Casa Léon — Restaurant in Céret

A Fly? Poor Attitude? Poor Service? Go Elsewhere!!

On a recommendation, my wife stopped by in early afternoon to confirm a reservation for 8pm, and specifically for an inside table, as it was cool out the previous evening. Confirmed. When we arrived just before 8, the waiter said no, we could only have an outdoor table. No, we said, we specifically made a reservation for an inside table. He went to the back, consulted the woman who appeared to be in charge, and came back to say again -- no, you can only have an outdoor table. When we protested, he simply shrugged his shoulders. We should've left then, but my wife prevailed upon me to relax and enjoy the evening. After a sizable wait, we ordered dinner and began the meal. Our appetizers were adequate, but nothing to write home about. Main dishes were the same. Perhaps halfway through my main dish, as I picked up a piece of fish, my wife said "Oh!", as she noticed a dead fly under the fish. Photo is attached. She caught the passing waiter and brought it to his attention. Again, he shrugged his shoulders! As though this would be a normal experience. Ridiculous. When we insisted this was not acceptable, he scooped up the plate without a word and rushed off. We waited. Nothing. Nearly 15 minutes later, the manager (presumably) appeared at our table. He began speaking rapidly in French. My wife, whose French is pretty reasonable, but not fluent, asked him to use English. When he said he could not, she asked him to send out one of his people who can do so -- as we had already had several wait-staff speak with us in perfectly good English (including the woman with whom she'd made the initial reservation). No. He could not do this. Or at least it appeared so. He went back inside the restaurant. We were unsure if he planned to send someone else out or not. After 5 minutes, he returned yet again. When my wife again objected that her French was not adequate under the circumstances, and again insisted he send someone to speak with us in English, he declined. At this point, I simply said "Fine. Bon soir, monsieur," and, to my wife, "Allons-y" ("let's go"). And just to show you how much this man cares about his customers, he was happy to see us leave. He would send us away abused and angry, rather than send one of his English-speaking wait-staff out to apologize (no one ever apologized to us) or otherwise address the situation. I'm sure he will append some lame explanation of how he could not speak English, he did not wish to entrust such an important task to his staff (which I can well imagine, considering the two shrugs we'd already experienced), and we were unreasonable in expecting him to be able to speak English at a restaurant in France. DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF IT! Every tiny little restaurant in every tiny little town in France has English-speaking wait-staff. And we had already spoken in perfectly adequate English with at least three people working in his establishment. The facts are: His staff ignored our reservation, and seated us outside with every other walk-in customer; his food was average, at best; his staff didn't care in the least when we found a fly in our dish; and he didn't care enough about his customers to call out one of his English-speaking staff to handle what could have been a pretty minor customer service problem, instead of turning it into a catastrophe. As it was, I wasn't upset enough to want even one free meal out of the situation -- he could've apologized and offered me a free glass of wine or cup of coffee, and I would've happily waved it off and told him not to worry about it. Instead, my wife and I walked out, and he walked back inside without the 70 Euro or so that he could have had. Collioure is a lovely town. But this man -- he is the WORST of what France...

Best meal of my life. Relaxed, elegant atmosphere. On a Sunday evening when most of the restaurants were closed, we stumbled upon this gem. Local, fresh ingredients creatively prepared and thoughtfully executed with outstanding customer service. I ordered the three-course menu and chose a scallop appetizer, duck breast entrée, both extremely fresh, gorgeously plated, and perfectly cooked. My husband ordered a la carte and had the most beautifully prepared tuna. Lea, the pastry chef knows her craft, and we completed our evening with a luscious chocolate mousse. Our waiter answered all our questions, and we enjoyed talking to Gabriel, the manager whose gift for hospitality (in multiple languages)made everyone there feel at home. Thank...

Stayed in Coulliore last Thursday night with my husband and teenage son and on he basis of all the great reviews, we headed to Casa Leon The food was fantastic and the set menu was very good value and enjoyed by all However, I was very disappointed in one of their waiters. He knocked my husband’s full glass of wine over on top of me, soaking my top and trousers. I was handed some napkins and a muttered apology and no further mention of it. We were then charged full price for the meal and wine, with no discount given for the lost glass of wine or an offer of a replacement drink Really felt this let the restaurant down and left a bit of a...