La Gargouille — Restaurant in Bourges

After looking at some restaurant reviews and pictures, I decided to book this one since it seemed promising and was literally right under our nose.

We ordered 2 kids meals and one adult one with a salad to start. I ordered a caprese salad. It's not that difficult right? Tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basilic, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and some oil are at least expected. There were tomatoes and mozzarella, with no basilic or balsamic vinegar in sight. In addition it was so salty, I barely managed it with 2 glasses of wine.

My children got fish and chips and Salisbury steak and chips. My youngest got a big fish (the only good thing in this whole experience), while my oldest got a tiny steak (the smallest one on a child's menu that I've ever seen). The fries were burned and the salad that came with it was impossible to eat. The dressing had so much vinegar that my eyes watered and I am an adult.

The best bit came when we asked for ketchup for children's fries, which of course was not offered. They brought it and when we saw it, we could not believe it and tried to take a photo. The amount was no more than one teaspoon. This is for 2 children who both had fries.

My main course does not even need to be mentioned, since it was too salty ... all of it, except for the so called risotto which was mushy and tasteless. I ate less than half and finally gave up. No amount of wine could help there.

The only thing I can say for the restaurant is that the waitress serving us...

We liked this little place for the outdoor terrace in front. Unfortunately the weather didn't help and we rained away. Very friendly staff helped us to move inside. The staff speaks English and are very helphull. The would desirve a five star rating.

To be honest about the food, at this night e would say is more three stars.

My bœuf mince was nice but the Noix du St. Jacques were not very tastefull this evening. But we know with shell fish this can be the case sometimes.

But - Do give this place a visit when in Bourges. Go for the outdoor seating.

Go for the mindblowing Framboise Tiramisu desert and the France cheeses to top of your meal.

Seating Its nice to check out the restaurant interior on the first floor, because it is very old, but the lighting is very bright. Would be a tip to the owners of this lovely please to use some more in-direct lights because the bright LED lights don't compliment the beautiful interior.

We will definitely be back some time...

It seems this restaurant has gone from bad to worse. Don't be fooled by the pictures! We were plonked out the front on a table in the middle of the road and when we showed pics from the website and asked where the terrace was, were finally brought through to a rather sad seating area with beach umbrellas and a few other poor, unsuspecting tourists at the other tables. No sign of the lovely indoor 'rustic' vibe on the website. A bunch of staff who looked like they didn't want to be there and served ( if you can call it that) by a bored, surly waitress who got utterly fed up when I took a while to work out what was on the menu in English. Ordered Sancerre and served with an inferior wine which was warm and in a dirty carafe. This was enough to make us get up and leave but not before paying €24 for two glasses of sub standard...