Best French Food in Sydney

The British are known for their manners. Australians for our beaches. But the French? The French are known for their food. 

Buttery. Rich. Immensely flavourful. French cuisine is world famous for its phenomenal aromas and flavours, not to mention the world-class wines that typically accompany a meal. 

Fortunately for Sydneysiders and visitors, you don’t need to travel all the way to the City of Lights in order to enjoy some of the best French food. You can find some of the world’s most delectable cuisines right here at Crown. 

We all have an innate sense of what is French food. But defining it in specific terms is more of a challenge. 

Typically, French dishes are known for their refinement. They are built from high-quality ingredients, with fresh produce and precision from the chefs combining to create something as elegant in flavour as it is in presentation. 

The cuisine is famed for its delicate, buttery pastries, as well as rich meat dishes such as beef bourguignon and coq au vin. When it comes to dessert, the meals are even more particular, with challenging bites such as macarons, eclairs, and crème brûlée demanding perfection from the pastry chef in order to achieve the perfect finish on the plate. 

French cuisine is extremely rich and flavourful as it is partly in thanks to its historic reliance on fresh produce, and on France’s position in the world ensuring it benefitted from the many exotic ingredients that came to the country through trade routes such as the Silk Road. 

The French are also known for their ‘cuisine bourgeoise’. This is the kind of everyday, middle class meals you’d find in the average French home, and it has become known for its comforting style and flavourful dishes. 

Around the time of the French Revolution, a chef named Antonin Careme became renowned for his cooking. He is the chef credited with codifying the ‘mother sauces’, the five sauces that are sensational on their own, but also serve as the base of many other sauces; hollandaise, espagnole, velouté, bechamel, and tomato sauce. 

Of course, the Michelin star system also originated in France. What began as a clever marketing ploy to encourage diners to drive to restaurants, has become the global standard for exceptional fine dining. 

Overall, French fare has become renowned over the years, for everything from its home-style meals to fine dining. As such, some of the best French food comes from simple home kitchens – while chefs around the world ensure diners can enjoy great French cuisine all over the globe. 

French cooking is to thank for many of the essential techniques used in modern kitchens all over the world. In fact, many of the terms we use for them are taken directly from the French language. 

• Flambéing: Using alcohol to create flames whilst cooking
• Poaching: Simmering food in liquid 
• Sous vide: Cooking something in a bag submerged in water at a low temperature 
• Sautéing: Cooking ingredient in oil or butter at high temperatures 
• Braising: Cooking with first a high, dry heat to sear the food, then moving it into a slow cooker to finish cooking through in a liquid 

Many types of French dishes rely on these classic cooking techniques to achieve the perfect texture and taste. 

Find French cuisine at Crown Sydney for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 

Sacrebleu!

Award winning Canelés & Quiches.

Sacrebleu! is the kind of French café that will make you think you may have been born in the wrong country. Winning Gold Medals at the Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards (2019 and 2021-2024).

The quiches, pies, and sandwiches hit the spot for something savoury. Yet it’s the sweet canelés, croissants and Madelienes that make this French eatery a Sydney must-try. The chefs here predominantly use French ingredients, such as butter from Normandy, and the proof, as they say, is quite literally in the pudding.  

Epicurean

Soak in the views, the theatre of the open kitchens, and the French fare on the menu at Epicurean. 

This is a fine-dining buffet, with cuisines from around the world prepared right in front of you. French food, as one of the most flavoursome, decadent cuisines in the world, is a popular choice at Epicurean. 

Make it an entire meal of French dishes, or dabble in other cuisines to enjoy the best of all worlds. 

Icebergs Harbour Bar

Icebergs Harbour Bar is where hotel glamour meets coastal chic. 

With an airy outdoor space and décor that will make you feel like you have one foot in the water, this bar is all about embracing the elegant and the aquatic. 

While not French in its entirety, Icebergs Harbour Bar incorporates French cuisine into its menu at every opportunity. Consider the chicken liver and Glenmorangie whisky parfait, a side of sauteed greens, and perhaps an Amaro crème caramel to finish (and a petit fours box to take home for later). 

French cuisine is timeless. From the history to the refined techniques to the unforgettable flavours, there is good reason why the French are world-famous for their food. 

But you don’t have to fly 20 hours to taste it. Simply make a reservation at one of Crown’s restaurants or bars to treat yourself to the timeless taste of Paris right here in Sydney.