Le Pressoir d'Argent - Gordon Ramsay — Restaurant in Bordeaux

Let's start what we liked: the service is perfect. Out of the book. They could open a school for waiters. The building and the rooms are wonderful. They have a great choice of wines by glass. The sommeliers are very good. The prices of the bottles are very high (300-400% of shop price) but you have a very big choice of wonderful wines. The glasses match the wines and are of superior quality. Also of superior quality are the ingredients of the dishes and the savoir faire of the chef. All dishes arrive at the perfect point of cooking. Paradise for food lovers like us. Paradise and only 3 stars? We come to that... The pre-stater was a little piece of fish with a sauce. Very good. First course were some mules. Good for us. The mules were on some green mesh which we didn't like. But that's a question of taste. It could have worked for somebody else. The same with the choice of wine. A very good, rich white bordeaux. Too rich for our taste with that dish...we would have liked something lighter with a play of acid in it....but as we say a question of taste....Until now it was clear that the chef loves strong tastes. Next a oyster on a meat bed with a kind of light hollandaise. Perfect! Also the wine: 100% Sėmillon at it's best. Then the turbot. With wild champignon. Strong taste but very good. All dishes come with a fresh bread of divine quality. By the way we took the big menu with the wine paring. Additionally we took the lobster. It was prepared at the table with the famous press. Very entertaining and another piece of perfect waiter conduct. Yes the lobster....it was the first which didn't work out, at all. The main price of lobster was smoked. But way too much. It wasn't a an addition. It killed the taste of the lobster tail. The toast with lobster was good and the fine lobster pieces in a smoked sauce where very good. Here it worked out. Then the pintade. For me it was very good, my wife wasn't completely into it. The little piece of dark meat was very salty but still good. Now to the beef. The beef was really bloody as we like it! The meat has a very strong taste by itself. It was prepared BBQ style. I liked it, my wife didn't. One may ask the question if it wouldn't be better to let the meat speak for itself, because the BBQ sauce did more or less kill it. We think Mr. Ramsay has the maladie of the older chef. He needs more and more taste. We would liked it better if he had just underlined the superior taste and quality of his ingredients. Then cheese. Very good. Perfect service again. And perfect choice of wine. A good glass of burgundy. One of my soft spots 😍. Amuse bouche. Fruity and very good. Then a another bit of paradise: the vanilla dessert. Perfect, divine. A good glass of sweet wine from the Cape region and a glass of Château d'Yquem because we are gourmande...... Then the chocolate. Nice but again with some smoked stuff in the centre....too smoky for us. The little bite on the stick was with star anise. Too much of it. Ok you get the picture. Perfect service. Perfect wines. Perfect ingredients but over added with tastes that weren't necessary and sometimes killed the dish. But all in all a nice experience and an...

Having eaten at more than a dozen other Michelin star (3, 2 and 1) restaurants over the years. This one just doesn’t rate. I think, in fairness, it may be hard to get back to speed after a Long Covid shut down. Three major problems with this meal: timing, poor somm and dishes themselves. Arriving at 7pm (early for France - we were the first table) The biggest problem of the meal was the timing, we got all courses through our main in 2 hours including cheese - which was timed quite well and didn’t feel rushed. I have photo time stamps of these courses to make sure it wasn’t my perception but reality. From the hour of 9pm until 10pm (now the restaurant was full) we were desperately awaiting an offer for a glass of wine, our dessert, etc. We even requested dessert from a server at one point. We had no drinks in front of us - finally we just decided to ask for the bill - all tables (many of whom came long after us) we’re long past dessert. When the bill finally came - I would recommend checking in carefully - we had 3 wine pairings on our bill, despite only 1 of us ordering it (@ 190 euros each). Additionally - we weren’t credited for not receiving the last course (dessert) on the tasting menu or receiving the last glass of wine. The second problem was the poor somm - he simply wasn’t experienced - asking simple questions expected from a two Michelin star restaurant like “why did you select a Burgandy white for this course vs Bordeaux (given the region)?” Were not answered really at all. He even gave the same description of one wine 100% Chardonnay with the next wine 100% Sauvignon blanc “lot of minerals and fruity” - these whites could not have been more different. We asked him to describe it in French given maybe this was a language barrier - sadly didn’t improve matters. The most annoying thing was the constant empty glasses and lack of thoughtful offering different glasses to us - I had to ask to fill my glass with bottle selection several times. Lastly, we tried the tasting menu and 4 dishes from a la carte. I had the famous lobster and the langoustines - the former overcooked and rubbery and the later just simply uninventive flavors. The lamb and rib eye were good - but not two Michelin star good. The tasting menu was fantastic - my husband, a vegetarian normally, really enjoyed all the courses (all fish/meat).

There were positives - the servers were fantastic (thee Michelin star level) - very warm and welcoming, If I were to come back they would be the only reason I would look forward to the experience. Additionally, the amuse bouche courses were fantastic- and the fresh bread and butter were next level.

No meal is perfect - but given the 1000 euro price tag this was just an enormous disappointment and, in my opinion, a massive waste of a good Saturday night in Bordeaux - and...

4.4 / 5.0 - Unique experience well worth having

Overall a very unique and fun experience in the heart of Bordeaux. We certainly left completely full and satisfied after a lengthy (nearly 4 hours) meal, which was more of an experience. From the time you enter until the time you leave the level of service is truly remarkable. Oddly, almost too remarkable. Every meal was delivered by 4 or 5 people with perfect timing of delivery. The restaurant was a buzz with fast moving staff swarming like bees. The staff were very professional. All of this was nice in one way and felt so formal and corporate in another. Getting a staff member to crack a smile or laugh was hard, as they were focused on their serious business. At one point a dish was taken too early because they swept in so quickly we couldn't say we weren't done. The food overall was excellent with a few exceptions. All of the extra food at the beginning, end and bread was more than you could need on top of 7 or 8 courses. The presentations were truly the star of the show. The price was more than fair for the quality of food, level of service, and beautiful setting. I didn't think the lobster press was very worth it. First of all it adds 15-20 minutes more to your experience, which is already very long. It's an interesting tale but ultimately it's a squeeze of lobster juice and a little underwhelming. For 70 euro more you really don't need an 8th course for the evening. It's so much food eventually you're just overwhelmed and stuffed and start to lose how amazing it all is.

Some of the reasons why I wouldn't give this 5 stars; While the service is more than ample it's actually too much, too fast, too much of a buzz. It misses a warmth and calm and creates a production environment. Dessert was a disappointment despite two courses. First one was a Baba which just isn't special enough and the second one a black garlic chocolate, which was just too odd to not hit the mark. Finally, it's highly unlike Gordon Ramsay has much, if any, involvement in the restaurant and really just uses his name.

Glad I had the experience and would recommend it to others, I just wouldn't rush back and...