You could call it a pub with tablecloths, or perhaps it’s restaurant that serves pots of Carlton. It matters not – it’s its many-things-to-the-many-faces-of-Prahran nature that’s the beauty of the year-old L’Hotel Gitan.

And that it’s a space saved from developers that’s been lovingly restored to all its Art Deco glory, thanks to two generations of the Reymond hospitality dynasty. Patriarch “pappa” Jacques has partnered with three of his four children in the venue – a sister venue to Bistro Gitan down the road – overseeing the menu and occasionally donning the white jacket and working the room, if not the pans.

The central kitchen is the obvious focal point of the room divided into bar area at front and dining room behind and is where you can sit around the counter and snack on oysters and charcuterie or crepes for lunch while watching more than a half a dozen chefs dance across sections. There’s a large grill and a big red rotisserie where a daily changing meat is roasted – racks of lamb, suckling pig, all manner of birds – while the grill is responsible for a half dozen steaks of various cuts and provenance, perfectly cooked, served with equally perfect frites and textbook bearnaise. Duck magret and rockling colbert telegraph the menu’s French roots, while morton bay bugs given the tempura treatment and a “refreshing” crab salad bursting with mango and chilli are more Mod Oz inclusions. The wine list also pays equal respect to masters new and old, though more aimed at crowd that thinks nothing of opening a mid-week Grand Cru.

For such a busy place, service is tight. The staff’s casual attire – shirt, jeans, denim apron – belies the professionalism. It’s is a space where three generations of the same family will feel as comfortable at lunch as at dinner and will find something on the menu to suit. Whatever you call it, L’Hotel Gitan is the perfect neighbourhood venue for this neighbourhood.

Social feed

Tel: (03) 9999 0990