To the left, there’s breakfast, coffee and croissants, plus cheese, charcuterie and excellent bread at the boulangerie and traiteur. To the right, steak frites and fruits de mer at the cleverly conceived bistro.

Heading right, the design is a perfect mimicry of a Paris bistro: light-wood tables, bentwood chairs, marble tops, black-and-white tiles in the corridors. The menu requires great deliberation; from crudités to caviar, steak tartare to chicken liver parfait – and with warm brioche! – how to choose?

The bread selection, from next door, is fabulous. Baguettes are crusty but moist of crumb, sourdough just as it should be and a roast pumpkin bread is glorious. Lightly roasted flounder is served on the bone, dressed with just enough Cafe de Paris butter. Hints of chervil add pure French flavour to a red velvet salad side. And then, a bowl of perfect French fries.

The wine list is a neat mix of Aussie and French, with heaps by the glass (including a mighty fine Ruinart rosé – pour moi, s’il vous plaît) and in cute carafes. Background music is a contemporary French bistro playlist, so catchy you’ll be loving life a la Française.

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