Bistro Red Lion By Manu

Bistro Red Lion by Manu is a French restaurant led by popular French-Australian chef Manu Feildel inside the historic Red Lion pub in Sydney’s Inner West.

Found on the newly renovated upper level of the almost-200-year-old Rozelle pub, Bistro Red Lion by Manu serves classic bistro snacks and entrees (including Feildel’s father’s recipe for country-style pâté served with prune and Armagnac jam), hearty and approachable main dishes, and comforting takes on French desserts developed in collaboration with Laundy Hotels’ group executive chef, Jamie Gannon.

Highlights to begin with include oysters (natural with mignonette, or baked under spinach, onion, garlic and parmesan), saucisson with bottomless baguette and butter, fried school prawns, and a double-baked comté soufflé with walnuts and chives.

Mains look like a confit chicken Maryland on cannellini beans with kale fricassee and jus gras; a fish stew with Murray cod, mussels, speck, mushroom, baby carrots, spring onions and red wine sauce; and a butcher's cut of beef with pommes dauphine and house-made sauce.The dessert menu offers French faves like apple tarte Tatin, baked cheese with baguette, and a  flambéed canelés Suzette.

Upstairs from the Red Lion’s main public bar complete with taxidermy lion, the 120-seat dining room at Bistro Red Lion by Manu offers peeks into the kitchen, with cosy pendant lighting, linen tablecloths and bentwood chairs evoking Parisian bistros, plus a wrap-around balcony offering outdoor seating overlooking Darling Street.

Bistro Red Lion by Manu will open on Friday 12 July, and serve lunch and dinner Thursday–Sunday (the downstairs Red Lion pub menu remains available daily).

Now check out more of the best French restaurants in Sydney.

Image credit: Bistro Red Lion by Manu | Kitti Gould