Reviews
The food generally impressive and the service amicable, Garden Court was a solid night out. The decor is chic French bistro with patio vibes and suits the garden theme very well, immediately exuding a relaxed atmosphere. Make no mistake though, Garden Court is by most definitions upscale, and indeed it tries very hard - its waiters greet you with "Bonsoir" and insist on "explaining" the menu and telling you which dishes are their favourites. Yet despite this great effort to establish a "fine dining experience" Garden Court falls short by failing to note seating when taking orders, and instead the waiters have to ask who is having which dish when serving each course. The spanner crab entree $26 was served in a "cantaloupe melon soup", which may seem odd but it worked: the cold melon puree accentuated the inherent sweetness of the crab very well. This dish set the bar perhaps a bit too high, as the mains and desserts, although good, never hit that mark again for the rest of the evening. Nonetheless, the lamb rump $39 was well cooked and tender. The side of Paris mash $10 was velvety and, with much guilt, very buttery. The dark chocolate tart $15 was not too sweet, with the accompanying mango sorbet offering a fruity sweetness that coincidentally echoed that of the entree's melon soup. Overall, Garden Court combined great food, service and atmosphere in an equally great location. We are keen to come back for more.
Let me start by saying that the service here is good. I like the idea of the open air courtyard too. The ambience aint too bad either. This is where the good stuff ends. Wait, the amuse bouche was nice. Mushroom soup. Oysters 1/5, the biggest fail. Dont get how they a restaurant in a 4/5 star hotel saw fit to serve oysters that were just turning bad. Still edible but with difficulty. $25 to torture meself.. Pasture fed scotch fillet 1.5/5, it might hv been pasture fed w fresh dew tipped grass, this piece of meat was nearly inedible. Half was left uneaten. $43 adios. The rest of the meal see below were more acceptable albeit mediocre. Jamon serrano w 62 deg duck egg 2.75/5 Ruby tuna 2.5/5, tuna was limp. Seared scallops 2.75/5 Mussels w normande sauce 2.75/5, did the chef spill a whole bottle of salt in this? Herb crusted lamb 2.5/5 Coq au Vin, no idea how this tasted as i did not want to even bother trying. Hats off to the floor staff who were clued in to how we were struggling and offered multiple times to re-cook or re-serve. Which we politely declined. If you insist on dining at a Sofitel, go Atelier at darling harbour. In fact, take garden court’s chefs with you so they might learn a thing or 2 from their counterparts.
Food was very average but with fancy names. We took 4 course menu and 6 course menu. Not impressed at all. Desserts were very tasty though . Service was extremely slow . Only one cook making everything and 2 others just watching him and taking photos of the dishes he made for us. Food presentation was far better than taste . Lots of plain mayo in every dish as garnish sauce??? Atmosphere and ambiance of the place was nowhere near as nice and intimate as it looks on the photos of the restaurant . We did not feel like it was fine dining. Staff was moving furniture and making up tables for the breakfast for next morning which was very distracting. Light was quite bright and lots of noise. Overall disappointing experience. Manager was very friendly and gave us complementary birthday dessert plate but later I discovered that we were charged for it as he forgot to take it off the bill .... I usually don't write reviews but this time I feel like I should voice my feedback Thank you
We had breakfast buffet here when we stayed at sofitel. Staff were very friendly and helpful but very stretched. Long wait to be seated, same staff cooking egg dishes and pancake/waffles and those are the main hot dishes selection. By 9am the pastries and bread were nearly finsihed and not topped up.
The food was just delicious, it was on the quiet side, not many people. The staff are extremely friendly and are informative. Dishes were visually pleasing and tasted great. Overall, great restaurant.
Food is well presented and mostly tasty. A couple of dishes were a bit ordinary though. Pricey entrees and Mains. Excellent service
Nice ambience and service. Cawliflower soup too creamy. Rib eye fillet chewy. Risotto? a different story, more like a soup...ok taste but where was the rice?
Amazing attentive service but not in your face. Food was delicious, nice ambiance and great music in the background.
Beautiful french food. Fantastic service. Try the Paris Mash.
Translated by Google I went for the buffet breakfast. Generally speaking, the style is quite enough, but the quality of the food is so-so and not to my liking. After two bites, I couldn't eat any more. The waiter's attitude was actually pretty good. But the most deductive point is that the sofas or chairs are filthy, with patches of red, brown, and yellow. Foreigners sit down and talk and laugh as if nothing had happened, asking themselves if they can't do it, and using napkins to pad their buttocks. I haven't tried it for lunch and dinner, but I don't have a good impression of this restaurant, so I won't try it. Original