Restaurant Les Trois Marchands — Restaurant in Blois

We arrived first, so no need for waiting! I returned here after giving it 5 stars all round a year ago. I WON'T RETURN. Apart from the male receptionist who greeted us warmly in the car park, we found the staff in the Restaurant to give the impression of it being too much trouble. We were the only ones there and were shortly joined by a table with a child/children. We gave our order Pork Roi Rose and the pèche dish dorade. We waited at least 30 minutes before our meal turned up. Result fish course nicely tasting and warm. Pork course tasted nice BUT was cold. On bringing this to the waitress' attention. She grabbed the plate and took it back to the kitchen. I was sat there with my fish dish. No apology was forthcoming. It was returned and had obviously been microwaved. No explanation, no apologies. I had finished my fish dish by then or it too would have been cold, so my partner had to eat hers while I sat there. On top of this we were given a basket of bread after which we were plagued by large black flies. I wasn't going to eat that bread! I mentioned that and all I got back was a shrug of the shoulders. No wonder there were so many empty tables. What was the final straw wasthat we were charged for a pichet of tap water. We said we didn't want mineral water. The flies put us off having anything else to eat, so we came back to enjoy a bar of chocolate and some cheese...

Sigh, this is one of the places that looks great in presentation but it just falls short. Let me start by saying that I came here despite having viewed the reviews - 3.4 rating. I thought the place looked charming and that the plates were very appetizing. I wished I had followed other's advice.

First the service. There was a terrace with roughly 30 people. For this section they had one person taking the orders, busing the tables and managing drink orders and payment. Bear in mind that the owner/manager was there as well but she would only take whatever you needed and pass it along to the poor guy who had to handle the entire area - I felt this was just flat out bad management on the part of the owner/manager.

Next the food. The selection of the menu would give you the idea that there's something for everyone. Actually though most of the dishes are just flat out heavy. For example, I wanted just a basic salad, their choice but maybe something with seasonal veggies and something light like fish or chicken. Unfortunately they had nothing light. I inquired with the overly busy waiter and he agreed and mentioned that he gets the question quite often.

Finally the pricing. This place was probably priced about 20% more than what you should be paying for similar places with similar plates.

Lastly. OWNERS, pitch in and...

NO STARS - NOT tourist friendly, impatient/rude waitress, bland overpriced food, poor cuts of meat, just fresh but for $30 USD = €27.

All the other restaurants: Outback, Black Angus, Kincaid's, Roy's run circles around this place.

We were looking for a place to stay and eat while we stayed in Loire valley, but the restaurant waitress was so impatient/unfriendly, it was our first and last time at this hotel/restaurant.

Didn't have the opportunity to order more because the waitress attitude was being more happier to serve fluent French speaking patron versus our limited French and using a translator to communicate.

It's a hotel, so go in to take pictures by the fireplace. However, skip eating there unless you want rude service, overprice food, small portions in large plates on small tables.

WE got better service at a chocolate factory (Chocolaterie Max Vauché Bracieux) than this restaurant and bought $150 worth...