It’s Bastille Day on Sunday, so celebrate with the most simple yet succulent of French bistro dishes – perfectly cooked steak, crisp fries and your sauce of choice.
French-born Cesar Henry does not believe in grilling steak for his country’s best-loved culinary export, steak frites.
“I find grilling [without wood] quite boring because I don’t think the flame brings much flavour,” says Henry, owner-chef of Ouest France Bistro in Mornington.
Instead, he uses the flat surface of a crepe maker to cook scotch or eye fillet in generous amounts of butter.
“[The butter] gives a lot of flavour to the meat and caramelises the outside,” he says.
The butter’s not so unusual. But a crepe maker? His business started life as a creperie, so he had the equipment (known as a billig) on hand. Plus in Brittany, where he’s from, he says, “if you want a quick barbecue with mates outside, this is what you do; you use your crepe maker”.
Traditionally prepared in France using onglet (hanger steak) or bavette (flank steak), in Australia the dish is made with various cuts, although many restaurants play to the Australian preference for tenderness over flavour. Popular cuts here include eye fillet, scotch fillet and porterhouse.
But long-running institution France-Soir in South Yarra is seeing more people order hanger steak, which head chef Geraud Fabre describes as “a bit more al dente, if I can make that comparison”.
“But the taste is fantastic. For a meat-lover, you have to try it,” he says.
Ouest France Bistro
What: Choose from ultra-tender eye fillet or scotch that’s a super-sized 300g – the kitchen orders a larger steak, which forms a better crust without becoming overcooked. Go for a bright bearnaise or an off-piste blue cheese sauce.
How much: $53 for eye fillet (220g), about $48 for scotch fillet (300g), both with fries.
The je ne sais quoi: On Bastille Day (July 14), an accordion player will be at the restaurant and there’ll be a special of wagyu rump steak frites ($48), with meat from Margaret River Wagyu Beef.
180 Main Street, Mornington, ouestfrance.com.au
France-Soir
What: Five different cuts of grass-fed O’Connor beef are on offer at France-Soir. Complete your Paris bistro fantasy by opting for the onglet (or hanger) with your choice of bearnaise, bordelaise, pepper or Normande sauce.
How much: $45 for the hanger (220g; includes chips); $51 for the scotch fillet (250g; comes with chips and salad).
The je ne sais quoi: This place’s reputation is built on the patina of the room, the ’tude of its waiters and the tete-a-tete between regulars. You’re here, first and foremost, for the vibes.
11 Toorak Rd, South Yarra , france-soir.com.au
Bistrot Plume
What: The current special at Bistro Plume is a 300-gram tri-tip, cut from the bottom of the sirloin, sourced by leading steak supplier Gamekeepers and grilled to medium rare. Choose from roast-chicken jus, peppercorn sauce or Cafe de Paris butter to accompany.
How much: $45, including hand-cut skin-on chips.
The je ne sais quoi: Roasted bone marrow is occasionally added to level up the experience.
56A Mount Pleasant Road, Belmont, bistrotplume.com.au
Victor Churchill
What: Only the most blue-ribbon beef crosses the threshold of this butcher shop. Its steakhouse menu, available daily, makes the most of that. The steak frites uphold the French tradition of using flank steak: grain-fed, sourced from Rangers Valley’s pure Black Angus range and cooked over charcoal.
How much: $68 for 280g steak, chips and Cafe de Paris butter; salad and other sides extra.
The je ne sais quoi: Apart from eating on-farm, you can’t get much closer to the source than this.
953 High Street, Armadale, victorchurchill.com
Bistro Gitan
What: A 250-gram porterhouse or a 230-gram eye fillet – sourced through Australian Butchers Store from Victoria’s Southern Ranges – that’s char-grilled to your liking.
How much: $50 for porterhouse or $59 for eye fillet, flanked by crispy shoestring fries and one of three sauces: peppercorn, chimichurri, or Gitan dressing specially created by the bistro founder, Jacques Reymond.
The je ne sais quoi: Stellar service is part of the enduring charm of this hatted neighbourhood bistro.
52 Toorak Road West, South Yarra, bistrogitan.com.au
The Recreation
What: A textural, grass-fed porterhouse with a beef marble score of four, from the Victorian Southern Ranges. It’s cooked over a mix of grey box and red gum hardwood, with lump charcoal. The bistro makes its own golden, crunchy fries with seasonal chipping potatoes from local farmer Spud Sisters.
How much: $62 (with chips and garlic-and-parsley butter).
The je ne sais quoi: Freshly grated horseradish from Keilor’s chef-favourite supplier Day’s Walk Farm gives the dish extra zing.
162-170 Queens Parade, Fitzroy North, the-recreation.com
Bar Romanee
What: On Mondays from noon, you can get a bargain price on 250g grass-fed rostbiff (rump steak) from Gippsland that’s cooked however you like on the gas-powered char-gill. On the side? A choice of mustards (seeded, Dijon, hot English) and horseradish.
How much: $35, with shoestring fries, coleslaw and (usually) pepper sauce.
The je ne sais quoi: A deep wine list will introduce you to lesser-seen varieties, or you can dial up the French vibes with a great burgundy.
25 Anderson Street, Yarraville, barromanee.com
Philippe
What: A 300g Black Angus entrecote (scotch fillet) from NSW, with a marble score of two to three, that’s flame-licked over Japanese and Blue Mountains charcoal.
How much: $65 for the steak and a small salad. Not-too-thin pommes frites – flavoured with brown butter infused with garlic and rosemary, then topped with parmesan – are an extra $12; add Béarnaise, pepper sauce or garlic-and-parsley butter for $5 apiece.
The je ne sais quoi: A low-key laneway entrance belies the high-class French cooking at Philippe Mouchel’s eponymous bistro.
115 Collins Street, Melbourne, philipperestaurant.com.au
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Emma Breheny – Emma is Good Food’s Melbourne-based reporter and co-editor of The Age Good Food Guide 2024.