Herald rating:
Despite its official address being 137 Victoria St, Le Chef is tucked around the corner in Nelson St, just next to the Empire Tavern. In fact, Le Chef connects with Le Rendez-Vous on the Victoria St side of the tavern, sharing the kitchen. While the Rendez-Vous has a more takeaway/bakery focus, Le Chef is where you come for a meal.
The look is appealing, with a sense of space despite its relatively small dining area and the walls are lined with the sides of wooden wine boxes, with the names and emblems of various chateaux.
The menu for 7am-2pm is small but perfectly formed, with a definite Gallic tone, from the croissants and other pastries to the pain perdu and salade Lyonnaise. Indeed, the menu is a changeable affair - a new one was due out in the days after our visit and, we were assured, would be frequently updated.
We ordered a delicious croissant aux amandes ($4) to tide us over until the mains came, two salades Lyonnnaises ($17) with lettuce, poached eggs, bacon and croutons; eggs on toast ($16), which involves then deciding on the list of "how", "on", "green" and "with". For our diner it was poached, baguette, tomato and salmon.
