Restaurant Le Prince Noir par Vivien Durand — Restaurant in Bordeaux

The vibe at Le Prince Noir is quirky and fun. It is clear the chef has put a ton of his personality into the decor which includes a TV showing Street Fighter II on SNES and a wide variety of pop art. The music also leans in a more Gen X classics direction which sets the mood as more casual. I did feel the grounds and gardens that surround the property and provide much of the outlook from the lovely glass enclosed veranda could be better kept as it was quite overrun by weeds which detracted from its enjoyment. Overall though, the old chateau setting with updated modern architectural touches is a fun juxtaposition. The service was friendly, but slow and bordering on inattentive. I suspect this was because we were seated the duration on the veranda with only one other table while the rest of the guests were in the main dining room. This meant the waitstaff needed to spend more time there with us being a bit out of sight. The pacing of meal was painfully slow for my taste, meaning we often sat waiting with empty glasses and plates for 30 minutes at a time. Finally the food; I have to admit that I felt disappointed here. Many of the dishes sounded great on paper, but many of the interesting flavors were lost on the palette. The malted toasted brioche with smoked butter, black pepper and strawberry coulis was the worst offender here; the strawberry syrup completely dominated the taste profile and there was no discernible flavor of pepper while the brioche honestly just felt like hard bread that made eating with just the spoon provided rather difficult. I was honestly shocked a Michelin restaurant would serve a dessert this poor. The foie gras/asparagus was fairly flat and again dominated by the sauce, letting the taste of neither shine through. I did not enjoy the pea dish as I found them unpleasantly raw while the sauce they were in was actually quite good. The better dishes we had were the langostine, cod and pigeon as well as the strawberry sorbet dessert with chile pepper infused syrup and the vegetal mint sorbet to finish. I also quite enjoyed the vast majority of the wine pairings. Sadly nothing served “wow”ed me which I do hope to get a little of here or there at such a restaurant. Plenty of other people thoroughly enjoy the offerings here and clearly other groups truly loved the offerings this night, so I expect that this might be a case of “this place is not to my taste”. Overall the price point for both the dinner and wine pairing seem a great value, but sadly this was my first time dining at a Michelin restaurant where I was wishing for it to hurry up and be over with only 5/8...

I recently visited Le Prince Loir and had their signature menu with 7 courses. Unfortunately, my dining experience was quite disappointing. The boiled carrot lacked any real flavor and was very bland, which was disappointing considering that even a simple dish like boiled carrot should be prepared with care to ensure that it is properly seasoned and cooked to perfection.

The fish dish I ordered was not palatable at all, as it had an extremely fishy taste that completely overwhelmed the natural flavors of the ingredients. I found it difficult to enjoy the dish and ended up leaving most of it uneaten.

I also noticed that the kitchen seemed to remove the tasty bits of the ingredients. For instance, the dried cherry tasted herbaceous due to being soaked in olive oil and losing its freshness. Additionally, the cucumber/cherry sorbet was overly sour, which was disappointing as it had the potential to be a refreshing palate cleanser.

Overall, despite the excellent location and the welcoming staff, I felt that Le Prince Loir failed to demonstrate any real technique in cooking, and the menu seemed to be put together haphazardly with random ingredients that didn't really work together. Given the number of great restaurants in the area, I would hesitate to recommend this one based on...

This is quite frankly the best restaurant we have ever been to. The service is excellent, the location idyllic, the sommelier truly, truly impeccable, the wine outstanding, the ambience laid back but elevated. No detail is overlooked to give you the best possible experience.

And the food? To die for. Vivien Durand and his cooks have built a truly special repertoire and take great delight in dazzling you with straightforward but exceptional amuse-bouches, entrees, deserts, and more.

I read the google reviews after eating here and quite frankly, cannot understand some of the negativity. Anyone who gives less than 5 stars must be working for the opposition or is simply out of touch with the world.

Release your cares, eat Vivien’s fantastic food, the walk right into the kitchen and give him a hug. You...