Le Platane des ANDEOLS — Restaurant in Apt

The setting is wonderful. Set amongst olive trees, pin parasol and lavender in a beautiful landscape, it’s a fairy tale setting. I had read the reviews and was looking forward to my visit.

We were shown to our table, set up to admire the view, and a few olives were offered.

But I’m afraid after that it all went downhill. It was nearly 20 minutes before anyone came to offer us drinks. Half the drinks were missing from the (electronic) menu. For example the beers and ‘normal’ cocktails. You have to ask. Which we did.

We finally ordered our cocktails and beers. Eventually we started to order our food. (No drinks - not even water yet!) Our waitress was interrupted by another staff member, without apologies or even acknowledgement that he was interrupting our order.

Anyway. We ordered our food. 5-10 minutes later, no cocktails, no water, so we caught the eye of the waitress and managed to order some water. So now we are half an hour since our arrival. No drinks. Then a waitress arrives with our starters!! But we haven’t had our beer and cocktails yet!! So then you start to notice you have a dirty fork, because you have so much time to look around!

So eventually the drinks arrived. No little nibbles, nothing to accompany them. Not even more olives. For €18 for cocktails and €10 for beer you might expect at least a handful of peanuts!!

However, if you paid €24 for the ‘special’ cocktails, you got a little bit of pizza apparently!!

And then of course the starters come back. They were all very nice. And the little bread rolls were delicious. But the melon soup was still slightly frozen at the bottom. Little things. That we wouldn’t have worried about if we had felt more valued.

Our main courses arrived. 3 of our party of 4 would have liked to order the trout but after 2 people had ordered, the trout had run out. No apologies offered. Luckily one of us had been contemplating having octopus so they ordered that but it was not well done. Our mains were very nice. Our puddings were very nice. It was all nice. But it could have been spectacular!!

The wine list is sparse. Especially the red wine. It is local wine but in our opinion not the best the locality has to offer. Plus there are no tasting notes, not even cépage, so you have no idea what you’re ordering and the staff don’t have the time or inclination to talk to you about them.

And finally. Back to the electronic menu. I read the English version to start with. Then I went and looked at the French version, which had much more detail about the dishes, including that 2 side dishes were INCLUDED with the mains. This was missing from the English version. A small but important detail.

What this restaurant is lacking is a Maitre D and a sommelier. For the price, diners deserve both.

We were trying it out, with a view to bringing some other friends here for a special event. However, we will be taking our custom elsewhere, where our patronage is appreciated and we are served accordingly.

Overall we enjoyed our evening. The setting is spectacular, the food was nice but the service was lacklustre and we will not...

Don’t miss the breathtaking view and the charming atmosphere — that alone made the visit memorable. It’s a beautiful spot, and we’d definitely love to come back to try the hotel experience another day.

That said, the food was underwhelming. With a location this incredible, we were hoping for something equally special from the kitchen. There’s definitely room for improvement on the...

Quelle déception ! Le repas n’est clairement pas à la hauteur du lieu! Certes les entrées semblent fraîches et honnêtement le principe du partage de tous ces plats est très convivial. Les choix de plats sont très corrects mais mon dieu! Les desserts!!!! Il est indiqué un buffet de desserts pour clore le menu à 48€. Au déjeuner, ce dimanche d’août, il y avait au choix, un gâteau sans gluten au chocolat et une tarte aux pommes dont tout le monde a pensé qu’ils sortaient directement du congélateur. Une honte! Véritablement! En plus que ce ne soit pas ce qui était indiqué (buffet de desserts) c’est lamentable de proposer des desserts congelés dans un tel endroit! L’explication à l’absence du buffet est qu’il s’agissait du déjeuner et que la température ne permettait pas de proposer différents choix. Alors OK mais en plein milieu du Luberon, c’est pas exceptionnel la chaleur! Mais surtout, sans perte, proposez dans ce cas, des coupes glacées artisanales! Et au moins une tarte mais avec des fruits du coin! Encore une fois on parle du Luberon! Évidemment ce Platane, ce lieu et le service font que nous reviendrons mais en demandant bien à l’avance quels seront...