La Grillade Gourmande — Restaurant in Épernay

TLDR: £200 does not guarantee a great meal or excellent service at a Michelin starred restaurant in Epernay.

Having dined in a multitude of establishments from Boulangerie to 3 Star Michelin in France, tonight was a disappointment that (according to other 5* reviews) probably could have been great had we made a different protein selection for mains.

I noted many great reviews for this restaurant, but on re-reading them, none mention the TBone and several negative 1 and 2 star reviews mention that meals advertised as "from the wood fired grill" (which I was staring at directly all night - see my photos for angle and proximity) were cooked in another manner?

After waiting an hour after our entree was finished I specifically asked the waiter " Is our T bone being cooked on that open grill" the response: "Yes, of course, on that grill" ...

Well I watched the sous chef every time he came out and he cooked three pieces of meat on the grill the whole night. Ours was not one of them.

The amuse-bouche of cold broccoli soup was interesting, tasty, and, whilst 20 Millilitres of free soup is a nice gesture, it was not spectacular.

The entree/starter of Lobster with pumpkin pureè was very nice, best dish of the night

The entree/starter of sea bream with champagne lentils was nice but somewhat stingy in that the bream fillet was about the size and thickness of a pencil but very tasty. So far so good.

We had ordered the "TBone steak cooked on the wood fired grill for 2 to share" for our main meal with a good red wine.

As above, we did not see the Sous chef cook our steak on the wood fired grill... Someone got one...Just not us.

By this I mean that, as the time between the last item cooked on the BBQ and the serving of our meal to us was over an hour. (I took photos of the last thing cooked on the grill and also when the "TBone" was served to us at our table.)

Also, several other " from the wood fired grill" orders went out in between the last siting of the sous chef and our meal being served. Coincidentally, the table beside us (that ordered after us) got their meal "from the wood fired grill" at the same time, but nothing cooked on the open grill in the past hour????

All the above (timing, origin of cooking etc) could be forgiven if the steak was worth it....

Unfortunately not.

Probably the toughest, fattiest, chewiest, gristle and sinew filled piece of "steak" I have ever attempted to eat.

Not only was it delivered to our table already carved, but no TBone was present and there was no way to identify the eye fillet from the sirloin that make up the two parts of a T Bone steak. Unfortunately, unlike many other establishments that carve the steak in front of the diner, there was just a mass of cut up meat on a metal tray with a bowl of salt and a lonely sprig of parsley.

Most of the "steak" was inedible. The waitress/manager (owner/wife of chef?) eventually noticed most of the steak left on the serving tray and the partially chewed balls of gristle, sinew and fat left on the sides of our plates and asked " was there a problem?" So we explained the above (nicely, as my wife cautioned me about making a scene) Was there an apology? No. Where we asked if we wanted dessert or coffee ? Yes (which was surprising, when it was specified that dessert MUST be ordered at same time as main?) Did we want anything else ? No.

The Bill was asked for and (without apology, acceptance of responsibility, or humility for producing a less than ideal main meal ) was paid in full for the entire meal and bottle of wine except for 2x €8.50 glasses of champagne that were comped, possibly as a token gesture of acknowledgement of their failure.

Should their Michelin status from 2023 be re-reviewed? Perhaps? In our opinion, it did not meet the Michelin criteria that awards stars on the basis of :

"... the quality of the ingredients, the harmony of flavours, the mastery of techniques, the personality of the chef as expressed through their cuisine and, just as importantly, consistency both across the entire menu and...

Had high hopes. Started well. Chef comes out to personally welcome everyone. Menu looks good. We order. Waiter recommends fantastic Rosé. Entrée comes out, restaurant is getting busier, chef is still greeting his patrons. Mains arrive. We take obligatory photos. I take a mouthful and realise there is a contamination. I have several allergies but my chosen dish does not include any of my allergens. However, I know there is a problem so I alert our waiter. I am embarrassed. She removes my plate after I explain and request another plate of the same. She alerts the manger who unbelievably returns to our table with my contaminated plate! She lists all the ingredients, which are fine, but I maintain there is a problem. I again request a fresh version of my chosen dish. She is standing over me with my plate so I ask her what will happen. She wants me to select a different dish, but I ask for the same. She walks away. A few moments later the chef, still in crisp white apron, marches into the dining room and declares it is simply NOT possible that there is a problem. His voice is an octave higher as if to emphasise his authority. Two problems here now.... 2 people have argued with the customer. My husband has a mediocre dish that includes a mushroom medley. It contains discernible grit. Chef - get into the kitchen, get your apron dirty and SUPERVISE your staff. It is absolutely possible there was a problem with the meal you served to me but your arrogance prevented you from being humble enough to admit the...

While the food quality was excellent - an 8.5 out of 10, the service was extremely slow and the portions were the tiniest I had had in 20 years. (1). We had a long day and just wanted to have a swift meal. We ordered main courses and desserts. It took us about 15 minutes to eat and 1:30 minutes of waiting around. No bread. About 45 min after we had finished our main courses, I asked the waiter if they could speed up the serving of our desserts, he came back with the desserts 15 min later, just as we were contemplating leaving the restaurant. Then, my brother still added a tip and the waiter took the tip and avoided making eye contact with us when we left, even through he stood there 2 feet from us facing the door of the restaurant. (2) Two in our party ordered sea bass and the fillets were about 4 cm in length. It tasted very good but I confess when I saw the portion size I had to look at at the waiter for his facial expression: did they just split a normal portion into two, I wondered? (3) The decor in the restaurant is fine but the tables were old and cheap, not charming at all. Some rank this as the top restaurant in town. That may be true but if it is so highly rated we should hold it to higher standards and frankly I would not go back there because it is over-rated and hyped, in my opinion. We have been to other restaurants that were just as good if not better but with much lower...