Le Bouchon restaurant

Peeping over the bustling throng of restaurants, bars and cafes in Crows Nest in Sydney, Le Bouchon is forging ahead with its unique brand of laidback French bistro-style cooking on Willoughby Road. The team pride themselves on bringing the traditional flavours of French cooking, married with classic French ingredients and smart service to patrons on the Lower North Shore in the city. There are few places where Sydney’s Francophiles can find authentic French cooking, but in Le Bouchon they can find a celebration of just that.

Le Bouchon on Willoughby Road down in Sydney’s Crows Nest takes its name from the French word bouchon, or cork, and used in France’s capital of gastronomy, Lyon to mean a well-run, authentic and convivial bistro. As such, Le Bouchon focuses on serving this traditional bouchon-style food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Of course, it wouldn’t do for a French place to serve below-par coffee, and instead, the breakfast and its accompanying beverages are given the classic French foodie treatment – rich mugs of cafe au lait and delicate French crepes as well as filling meat and veggie omelettes for hungry fans of French cuisine.

Aside from the generous breakfast menu, Le Bouchon is also doing a fine job on their lunch and dinner menus: think classic French favourites like moules frites, crispy baguettes and garlicky mushrooms as well as relatively hefty mains like fish of the day and confit duck leg with pureed carrots and puy lentils for those looking for a more lavish evening over in Crows Nest. The French take their puddings seriously too, so the chocolate marquise with Cointreau and the chilled nougat souffle are both worth a good look. For Sydney’s savvy Willoughby Road diners, French cooking is best done at Le Bouchon.