Le Pain Quotidien

May I just say that I have never walked out of a restaurant before in my life, until today. I also have never given any place a 1 star review — until today. I usually like Le Pain and frequent it in Old City, Philadelphia and NYC. Horrendous service. We walked in and sat down in one of the main eating areas. One of the waitress told us to sit anywhere and someone would serve us. I waited for 15 minutes and no waitress or hostess came over to give us water, ask us for drinks, or to accommodate us.
Irritated, I got up and walked out of the restaurant. No one saw that I was irritated or tried to stop me. My fiancée, in good faith, stayed for an extra 10 minutes and yet again, no one tended to him. He too walked out and no one stopped him to ask what was wrong or if their service had been horrendous.
This was our last day in Sydney before we flew to Honolulu and what a horrible way to end our food trip here. However, we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art and got their salmon salad and wagyu beef shank pie in the upstairs café, which was pretty delightful.
Le Pain Quotidien, you FAILED this time. Here is a pic of our angry faces.

Lock me up here please!!! This is 2^nd oldest gaol in Australia, but now a little French bakery. Makes sure you walk through the whole establishment. There are separate rooms for larger groups or you can share a table with other people. The iron doors throughout give a sense of cold steel harshness.
The food and light meals are fantastic. Each time I have been here I have been pleasantly impressed. There are always specials for the day… and always french! The french soup with a baguette is one of my favourite.
Then again try the hot chocolate. I loved the way it was presented. A little bowl of liquid chocolate with a teapot of warm milk is just so perfect.

Great waffles! Had one with a glass of apple ginger juice (chilled) and was in heaven. This is a great breakfast café… would definitely come back.

I came here for dinner after a long day of sightseeing, and it was disappointing. Firstly, you sit anywhere you like, but this place is like a maze, so the wait staff don’t even realize where you are.
Secondly, the food wasn’t good. I tried the homemade lemonade and crispy pork belly. They sound so good in theory, but they were bad. The lemonade wasn’t even lemonade. It’s like they put apple juice in it. And the pork belly was not crispy, despite its name. The pork belly was so tough that I made my friend cut it for me. The fat was not rendered down at all, which is why it wasn’t crispy. I had to spit some of it out because I couldn’t chew through it. The food also took a very long time to come out.
The plus is the free wi-​fi here. It’s also in a very interesting, historical building.

A great little café for brunch or lunch! I went in because I had been to one of their cafés in New York and I was curious to see whether the quality was the same here as it was over in the States because my memory was that it was pretty good. I wasn’t disappointed with the menu or the coffee! I had one of their tartines and it was delicious, very cheesy and very filling which was exactly what I needed at that moment as I was ravenous. The coffee was smooth and was well made as well as being quite strong!
I loved the feel of the place, it being an old police station, you can have a coffee or your lunch in a cell out the back. Even the bathrooms are old cell blocks! A good way to soak up a bit of old Sydney colonial history.

I love the location of this Le Pain Quotidien in The Rocks. It’s a great place to enjoy a leisurely brunch/​lunch and it wasn’t too busy for a Sunday. In the past I’ve really enjoyed the pastries at Le Pain Quotidien (e.g. in Westfield) — however, the ham and cheese croissant I had today didn’t taste too freshly baked. It also wasn’t toasted enough i.e. the cheese had barely melted. On the plus side, the coffee was excellent and as usual, I love that they serve it in a small bowl rather than a cup or a mug. They also do split bills which is another positive. I would happily come back for some coffee.

We went in thinking this would be like any Le Pain Quotidian in the US. Instead it was a super cute place that was likely a historical house from early Sydney settlement days.
We ordered our go-​to from the US, as the menu was quite similar if not the same. The prices were reasonable even given Sydney’s high prices. The service was very good and above all, the food was great, maybe even better than most in the US.
Would highly recommend to anyone visiting the rocks area.

Cute and quirky! Also FREE WIFI (super grateful as an American traveler that’s dependent on wifi for communication to home!)
It’s in an old police station so the rooms are kind of sectioned off into what seems like offices but the front room has some leather armchairs and a shelf full of old books that you can read. I love their spread selection! More than just butter and nutella… they have several jams and flavored nut butters (even a white chocolate spread!) I got a cappuccino and wheat scone with jam and ricotta. So fun to try all the different spreads :]

FUNKY & FUN
We stopped in this quirky little place for lunch and were quite happy with our repast. We had a Tuscany Plate of Hummus, Olives & Bread and a Prosciutto & Mozzarella-​type cheese dish. Both were very good.
This place screams quaint, quirky, funky, etc. and that makes it rather endearing and bumps it up to 4 STARS from the 3 it no doubt deserves.
Location — 5 STARS
Food — 3 ½ STARS
Service — 3 STARS
Value — 2 STARS

The newest LPQ to Sydney, opened Septemberish 2014. They have made great use of the space, with outdoor balcony seating on the George St, a luxurious lounge, open communal dining room, three small individual «lock up» dining rooms (old gaol cells), and tables on the back balcony.
This LPQ has the same menu as the other Sydney locations. I recently discovered that the franchisees choose their menu from a list of dishes, and I have noticed that the number of vegan options are in decline (particularly in comparison to some of the international locations that I have had the fortune to frequent over recent years).
Still, the food is good quality, and always tasty, which sees this chain continue to be one if my main stays in Sydney and other great cities overseas :)

Nice atmosphere in spite of the building being the old police station. Simple food but well done. Lots of home made juices and pastries.