When Hubert first opened, there was a lot of hype surround this French inspired restaurant. It was the “place to go” and bookings were practically impossible. We went a fair time after the hype had died down, which allowed us to get a group booking at a reasonable time.
Entering from Bligh Street, you’re met with a huge wooden door and then the spiral staircase down to the restaurant is what strikes you first. As you stroll down this staircase which is lined with bottles of alcohol and dimmed lights, and you feel like you’re stepping back many years.
As you enter the restaurant, there is a bar to the right and a huge dining space of tables, booths and feels like you’re in Europe. Fringed lamps, candles with dripping wax and a stage with a piano is set up and as waiters move around the room, it feels vintage, romantic, classy and ...read more
Winding underground on curved low-lit staircases lined with glass cabinets bearing orderly rows of alcoholic miniatures (a Merimbula inheritance); you’ll feel like you’ve slipped into post-war Paris. The check-in desk sees you shunted either into the formal Beatrix Dining Room, complete with shiny, black, baby grand on a tiny scarlet-curtained stage, or in my case with the restaurant being full, into the more intimate, candlelit, wood paneled surrounds of Bar Normandy.
Roussanne, White Grenache, Gamay, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Grenache and Pinot Noir… the extensive wine list favours my most loved varietals. It pulls my attention away from Negroni, Bellini, Martini - the classic twenty-buck-apiece cocktail list etched onto signboards behind the bar. For a flying visit, the ...read more
