Alba - Restaurant Italien Reims — Restaurant in Reims

3,5/5 New restaurant in Reims, opened in November and has been the buzz ever since !! Decor is breathtaking !! Olive trees, Italian fresco wallpaper on the ceiling, very classy decor, and striking bar !! Waiter was cool and friendly, chatty. Was disappointed with the food quality though : ordered the burrata for starter which was nice yet not fresh (you could taste the difference) topped with pine nut and balsamic cream (clearly store bought) which undermined the cheese taste. Then had the octopus with vegetables and pesto sauce : presentation was bland : a lukewarm octopus basically thrown on a mash of vegetables (which did taste nice, though some were undercooked!). The octopus had a rubbery chew, and lacked flavour. Will gave this restaurant another shot to try some other italian specialties ... hope I won't regret it !

Went there again in march 2024: 3/5 Had the tagliato di manzo with truffled-baked potatoes: meat was ok, nothing fancy, lacking a bit of seasoning and unevenly cooked (asked for medium-rare, had some cuts well done!). Potatoes were however delicious and perfectly cooked! Decor is still amazing and beautiful, and does have its effect I won't lie! Unfortunately, we stumbled upon the most annoying waitress; we were told beforehand that we had to leave by 9pm which was no problem (we didn't have any antipasti nor desserts consequently!)... Yet she repeated the same message throughout the meal 4 times!! Very rude, especially we made the effort to not prolong our stay and eat only one course! That dampened the evening mood. Luckily Reims has its share of very nice Italian...

We went our for dinner with friends and one friend has a deadly allergy for all kinds of nuts. We had a translation in French so they could understand that there can be no nuts in the food or nearby, otherwise she can die. The waiter said that it was fine and that there were no nuts in the food we’ve ordered. He laughed at us and did not take it seriously. When the food arrived we ate a bit and then we saw something green in the mortadella. Someone said that it was pistache en we’ve asked the waiter. He comfirmed it and laughed again and said that we did not say allergic for pistache but peanuts. It was not true cause we’ve mentioned all kind of nuts. He laughed and asked to call an ambulance and then wanted to order our main course like nothing happened. We did not think he was taking it seriously and we wanted to leave. He did not give us anything like a discount or sorry. The restaurant is a place where everything is rushed and they do not take the time to listen to what people say. They just want the money and after two hours you can leave for the next shift. There are much better and nicer restaurants in Reims where you feel loved and...

Very hard to get a table at Alba. You have to book at least a week in advance which is pretty uncommon for a city like Reims. So I was curious to see what it was all about. Decor is honestly amazing even though the seating is not always confortable: our table for instance was next to the restroom in a weird corner, and another one was right in the entryway. It is a huge restaurant, so don’t expect nothing personal or friendly. They seem to like to raise the expectations of their customers since our busy waitress told us mechanically to get ready for the « best pizza in Reims ». It was not. My husband had a margarita and it was nothing exceptional. We had better ones at very simple pizzerias in town. The burrata we shared was excellent though, as was my beef carpaccio. Wine by the glass was disappointing. Cocktails were good. Overall, a trendy spot worth a visit but could...