L’avant comptoir du palais — Restaurant in Bordeaux

The worst service I've received in a restaurant since moving to Bordeaux 3 years ago. I gave 2 stars because the food (the dishes we actually received - not all of them arrived), we're very good. The wait to receive a menu and then order food was unacceptably long and the waiter was rude from the beginning. He walked away from our table twice when I was in the middle of asking him a question. My visiting friends were gobsmacked. We order 8 dishes between 4 people and had to wait around 15 minutes for each dish to arrive - this was problematic as the dishes were tiny and took us 30 seconds to eat. So in between waiting for dishes to arrive we watched as customers who had arrived after us had their tables filled with multiple plates of food.... Eventually after waiting almost 2 hours I asked if we could cancel the final two dishes - the waiter said he would go and check and then never came back. When we went to pay he said he would take away the missing dish, wrong again, there were two missing dishes. We are all human and every body is entitled to have a bad day, but we did not receive a single apology, even after leaving without recieving everything we ordered. Such a shame as I've always been impressed by the service the city offers in...

Hands down the worst restaurant experience of my life. We had some mediocre wine and then asked for the check because we were travelling with a child and she was tired. The manager went berserk and said we MUST order something to eat, it's "their rule." I told her we clearly stated to our waitress we wanted some wine but weren't sure if we would eat. She cut me off mid-sentence and snarled, yes, snarled, "WE EXPLAINED THIS TO YOU 3 TIMES, YOU HAVE TO EAT SOMETHING!" I was so shocked I just pointed to a random sandwich and asked for the check... Each and every employee of that restaurant treated us like trash. I thought this kind of stuff only happens in movies or comedy sketches.

During the rest of our stay in Bordeaux, we asked our waiters at each restaurant if there was some kind of "rule" or if we had done something wrong... Each one assured us that no rule exists and such disrespect for customers is unheard of. So if that happens to you, just leave some money on the table and leave. It's illegal for a restaurant to force you to eat.

If you don't believe it could happen to you, read the rest of the one- and two-star reviews here: it's a recurring theme with...

Je ne parle pas français.

We were recommended this place while on a wine tasting tour and it was a great recommendation. We arrived a little before 730p and found the space to be clean, well decorated and the staff friendly. The food is delicious. They do have an English menu and while we tried to speak some French - we found that everyone working was very kind and patient with our attempts/process.

We learned quickly that you do not need to order everything right away.... because it will all come out...right. away. Even when the space is full by 800p on a Tuesday this open concept kitchen that is limited in space turns orders around quickly. It is clear that everyone working here is very comfortable with one another in the space and they turn out a great tasting quality product.

We ordered the octopus croquettes (a fave), the tuna sashimi ponzu and sorrel (flavorful), the pig burger (delicious), another croquette and a cheese plate. Rhis was more than enough food and well worth the stop. When sitting at the bar you pay at the counter where you enter (menus are...