Bistro Guillaume

Our favourite junior blogger mate James has reviewed another gem, this time Bistro Guillaume at Crown. Lots has happened since James' last post, he's turned 11 and discovered a new love for snails. Seriously, this guy should be on Masterchef - we reckon he'd know more than some of the contestants...

Enjoy.

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Bistro Guillaume
8 Whiteman St, Southbank
Ph: 9693 3888

"To celebrate my 11th birthday and my mum and dad's 23rd wedding anniversary, we went to Bistro Guillaume, a French restaurant in Crown Casino.

For the entree we ordered traditional onion soup with gruyere croutons, half a dozen Hunter Valley snails with beurre persille and seared scallops with Jerusalem artichoke veloute, baby spinach and chicken jus.

After the short wait of 20 minutes the entrees arrived. First I tried the snails, which I had never had before. They were so nice and garlicky that I ate four. In fact they were so garlicky I couldn't actually taste the meat. I thought snails would be like calamari, but the meat was surprisingly soft.

I then tried the onion soup which I found very tasty and rich, but I decided I would rather continue eating the snails. I finally got around to trying the scallops, which were perfectly cooked. The Jerusalem artichoke was in a puree, which added a nice touch.

For the mains we ordered steak frites with a la bordelaise sauce or bearnaise sauce (Mum asked to have them both on the side so I could try them). We also ordered Berkshire pork cutlet on a bed of apple puree, salad of celeriac green apple and walnut.

The last main was Bistro Guillaume fish and chips - whole whiting with pommes Pont-Neuf and beurre maitre d'hotel.

After another short wait of 25 minutes our mains arrived. I tried the steak first and it was really nice. It was cooked medium just like we had asked.

The next main I tried was the pork cutlet. It was a bit under-cooked but it was very easy to chew and the apple puree was sensational.

Next I had the fish and chips which had a big fat knob of garlic butter in the middle, which in my opinion made it even better. The fish had been caught in Western Australia. It was really big and fleshy, well cooked and the garlic butter was really tasty.

After eating our entree and main course we were offered the dessert menu by our friendly waiter, but we were too full to have anything.

This was my first totally French meal (fish and chips isn't that French is it?) and I'd have to say the food was very enjoyable but extremely rich.

Bon appetit."

- James, 11