Restaurant le 104 — Restaurant in Carcassonne

Entered the restaurant at about 8.15pm. It’s a Tuesday night and comfortably after the heavy tourist season has finished so not really busy, about 4 tables occupied. After asking about a reservation, we didn’t have one, we were shown to one of the many free tables, by a man dressed in shorts and a scruffy T shirt. After about 15 minutes of watching him run around serving, taking orders and cleaning tables we were finally asked what we wanted. We hadn’t even been offered a bottle of water at this point. To start I asked for the Fish Carpaccio only to be told they didn’t have any. Why can’t restaurants tell you when you sit what is not available rather than letting you really look forward to something then disappointing you ? I had the tomato carpaccio with mozzarella, my partner had the falafel. Both were plain but refreshing. The wine was a local brew, somewhat acidic but having warmed up a little after opening was ok. My partner ordered the slow roast chicken in a curry sauce, with sides. I ordered the confit duck with sides. The chicken was cooked, but was a leg piece, it was ok but the curry sauce was sweet and felt more like one from a shop. The duck was merely heated from its precooked state, and whilst it was deliciously flavoured it had not been finished in the oven so the skin was soggy and inedible. The sides for both were a moulded pile of plain unbuttered and unseasoned lumpy mashed potato, topped with some flavourless mushrooms. The duck had no jus or sauce to accompany it and so was a very dry meal. None of the meals we saw being eaten looked anything like the photos on Google etc. We paid and left.

I understand that restaurants out of season have less staff but this was ridiculous. The person we dealt with spent more time cleaning bits of the kitchen service area than serving, it sounded like there was one person in the kitchen plating the food.

Exceedingly disappointing and not recommended.

EDIT AFTER THE REPLY FROM THE OWNER. It was 15 minutes until we were offered a bottle of water !! We sat there for 15 minutes with nothing !! The person serving us just walked away and left us there, we could even see bottles of water on the bar, we were ignored and not welcomed.

And no response in the managers reply to us as to the quality of the food of the main course, there were no sauces, no flavours in the duck I had, nothing mentioned about the food in your reply, I wonder why ? Because it was dry and flavourless !! I have eaten better French food in Greece and Spain !! The plates were cleared as the food was simply edible and we were hungry with nowhere else to go and the chicken was only half eaten !!

And as for dishonesty, the person in the shorts ( if you are the manager then get some clothes ) when I paid the bill said, and I quote, “ was everything OK ?” And I responded with “ yes, it was OK “. I was saying that in the hope that he would ask what was wrong with the meal, but basically as long as we paid he did not care. He lied. He certainly never said “great” and neither did I the manager is quite simply lying to save face because the meal we had was dreadful. There was no atmosphere in there at all, the other eaters were simply being too nice to you to probably say what they felt.

I await your excuses for the food and not telling us the fish was off the menu, though I won’t wait too long as you simply do not care for the satisfaction of your clients, you’re just out to make money and not bother to work for it.!

Ridiculous ? ...

Everything is upstairs except for the toilets. They have a terrace with half a dozen tables. The indoor section is spacious. They play background music, jazz; which was really pleasant. The 2 waiters serving us were efficient. One was particularly funny. The other one might have been new because he never managed to answer any of our question without checking with his colleague. My husband chose the cold soup. Very similar to a Gaspacho but obviously home made and chunky. I do not remember what my starter was but it obviously had parmesan shavings. I would have remembered it if it hasn't been nice. I chose the fish, It rested on the vegetables, they were cooked to perfection, still a little firm. The lemon sauce seeped through into the vegetables.Yam! However, my husband found his vegetables dry. He would have liked to have the steak resting on the vegetables, for them to absorb the jus. The Fondant was melting to perfection and the lemon dessert was just so light, it kind of melted in your mouth. I will...

We just had an absolutely wonderful meal at le 104. In three visits to France since becoming vegan we've never managed to have a vegan French meal. Maybe we don't look hard enough, but it always seems easier to find more international food.

Restaurant le 104 is therefore unique for us as it makes awesome vegan local food. The cassoulet is completely delicious, as are the classic chocolate mousse with fruit coulis ("the best mousse I've ever had", according to my youngest :)) and beautiful fruit salad. The gazpacho and falafel starters we had were also amazing. The man who looked after us and the rest of the diners (we should have asked his name) was super helpful, kind, attentive and absolutely lovely to our children, helping them practice their French and making them feel totally at...