L’Hotel Gitan

Bistro Gitan — opposite Fawkner Park in Toorak Road — has opened a sister restaurant in Commercial Road called L’Hotel Gitan in what used to be the Prahran Hotel. Bistro Gitan doesn’t open for lunch on Saturday so this became my plan B for lunch today. It’s part owned by Jaques Reymond whose eponymous establishment in Hotham Street is one of my all time favourites, so I entered with high expectations. Happy to say my expectations were well and truly met!
I started with the lentil and sausage soup; black lentils, diced sausage, potato and carrot in a quite thick broth. Delicious.
Next up was duck liver parfait. This was accompanied by a little bowl of beetroot and pear chutney, a combination I would never have thought of but worked really well with the pâté.
My third and final choice was the boudin noir. Gotta love black pudding (at least I do — it was a regular on the breakfast menu along with lambs fry and bacon when I was growing up). This was served with corn and Dijon mustard purée, corn kernels, and a little piece of pork sausage. Just like mum used to make. Honestly, it was better than mum used to make (sorry mum). The pudding was soft and crumbly, subtle but still very tasty.
Great meal, very good service and a nice ambience. And after coming straight from seeing a session of The Terminator at the Jam Factory, all I can say is «I’ll be back».

L’Hotel Gitan is through and through a Gastropub. I’m not talking about a place that charges $ 25+ for a fancy parma. I mean the actual sense of the term — a casual atmosphere bringing a different level of food. You would feel equally comfortable here having a Saturday afternoon drink or bringing a group in for a special birthday.
Do not come in here look for a pot and parma deal. Coming from the Reymond family (of Jacques Reymond), the menu has a strong French/​European influence ranging from small plates and sharable items to some very good looking steaks.
Seating has a bistro-​style dining inside, the original pub bar with informal seating, outdoor dining and a bar that lines the open kitchen. My partner and I came in for Saturday lunch and pulled up a stool in front of the open kitchen to watch the chefs at work.
We ordered from the small/​medium options menu for lunch — getting a crab salad, steak tartare, miso kingfish special and a side of pomme frites for the tartare. Everything was fresh and beautifully seasoned. The steak tartare was thick cut, tart, and portioned out on lettuce cups. The miso kingfish was perfect and so moreish — I could have easily eaten two.
Unfortunately there was a long wait between our mains and the side of fries, so after having had a few really lovely and delicate dishes, we wound up finishing on a lonely bowl of chips. We considered ordering something else to go with it since we had asked for it for the steak tartare, but figured we’d end up finishing them before it came out. That was our only gripe really. The service was a bit stiff and with how much thought was put into the food it would have been nice to have the meal flow a bit better.
The chefs in the kitchen were lovely and as it was a quiet late afternoon we got a chance to watch what they were up to and chat to them a little which made for a nicer experience.
It won’t be a cheap meal here, but if you’re looking for a relaxed dining experience that’s still a bit fancy (particularly if you’re a steak lover), this could be right up your alley.

Okay, I came here expecting it to be a pub and it turned out to be a French Restaurant. Well, I actually quite like French restaurants, but unfortunately the only time I was here I really didn’t have the time to actually sit down and have a feed, so I simply bought myself a beer and had a quick look around. Well, the main restaurant is out the back and the front area is more like a pre-​dinner bar where you can wait for you companions to arrive. There is also an outdoor area, though it is on the road so probably not the best place of an intimate meal. The prices actually weren’t all that bad from what I could tell from the menu. I quite liked the place, though I can only comment on the atmosphere and unfortunately not the food (though I do wish to change that).

Thursday night and this place was packed. Pleasantly surprised and quite happy to have a place serving fresh oysters and delicious steak tartare so close to me. The open kitchen adds theatrical flare to diners that enjoy watching dishes being prepared. A great addition to Commercial Road. Looks like Chef Reymond and his family are off to a good start. Will definitely be going back to experience more.