PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAAux Batifolles (pronounced something like O bat-ee-fol) is a busy, easy-going French bistro in a stretch that’s crowded with brimming eateries. This is the only one of its kind and it’s a bit like everyone’s imagined French bistro with a big bar for service, wine red walls, small tables, wooden chairs, timber floors, and French-speaking waiters. It’s pretty casual: the tables are bare, the napkins paper, and the bread comes with very un-French little butter pats like at a motel.
The menu is supplemented by a blackboard with the day’s specials that is moved from table to table. The food choices are fairly standard bistro – steamed mussels, cured salmon, steaks in various sizes, all with frites. They’re probably the best bet, although we liked the fried calamari and its presentation: a stack of fried rounds, all golden brown and tender, served with a good punchy sauce tartare. The wine list features French and Australian wines, and a French house wine. Breakfast here is decidedly un-Gallic – check out the big breakfast which is almost more English than anything else. Window tables get good news and bad news: they receive a nice breeze in hot weather, but also the fumes of the smokers who sit outside. Aux Batifolles has a sister restaurant in North Fitzroy, open only for dinner from Tuesday to Sunday.
Rita Erlich, January 2008
