Aiete — Restaurant in Bayonne

People seem to love this restaurant, and being very experienced and enthusiastic eaters, we came here excitedly with a 12-year-old and a 13-year-old (one of whom has an allergy to chilli pepper of any sort) .

On mentioning this to the waitress we were told that the dishes could not be altered in any way, and we would have to choose things that didn’t have chilli in them… On inquiry, whether it would be possible to perhaps restrict an enthusiastic dusting of chilli to the side, we were told in somewhat hushed, and grumpy tones that the chefs creations could not be changed in any way. We were pointed to 3 dishes that did not have any chilli in them, but this did not a meal make for four people. We made it clear that we could liberate the table if there was nothing for us to eat, and the server quite grudgingly made space for us saying something could be done… Let’s be fair, we are in a part of the world that loves Piment D’esplette (the mild and flavorful chilli native to these parts) but the suggestion was that the combinations achieved by the geniotic chefs were so perfect that any extraction of a single ingredient could bring an entire edifice, crumbling down. A much friendlier waitress perhaps the manager recommended a delicious wine from Jura with the sort of charm that must put the smiles on diners’ faces and the stars in their reviews. We managed to achieve an order of various things and I was thinking rather optimistically that the food is going to be really really good… The first thing I put in my mouth was delicious a take on Pommes Anna crispy cubes of thinly sliced potatoes,… it was a good dish, and the best of the lot… fat Clams came, the first one full of sand but bravely bland so bland that even Salt had been withheld , with little wafers of tasteless garlic , a braised Romaine lettuce covered in lardo or ventreche was technically impressive, but also bland… Octopus, was deliciously tender, lying in a bar of in that charming, Japanese mayonnaise you buy in any Japanese supermarket… The naan bread unwisely was heavily built with maize and was unremarkable… Again blobbed with Japanese mayonnaise… which is always cheering… We were honestly expecting there to be snap, crackle and pop after all the carry on around the chefs creations,. Perhaps he assumed we were allergic to all flavours as they all had been edited out… All in all technically well presented food with an absence of mouth intelligence and utterly unpleasant...

Honestly, we had high hopes after coming from a great dinner the night before at Chez Bibi, but sad to say this was our most disappointing meal in biarritz. We’re not ones to complain about a meal, esp in France where you’d be hard pressed to find something bad, but we felt obligated to share since this was our most expensive meal out. The quality of food was terrible, the meats where fatty and the sauces tasted like they came out of a can. We ordered the pulpo which was drenched in a sweet kimchi sauce which was almost inedible, we just felt bad for wasting our food so washed it down with water. Then we had the pork which came out luke warm and very fattty, not to mention covered in a chimi churi sauce which was once again so sweet it was hard to stomach. In these situations you’d hope the staff would compensate or at least offer to but that was not the case. Safe to say, you’re better off visiting any other restaurant than here, our recommendation is Chez Bibi just...

The two meals we had here were our favourites of our fortnight's stay in Biarritz. The Chef has to be complimented on his choice of excellent ingredients and his imagination in fusing Basque and Asian cuisine. The menu allows sharing of dishes - always good with great food. The waiter was efficient, helpful, friendly and found time for the personal touch, even when rushed off his feet. Thanks to all the équipe for a...