Loco By Jem's — Restaurant in Bordeaux

We were recommended this restaurant as one of the best in Bordeaux, so we booked a lunch for our last day in the city. Unfortunately, it fell short of our expectations.

The staff were friendly and accommodating when we arrived. Second impressions was that the bottle of water they brought us was dirty. I asked for a wine to accompany my lunch, the wine was not poured in front of me to taste and the wine glass was also not clean. For a savignon blanc it was a bit too acidic for my liking, but okay.

We asked several times to have the food explained to us, but the waitress had only basic knowledge of English, so I'm not sure they understood our ask. I would expect more of a restaurant with such high reviews. They then tried their best to translate, but we mainly had to use google translate. In the end we ordered a starter and two main courses.

The starter indicated it was a ceviche, but it was more like a toast skagen on top of fennel instead of bread. It would have benefited from some acidity as it lacked a freshness element in the dish. The celery lacked dressing. The creamy skagen salad was too heavy/salty.

For the two main dishes we ordered the haddock and the risotto with eggs. The risotto lacked in flavor overall and the rice was undercooked. The haddock was well cooked but its components were disappointing. The baked potato was hard, I had one bite where I thought I'd bit into a stone and had to spit it out. There was a strange bitter taste to the topping of the potato, which consisted of hazelnuts and herbs, almost like anchovies. Maybe some of the hazelnuts had gone bad, which sometimes gives a bitter taste. Sadly, we could not finish any of the dishes we ordered.

The food looked pretty, but the flavor is...

I can’t argue about the quality of the food. We had the full 5 course degustation menu with the reasonably priced wine pairings. Each dish was delicious and well balanced. The wines paired well, though portions were a little on the small side.

The reason for the drop in stars was the service. It was pleasant but the mark of a quality restaurant is how they handle issues. The evening started slowly 15-20 mins between ordering and receiving the amuse bouche and starters but then something went wrong.

There was almost 1 hour between the starter and the next course. We were not alone as almost every table was sat waiting for their next course. We had been given our next pairing wine already (white wine) which we obviously did not want to finish it but meant by the time the food arrived had gone warm. Staff did not explain the reason for the wait, no apology and the reason given at the end of the night was everyone turned up at the same time. I am sure there was an issue in the kitchen.

Whatever the reason for the delay a simple sorry we have had an issue and it will take time to bring the next course and then a free glass of wine while you wait is how we have been treated in many restaurants over the years. This is a simple gesture.

We did not complain as we could see the whole restaurant was in the same situation and we were enjoying each other’s company.

We arrived at 20:00, amuse bouche 20:25, starter 20:45, next course 21:42, then 21:58, 22:24,...

This restaurant was recommended by our excellent driver in Bordeaux, Stéphane, who is a Bordeaux native and seems to know all the best restaurants in the area. We have loved all his recommendations and this was no exception. The restaurant is a bit further from the city center, but this should not deter tourists, as the food is excellent, the prices are remarkably reasonable, and everyone is very friendly (and speaks English, which is very helpful!).

We had the “discovery menu” of four courses, which contains an amuse bouche, two appetizers, a main course of either fish (tuna and octopus) or meat (pigeon with a cherry sauce), and dessert. For €49 this is a bargain given the quality of food, the interesting flavors, the beauty of the presentation, and the excellent service. We also had the wine pairing. Three very interesting wines were served (two white and one red) as well as a very nice 10yo port to finish things off. At €30 we felt this was good value. Michael (Miquel?) who explained each dish was wonderful, as was the chef Jérémy, who came out to greet us at the end, and who showed great curiosity in what we liked or did not like. Well, we liked it all—especially the second appetizer, which featured sashimi over Japanese-style rice wrapped in paper thin dentelles of celery—all with a delightful vibrancy of vinagrette flavor.

You should book in advance and also leave 2-2.5 hours for the meal, as it will take time to go through the courses....