la louisiane

Service and glassware are very good. Environment is funky and clever with a vague feel of the 60s jazz cellars of Europe without the impenetrable smoke haze that I bizarrely felt a bit nostalgic for.

For entrées our table also had Heirloom Beetroots with Vannela Stracciatella $22 and Smoked Trout Rillettes with Fennel Salad  $26. It is possible to think the Beef Tartare served with Pomme Gaufrette $24 and Pork and Foie Gras Pâté en Croute $24 and Signature Gruyere Burger served with fries $26 may be worth a try. If you want to play it safe, stick to the recommendations. Often these days a selection of entrées is a better way to enjoy an establishment than selecting a main course.

Not being a lunch person, I’ll go back for dinner to enjoy these three great dishes and I may be tempted to add another couple from my suggestions above. I will be dining  by myself, so I don’t have to shout to have a conversation and instead of wine might do the Louisiana thing and have a couple of cocktails.

We had been warned that there was a line up for evening service, however, on a Friday night at about 7.00 pm there was no such thing, and we were taken straight to a table. I noticed that at no stage was the second dining room full. Whilst La Louisiane does not have the feel of a clumsy large restaurant space, it is a very large restaurant with two main dining rooms plus more high stool seating in front of the music and bar and more banquette booths to the side of the bar. Staff did say it was the quietest night they had had so far, but I suspect that the initial rush to try something new may have worn off and would not let the idea of ‘no reservations’ put you off from the evening service.

Bookings are available for lunch, but the dark moodiness of La Louisiane is best suited to the night.