Bistro Gentil

  Really great place. We loved the location very much. Friday night and lots of locals there. Very friendly staff. Food tastet exquisit. Wonderful wines. It is a small place so... read more you do have to make a reservation. And it is a bit out of town.

  We had the pleasure of dining here recently during a weekend in Wanaka. The welcome was warm, food was both visually beautiful and delicious, and all three serving staff were... read more kind and friendly. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a dinner out as much. Go team Gentil!

  We are Wanaka locals and have dined at BG many times over the past 6-8 years. Some time ago, I found that while the food was amazing, it was often... read more a little too fancy in the fact that the dish comprised of too many flavor's...More

  Bistro Gentil is described in a major tourist brochure for Wanaka as '...our award winning restaurant ' and came up as #1 on Trip Advisor reviews. The online menu looked... read more exciting too, so off we went for dinner.
Now I don't like writing negative reviews but I really was disappointed.
Wild venison carpaccio as an entree had about as much venison as a single thin slice of prosciutto. And with more than that in the form of poached pear, cranberry gel and sun dried tomato, I just couldn't taste the venison. It's not that these things don't go with venison, but the dish was so mean on the venison that it just got swamped.
It didn't get much better with the fish main. Three tiny pieces of monkfish, while tasting good, just didn't show the character of the fish. The celeriac puree was good, and could have been the main counterpoint of the fish with maybe one other flavour. But add prawns, leek, orange and bok choy to a tiny serve of fish and it just got lost. Somewhere there was apparently black garlic butter too... I've had many entrees that were more generous.
On the plus side, the garden salad was good and so were the wines (though a bit on the high price side by the glass).
Overall I think Bistro Gentil is trying too hard, maybe to hold or rescue some past glory. But the meanness of the and better balanced than this.
A French onion soup was sweet but maybe at the expense of some flavour of the onion. It was saved by a crust of gruyere but we're still trying to work out where the crouton was.
Overall the meanness of the feature ingredients in the serves, and the overcomplicated and overcompensated accompaniments, really it down.
I'm hoping they were just having a bad night, as their menu should really set you alight.

  Bistro Gentil created the BEST of problems- we wanted to eat more than we knew we could! After some haggling for favorites we had three entrees and two mains with... read more a local glass of 'liquid' dessert to finish. A busy Saturday night was expertly managed...More

  I'm still digesting the delicious 3 course meal as I write this. The food was next level. If you're wanting the best of what Wanaka has to offer then this... read more is it. I'm a local of 5 years and I've tried every all the restaurants...More

  We were grateful to get in on a Saturday night after another group cancelled - but after overnight rain their carpark was flooded so we had to park in a... read more muddy road side area - maybe an omen of what was to come.
However that cancellation did not do us any favours.
Three of us had "Trust the chef" suggestions- well I dont think I would trust him with my grandma - entrees were a pastry case ( read pappadum) filled with tasteless array of shredded meats and a few blobs of cornichon puree ( gherkin puree) to pretty up the plate . Somewhat disappointed we were then looking forward to our suprise main meal - what we got was fatty, slimy glutinous pork slices with green beans and roast potatoes- the pork was inedible for one of us - and the plate was returned uneaten. The saving grace was the crunchy roast potatoes....Our other dining partner had ordered off the a la carte menu - a good move - French onion soup which proved to be delicious followed by a rib eye steak and dauphin potatoes. Wish we had not Trusted the Chef - very very disappointed overall and over priced pretentious French cuisine.

  Had a delicious meal. Super impressed with the service, food and ambience. We both had fish of the day which was delicious. Very generous servings and the service was top... read more notch. Will be back!

  Eye watering prices mediocre food. Not fresh not tasty.Very pretentious.They call it french cuisine but I doubt any frenchman would want to make that comparison.

  Warm welcome on a cold and rainy night. The food was excellent, the staff friendly and helpful and the wine selection great. Well worth the drive.