Situated in the picturesque suburb of Milson’s Point, Loulou is a French restaurant/bistro and bakery that offers a range of classic dishes using fresh Australian ingredients. We decided to stop by the restaurant for a nice lunch, to try out some of their dishes that we had seen so often popping up on social media.

Tip: save some room after to try some of their delicious pastries. The restaurant is right next to a beautiful park where you could sit with takeaway coffee and enjoy the views of Sydney harbour.

Location: 61 Lavender Street, Milsons Point, NSW 2061
Price: $141 for two entrees, a main and drinks for two people
Website: https://loulou.sydney
Social: https://www.instagram.com/loulou.sydney/?hl=en

We decided to order two entrees and share the main dish. First up was a French classic – onion soup. We had spotted it on the table next to us and intrigued by the puff pastry lid that it was served with. The soup was really delicious, more salty than sweet, and went nicely with the lightly salted puff pastry lid. The puff pastry was light and buttery and I wished there was more of it to go with the soup.

The octopus was served with cherry tomatoes and capsicum with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon on top. Underneath the octopus was also a pink cream which was salty and savoury. When eaten with the perfectly cooked octopus the flavours were nicely balanced, but on its own the pink cream was fairly salty. I couldn’t identify the exact flavour, it tasted of perhaps salmon or a type of seafood but it was interesting and went well with the dish. Definitely a must-order if you enjoy octopus and made for a nice and light entree.

The steak frites was unfortunately the disappointment of the meal. It was cooked a bit too over for ‘medium rare’ and the cut of steak had a vein still running through it. I have had much better steak at other restaurants and the accompanying sauce was lacklustre. The chips were well seasoned but my opinion of the steak was already marred unfortunately.

Melissa: 3.5/5 – a bistro with a lot of promise, let down by one dish. Definitely worth a visit back given how good the entrees were.

Loulou’s menu has a lot of promise and the refinement and execution in the entrees makes it worth another visit. I would encourage ordering the John Dory rather than the steak as that seems to be more of their signature dish.