Monday, May 21, 2007

La guillotine

Kent Street, Monday morning. On the corner on the right is La Guillotine French restaurant (see name on the red awning in the back alley). A rather sinister name for a place that advertises itself as 'oh so romantic' with a lovely Parisian atmosphere, don't you think? Perhaps not all everyone knows what the guillotine is? Or perhaps rolling heads and dripping blood is their idea of sexy... Anyway reviews for this restaurant are very good with an average rating of 8/10. Shall we book a virtual table and have a bloggers' meal together? They serve great bistro dishes such as Chateaubriand béarnaise or tournedos Rossini. Other specials include traditional onion soup, omelets, escargots (snails) and moules marinière (mussels). Have a look at the menu: what are you having?

Kent Street, lundi matin. Au coin à droite, c'est le restaurant français La Guillotine, dont on voit le nom sur l'auvent rouge dans la ruelle. Je me demande vraiment comment ils ont pu choisir un nom pareil ? Mais peut-être que tout le monde ici ne sait pas ce que c'est que la guillotine ? Moi, guillotine pour un resto, ça me fait penser à coup de bambou - chacun ses associations d'idées ! Mais la critique est bonne (note moyenne : 8/10) et une fois la terrasse ouverte l'atmosphère est plutot sympa. Et si on se réservait une table virtuelle pour une réunion de bloggeurs ? Attendez-vous à de la bonne cuisine de bistro, pas à du super créatif : les spécialités sont le Chateaubriand béarnaise, le tournedos Rossini, mais aussi la soupe à l'oignon, les escargots, les omelettes et les moules marinière. En même temps il faut croire que les valeurs sûres durent, ce resto tient la route depuis plus de 20 ans. Jetez un coup d'oeil au menu : qu'est-ce que vous prenez ?

22 comments:

Ming the Merciless said...

HAHAHA! What a great name!! You have to have a sense of humor to get it, I guess.

The menu looks good but I was expecting fois gras and duck confit; my favorite french food.

Kate said...

The Guillotine looks like a very sharp place! I would order the lamb cutlets for sure!

Olivier said...

voila la grande originalité, venir manger français en australie ;o). Sinon il a l'air sympa, sauf le nom. (peut etre un de ces ancetres est venu se refugier en Australie pendant la revolution, un sang bleu)

Sally said...

Gawd, I had no idea La Guillotine was still there! Must be 20 years since I last ate there, and it was very well established then. So they must be doing something to keep the punters coming back! Especially in these days when restaurants come and go in the blink of an eye.

Sally said...

Oh, and I'd like some mussels please - but hold the chips!

calusarus said...

Peut-être que les clients comprennent ce qu'est une guillotine en voyant l'addition :-)

Perhaps that the customers understand what is a guillotine by receiving the bill :-)

Anonymous said...

Ming, sorry I'll try harder next time!

Kate, sharp humour !

Sally, they've changed locations (just around the corner) but they're still around, blood dripping and all!

Calusarus, yes I agree
(la guillotine, ca me fait penser au coup de bambou, moi !!!)

bv said...

I've been there a couple of times. You must try the omelette, it's simple but very good. And will avoid you a far too sharp bill sentence...

hpy said...

Heureusement il n'est même pas 10h ce matin, sinon j'aurai eu trop envie de me mettre à table. J'ai un faible pour la sauce béarnaise bien préparée, mais tout sent bon sur la carte.

Peter said...

I checked on Google if there is a "Guillotine" restaurant in Paris, but no... I guess nobody dared to use such a name, possibly because it was still in use until the 70's here (fortunately now abandoned). I found a lot of references to your Sydney one. It must be something really good and well-known.

Anonymous said...

Peut-être que certains plats sont tellement relevés que ça arrache la tête. :-)

Unknown said...

when's the virtual table booking? hehe.. I would love to join in!

Z said...

Being a rather squeamish sort, I'm not sure I could eat there. Is there a la mandoline? That would be more to my tastes..

Anonymous said...

Your scene about rolling heads dripping with blood reminds me that maybe it is time to bring back "public executions." People used to get some kind of thrill from that. Here in this country lots of families had picnics under the gallows and paused in eating their basket of goodies just long enough to see the body twitching and sometimes pee dribbling down the trouser leg and dropping to the ground below.

My point is that a fine restaurant like this one and The Hog's Breath (Clint Eastwoods old digs)have to put out decent food to draw people back.

Your photograph is stark. The narratvie is vivid. One is forced to focus on the photo again, after reading the narrative. I like the combination.

I have posted, "when flags flew with peonies," today—a bit of recent history.
Brookville Daily Photo

AinZ said...

that's funny--I love your comments about this restaurant.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the food is so good that makes to lose the head...


A regard, has left also you a comment on the preceding photo

isa said...

I don't think I'd be able to enjoy my meal - always checking around for that errant chief with a sharp knife...

Anonymous said...

I was thinking what Isabella wrote, that the guillotine is the chef's knife. But heads of broccoli are a bit different than human heads. Someone has a good sense of humor, and I would definitely eat there. Chateaubriand béarnaise please!

Oh, now I'm so homesick for Paris.

Bergson said...

La guillotine étrange nom pour un restaurant peut être que la viande servie est un peu dure. :-)

The guillotine : strange name for a restaurant can be that the been
useful meat is a little hard :-)

Maxime said...

Franchement, comme vision de la France à l'étranger, ça me terrifie, même au second degré.
Mais la photo est belle...
(comme le chantait Barbara)

Anonymous said...

Although the restaurant is interesting, I'm much more fascinated by the "Winogrand" type composition of the photograph

Ben Nakagawa said...

I like this shot. There is a an extraordinary in the ordinary scene.