French Saloon

Name: French Saloon
Address: First Floor, 46 Hardware Lane (enter restaurant from Hardware Lane, via stairs), Melbourne, AU-VIC, Australia, 3000
Telephone: (03) 9600 2142
Price range: $41 to $100
Rating: 4.7

4.7 (375)

$41 to $100

French

First Floor, 46 Hardware Lane (enter restaurant from Hardware Lane, via stairs), Melbourne, AU-VIC 3000

Make a booking

2 people

15 June 2025

7:00 pm

Booked 8 times today

Experiences are available.

About this restaurant

Charming
Great for fine wines
Good for special occasions

Climb the narrow flight of stairs up from the red brick lane to enter the saloon. A table in the bustling dining room? Or a seat at the fluted zinc bar? Whether it’s a lunch, dinner or well crafted cocktails with a snack, bookings are essential.

Dining areas

Additional information

Dining style
Casual Elegant
Price
$41 to $100
Cuisines
French, Modern Australian
Hours of Operation
Lunch Thu, Fri 12:00 pm–3:00 pm Dinner Tue–Sat 5:00 pm–11:00 pm
Phone number
(03) 9600 2142
Website
http://www.frenchsaloon.com/
Payment Options
AMEX, Mastercard, Visa
Dress code
Casual Dress
Executive Chef
Luke Fraser
Private party facilities
Our award winning menu designed by our head Chef Luke Fraser, accommodates serious boardroom dinners, as well as beautiful long family lunches. An extensive wine list and welcoming, savvy staff make hosting an event with us effortless.

Location
First Floor, 46 Hardware Lane (enter restaurant from Hardware Lane, via stairs), Melbourne, AU-VIC 3000
Area
Melbourne CBD
Cross Street
Hardware Lane and Little Bourke Street
Parking details
Private Parking
Public transit
Route 86 or 96 tram
Additional
Beer, Cocktails, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Late Night, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Wine

Featured in

Top 50 restaurants in Australia

Experiences

Chef's Menu
$95.00 per person
Multiple dates available
For all groups of 8-12 people we offer our Chef's Menu. This is a $95 per person shared menu offering classic seasonal dishes from our a la carte menu. Payment is taken on the evening and is NOT taken from the credit card used for booking. *Please note a 10% service charge applies to all group bookings of 8 people and above.

Roast celeriac, caramelised pumpkin, black truffle vinaigrette, crisp enoki mushrooms$28.00
Smoked mackerel rillette, cucumber, mini English muffins$28.00
Kingfish, preserved lemon, lovage, nigella$30.00
Terrine Maison, house HP sauce, pickles, toasted sourdough$28.00
Chicken liver parfait, chicken skin and hazelnut praline, Sauternes apricots, toasted pain de lait$26.00
French Saloon steak tartare$32.00

Mains

Market fish du jour - Market Price
Parisienne gnocchi, spinache velouté, goats curd, spring onion$45.00
Roast chicken breast, jambonette of leg, jus gras$48.00
Steak frites$49.00
Wagyu rump cap, jus de Saloon, pommes Parisienne$62.00
Whole roasted market fish, sauce au poivre, pommes allumettes - Market Price

On the Side

Pommes frites$14.00
Green beans, smoked almondine$14.00
Grilled broccolini, black garlic yoghurt$14.00
Mixed leaves, Champagne vinaigrette, fine herbs$12.00

Cheese

Each cheese is served with a matching seasonal accompaniment. Selection of three 75g $25 / five 125g $42

White mould: Délice D'argental - Bourgogne, France 50gm$18.00
Washed Rind: St. Nectaire - Auvergne, France 50gm$18.00
Chevré: Délice des Deux Sèvres - Pitou, France 50gm$18.00
Hard: L'Evitaz AOP - Canton de Vaud, Switzerland - Castlemaine 50gm$18.00
Blue: Raw Blue - South Gippsland 50gm$18.00

Dessert

Baba au Rhum$18.00
Tarte du jour$18.00
Crème Brûlée$18.00
Madeleines, chocolate$18.00

What 375 people are saying

French Saloon reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.7

4.7 based on recent ratings

4.8Food
4.8Service
4.8Ambience
4.5Value

Noise • Energetic

Loved For

City Centre
Great for fine wines
City Centre
Good for special occasions

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews

French Saloon offers an "excellent classic French bistro" experience with "flawless" service and "fabulous food." Guests enjoy its elegant atmosphere, "generous service," and an "expansive and fairly priced" wine list. While there are occasional lapses, the restaurant remains a "favorite" for steak frites and impressive culinary events.

375 Reviews

D
Damien
London3 reviews
1.0
Dined on 30 May 2025
1. Overall 1
2. Food 1
3. Service 4
4. Ambience 4
Disappointing. Had to wait almost 40 minutes for our main and the steak was warm at best with a sickly sauce, and overcooked when we asked for medium rare. The restaurant was half full so not sure why it was disorganised. The oysters were fine.
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P
Peter
Dublin1 review
4.0
Dined on 23 May 2025
1. Overall 4
2. Food 4
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Very well run bistro in the expected modern French style. Service and food were flawless. It is quite expensive but worth it
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E
Eric
Melbourne3 reviews
5.0
Dined on 20 May 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
The environment is very elegant, and there aren't many people, so it's not crowded. Because it was a bit cold today, even though there were no customers in the store at that time, the heating was still turned on in advance. The dishes are very delicious. I think this is the best steak I've ever had in Melbourne. Finally, I would like to say that the service here is very good. I especially want to thank the staff today, which made this anniversary even more complete.
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P
Prisca
Melbourne3 reviews
5.0
Dined on 3 May 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Absolutely excellent service. Fabulous food and extensive wine list.
Is this helpful?
A
Andrew
Sydney1 review
4.0
Dined on 16 April 2025
1. Overall 4
2. Food 5
3. Service 4
4. Ambience 4
excellent classic French bistro, casual but high quality
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R
Rory
Melbourne1 review
5.0
Dined on 29 March 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
St John pop up was outstanding. The food was delicious and th staff were incredible
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C
Clare
London2 reviews
5.0
Dined on 29 March 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Went to the St. John pop up for lunch. I’ve been obsessed with this restaurant for years. Regularly cook from their cookbooks. To finally get to taste their food was a dream come true. Lived up to my expectations. Cannot thank the team enough.
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K
Kim
London11 reviews
5.0
Dined on 27 March 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 4
4. Ambience 5
A special experience for the St John’s takeover. Because it was so busy service was a bit slow and then got rushed at the end for table changeover. Was such a delightful night though.
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L
Luna
Melbourne1 review
1.0
Dined on 27 March 2025
1. Overall 1
2. Food 1
3. Service 2
4. Ambience 4
I attended the collaboration event with St. John, but unfortunately, it was not quite what I had expected. Admittedly, my expectations may have been a bit high, but I was seated at the counter, which felt slightly too high for me (157 cm). Additionally, the chair had no backrest, so I had to keep my bag and jacket on my lap throughout the dinner, which was rather uncomfortable. The food was decent, though nothing particularly surprising, and I found that the course was somewhat challenging to pair with the wines on the list. Moreover, I received my knife and fork only after the main dish was served, whereas I believe they should have been set beforehand. The knife also wasn’t sharp enough to cut through the crispy pork skin easily, which made the experience a little frustrating.
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M
Michelle
New South Wales5 reviews
5.0
Dined on 26 March 2025
1. Overall 5
2. Food 5
3. Service 5
4. Ambience 5
Absolutely amazing dinner with the St John take over loved all the food and service
Is this helpful?

FAQs

French Saloon is rated 4.7 stars by 375 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a booking

2 people

15 June 2025

7:00 pm

Booked 8 times today

Experiences are available.

First Floor, 46 Hardware Lane (enter restaurant from Hardware Lane, via stairs), Melbourne, AU-VIC 3000

Dining areas

Additional information

Cross Street
Hardware Lane and Little Bourke Street
Area
Melbourne CBD
Hours of Operation
Lunch Thu, Fri 12:00 pm–3:00 pm Dinner Tue–Sat 5:00 pm–11:00 pm
Price
$41 to $100
Cuisines
French, Modern Australian
Dining style
Casual Elegant
Dress code
Casual Dress
Parking details
Private Parking
Public transit
Route 86 or 96 tram
Payment Options
AMEX, Mastercard, Visa
Executive Chef
Luke Fraser
Additional
Beer, Cocktails, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Late Night, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Wine

Website
http://www.frenchsaloon.com/
Phone number
(03) 9600 2142
Private party facilities
Our award winning menu designed by our head Chef Luke Fraser, accommodates serious boardroom dinners, as well as beautiful long family lunches. An extensive wine list and welcoming, savvy staff make hosting an event with us effortless.

Featured in

Top 50 restaurants in Australia

French Saloon

Make a booking

About this restaurant

Dining areas

Additional information

Top 50 restaurants in Australia

Chef's Menu

Snacks

Appellation oysters$6.00

Comté gougère$8.00

Feuille de brick, whipped Brillat Savarin, caviar$15.00

Entrée

Roast celeriac, caramelised pumpkin, black truffle vinaigrette, crisp enoki mushrooms$28.00

Smoked mackerel rillette, cucumber, mini English muffins$28.00

Kingfish, preserved lemon, lovage, nigella$30.00

Terrine Maison, house HP sauce, pickles, toasted sourdough$28.00

Chicken liver parfait, chicken skin and hazelnut praline, Sauternes apricots, toasted pain de lait$26.00

French Saloon steak tartare$32.00

Mains

Market fish du jour - Market Price

Parisienne gnocchi, spinache velouté, goats curd, spring onion$45.00

Roast chicken breast, jambonette of leg, jus gras$48.00

Steak frites$49.00

Wagyu rump cap, jus de Saloon, pommes Parisienne$62.00

Whole roasted market fish, sauce au poivre, pommes allumettes - Market Price

On the Side

Pommes frites$14.00

Green beans, smoked almondine$14.00

Grilled broccolini, black garlic yoghurt$14.00

Mixed leaves, Champagne vinaigrette, fine herbs$12.00

Cheese

White mould: Délice D'argental - Bourgogne, France 50gm$18.00

Washed Rind: St. Nectaire - Auvergne, France 50gm$18.00

Chevré: Délice des Deux Sèvres - Pitou, France 50gm$18.00

Hard: L'Evitaz AOP - Canton de Vaud, Switzerland - Castlemaine 50gm$18.00

Blue: Raw Blue - South Gippsland 50gm$18.00

Dessert

Baba au Rhum$18.00

Tarte du jour$18.00

Crème Brûlée$18.00

Madeleines, chocolate$18.00

Overall ratings and reviews

Loved For

Review summary

FAQs

How is French Saloon restaurant rated?

Is French Saloon currently accepting bookings?

Make a booking

Dining areas

Additional information

Featured in

Top 50 restaurants in Australia