It was my 50th birthday this week! After a lovely day at Monato Zoo, Christian took me out for dinner. Lately we have become a little obsessed with French dining so we went to the new French Restaurant on the 9th floor of the Sofitel Hotel in Currie Street.

As we stepped out of the lift, we were greeted and taken to our table, which was by the window. It was lovely to have dinner with a view. Throughout the evening, staff were very attentive, almost to a fault. We were confused by the number of staff that assisted us. We had at least 4 waiters and 2 sommeliers; sometimes it felt that staff members were not aware where we were up to or who had already attended to us. At one point late in the evening, someone we had not seen before appeared, said something so quickly neither of us heard or understood him, and then ran off. We did not see him again.

But what about the food and drink, I hear you ask? We started the night with a couple of their signature cocktails, which were quite sophisticated and we enjoyed them. We then ordered a bottle of red wine to have with dinner; be aware that there are only about 3 bottles under $100 (we chose one of these). You can buy some wine by the glass too if you prefer. They also have a good range of spirits.

The dishes we ordered were enjoyable. We had entrees of Coquilles Saint-Jacques (this is scallops, a surprising choice by Christian since he does not normally eat seafood) and Rabbit Terrine.

Our main courses were Pork Loin and Porterhouse. We ordered sides of charred broccolini and trio of mushrooms.

For dessert we shared apple tarte tatin. Staff then surprised me with a lovely birthday message and chocolates.

Overall, we enjoyed our dinner, but I am not sure it was worth the 5 star price. It was very noisy and we had trouble hearing each other and our waiters. We would prefer to have one waiter who makes us feel special by being attentive and observant and knows exactly where we are up to in our dining experience. We have experienced a better atmosphere and felt more special elsewhere.