Hôtel-Restaurant L'Aquarelle

The setting was beautiful and rural, and our table was lovely. Still, the meal felt uneven, and the service left us feeling looked down on. All six of us were disappointed, and we wouldn't recommend L'Aquarelle after reading so many glowing reviews. Maybe we expected too much, but to us it didn't deserve its Michelin star. There were six of us, all keen food lovers who travel a lot and love France. We knew dinner would be expensive and long, and expected some of the formality around haute cuisine. We were hoping for interesting food and wine and a fun birthday celebration. When we sat down with the menus, I told the serveuse my husband couldn't eat wheat gluten. He's flexible, and this has never been a problem before. She reacted badly and scolded me for not mentioning it when we booked. We were taken aback, especially as only a few menu items seemed likely to involve gluten. She said she'd see what the kitchen could do, but made it sound as if we'd caused them trouble. We should have left then. From that point, service became even more brusque and unfriendly. Half the table spoke very little French, but neither server tried to explain the food or wine in English. We later found out our waitress spoke English fluently. If you don't speak French well, I'd skip this place. We chose the Menu Dégustation with the Sommeliers wine pairing. The creative, tasty amuse bouches came out slowly, one by one, but no wine arrived until the fourth one. I eventually had to ask for a glass. The veal roast was so tough it was almost impossible to cut or chew. The lotte (monkfish) was nearly raw and oddly tough, while the delicate green beans and succulent eggplant were lovely. The wines varied, and even allowing for different tastes, we all found only two of the six very interesting. Dessert looked stunning and tasted good, but was far too much. Those were the only courses where gluten might have been an issue, yet none of us wanted or needed three desserts.

The food was very good, and the surroundings were pleasant when I met an old friend for dinner at the hotel. I’d gone in with high expectations, though, and it didn't have that wow factor for me.

Great!

Just perfect!