cut steak but nonetheless, this was delicious.

 

We were quite full so we didn’t end up trying any dessert. I would definitely come back to have the tuna tartarte with beef fat fried potato and lamb brain with smoked eel mayo. The lobster frites sounds good too!

 

Bistrot 916

22 Challis Avenue

Potts Point NSW

Website: https://www.bistrot916.com/