La Clé des Champs Favières — Restaurant in Abbeville

A visit to La Clé des Champs raises questions about the criteria behind awarding a Bib Gourmand. While the restaurant makes a strong visual impression with its tasteful interior, pleasant ambiance and good-looking plates, the essence of a good dining experience, namely the quality of the food and the service, falls short.

The starter, ray wing in cucumber aspic, was simply flavorless and failed to please four out of seven guests. Though the presentation was refined, the dish lacked depth, seasoning and any memorable character. Portions were only half-eaten before being set aside. Without us giving any feedback, the gérant casually remarked, “Was it not quite to your taste?”, a polite comment but one that lacked any real curiosity or follow-up. The Riesling Bollenberg served with the starter, however, was a highlight: fresh, well-balanced and thoughtfully chosen.

The main course, duck with a cassis jus served with celeriac mousseline and sweet-and-sour vegetables, had potential but arrived lukewarm, and parts were even cold. The flavors were acceptable, but a dish loses its impact without proper temperature or finesse.

Service was, unfortunately, inconsistent at best. A bottle of Madiran was opened and placed on a side table, but not poured. When the main course was served, all the staff disappeared from the floor, leaving us without wine in our glasses. We ended up getting the bottle ourselves and pouring it. This should have been done before the main course was served — as is standard in attentive service — not as an afterthought left entirely to the guests. Later on, the gérant even moved the bottle further away, requiring us to retrieve it again. A missed opportunity, not only in terms of hospitality, but also in the potential sale of a second bottle.

Thankfully, the dessert was well executed and balanced, offering a small redeeming moment.

In the end, disappointment dominated. Expectations were high, and rightfully so given the restaurant’s profile, but execution was lacking where it matters most.

Conclusion: La Clé des Champs excels in presentation but falters in execution. A missed opportunity, especially considering the prices and the recognition it bears. Hopefully the team will take this feedback to heart. The potential is there, but there is...

The restaurant was highly recommended, but.. The service was awfully slow, 20 minutes juste to have the first « hello », it took 20 minutes to get a bottle of water and a bottle of wine, they never refilled the glasses, we had to pick the bottle ourselves.

In total, we waited around 2 hours, without anyone even asking if everything was going well, if we wanted some more bread, wine or water.

Furthermore, kids are playing in the kitchen, what a respect…

Wanted to pay by cash « no it is too much we do not have changed », American Express ? « No, it does not work ».

Well, about the food, it was average, nothing amazing and served after waiting for hours, sadly the service was a pity too.

If you do want to have a nice meal and keep up the good mood an spirit,...

A memorable grastonmic evening experience in a neutral but very smart modern dining room set in a lovely village. Very attentive professional service which was perfectly timed. A good selection of wines on offer and ideal ‘house wine’ available. Would have liked to have sampled more but we were on our bikes !! Delightful imaginative and artistically presented courses that had the right amount of depth of flavour for our palates. Somewhat out faced by the final desert but left feeling very satisfied. Very good value all round. Would find it very hard to be critical of any aspect of the dining experience. We would definitely recommend a visit and are sure, and hope that, the team will go onto great success...