Brasserie Au Bon Plaisir — Restaurant in Nicosia

Incredibly UNDERWHELMING, Incredibly OVERPRICED! Unfortunately this dining experience left a lot to be desired. Perhaps our expectations were set high based on current reviews and online presence but we almost felt duped by the time we were 5 minutes into the experience. It was a set menu for Valentines but we couldn't believe the lack of choices and minimal courses offered for this exorbitant price. Let's start with the service, it was amateur hour at best. Very lackluster. Having to ask for napkins, then water, then plates to eat our appetizers is not cognizant of an established dining room. There were very long durations between visits from our server and not once did they return after a plate was served to ensure our satisfaction (standard restaurant etiquette). When our meal was complete, our dirty dishes sat in front of us for over 20 minutes. We were not offered coffee or an after dinner aperitif and the wrong choices were brought to our table in error twice. It was very disorganized. Servers were also very poorly dressed for a supposed elevated dining experience.

Now onto the food. Mediocre would be the best way to summarize the little food we received. Mussels were not good, I've had superior mussels in other countries where the cities were far more inland than here! Soup was oddly cold on the top half and hot at the bottom. Same mediocracy with the main dish, lacked any real flavor and desserts were just ok.

The owner seemed bothered by our inquiries regarding some of the menu items and carried a little bit of an air about her. Answering cell phone calls while taking a tables order! Really?! Based on her replies to others with similar concerns though, I am not surprised. Rather than being open to criticism and perhaps utilizing feedback as a constructive tool in furthering her business, it appears she is set on just telling everyone else that their opinion is wrong and she is right.

The ambiance was also not warm. We found the decorations quite tacky for a romantic evening. Balloons and crafts on the table that look like what kids do during craft time.

Am I being harsh? perhaps..... but at 66 euros per person for ONE appetizer, ONE main dish and a dessert with NO wine pairings.......just ridiculous. No I would not recommend this place to any of my associates.

**edit - based on your reply you have us confused with some other customers (we never asked nor received any discount or said anything about "making us happy"). So I guess we weren't the only ones then sharing similar concerns about the...

This is a family run restaurant, so the owners are desperately holding on to their old ways and have no intention of improving the service, food or customer experience. While you are there you are at the mercy of how other guests will act, even if this means that they are disturbing the rest of the guests. Please see the last few reviews and Google and TripAdvisor for details. Instead of running this place like a business, the owners take personal offense and write long winded responses to negative reviews, full of 90’s movies references. The positive reviews on TripAdvisor seem to be from fake accounts, as they are from reviews with only one contribution. A lot of management responses to negative reviews seem to question whether guests are reviewing the right establishment or whether the guests are insane - real professional response. The management is simply in denial about how badly the place is doing. I have been to lots of family run places and the difference between this place and successful places is that owners really care about the experience of each of their guest instead of just the large group Russian customers who seemed to be friends with the owners. So my advice to the owner is to provide a good experience to all customers or be ready for negative reviews. But spoiler alert, the response to this review will also be full of denial and...

I would like to share my amazing expirience with food been delivered to my house. I always prefer going to the restaurant to enjoy an authentic and warm atmosphere of a French place rather than order delivery, but this time due to certain circumstances I did not have a choice. I have ordered an onion soup and bottle of Bordeaux for my dinner. The delivery was really fast, in 30 minutes I had my meal in front of me. The soup was still hot, just like it would appear straight out of kitchen door. The soup was accompanied by croutons and authentic French cheese used specifically for this kind of soup. Gosh! What a lovely taste it was! Rich in flavor and texture, an absolute pleasure and bliss. Closing your eyes, you take a sip of excellent French Bordeaux wine and you feel like you are no longer at home, but in a small cozy brasserie in Paris, warming up your tired bones near the fireplace, enjoying your simple dinner and simply melting in the atmosphere of this small cozy place filled with aromas of authentic French cousin. Amazing food and wine - highly recomended even...