La Bartavelle — Restaurant in Carpentras

We visited this restaurant in a large family group (16 + toddler). They took the reservation insisting we come for exactly 8pm, had only two options each for starter and main, dessert obligatory (3 choices), all preordered and decided 2 days in advance. Ironically the 2 kids’ plates arrived quickly and the fish was superb! But for the rest of the meal, it was mediocre at best and took forever between courses (I think it was 45 min for dessert) and we barely left at 10:30pm. Amuse bouche was interesting but not my taste, and the bread was so hard and dry it was inedible. The starters were ok but lacking in fresh presentation - I saw the ‘normal’ clients’ dishes go by and they looked incredible! I had a huge lump of flat-tasting cooked eggplant. I barely forced down half. But the mains were a huge disappointment … the sides were exactly the same for the meat and fish, including a plain chopped aubergine. This was pretty unimaginative considering that one of our 2 choices for starter was in fact a mass of cooked aubergine already. The main fish was frankly inedible. Small portion smothered in sandy sauce and with a very disturbing texture, almost seemed rotten. The side dishes were dry and crusty as if they had been under a warming lamp for hours. The desserts were pretty but huge in comparison, and uneven in taste. As this was our one restaurant meal as a family group during a 2-week holiday, everyone was pretty disappointed. We still paid ‘gastronomic’ prices for a mediocre meal. The staff were lovey and the ambiance nice, but if they really can’t handle a large group at the same standard as usual, they should not accept the reservation. I actually woke up at 4am with stomach pains of hunger for having had so...

Great food and friendly, helpful staff who were very patient with our bad French ;) A little hidden away in a side street, away from the 'touristy' eateries. Highly recommend but make sure you reserve as it's a popular place.

So 2 years later we came back to la Bartavelle and were treated to another delicious 3-course meal for €36 per person plus drinks. We really can't fault this place, the food is fantastic, the service friendly and the price is...

Venus ici pour des célébrations, incités par le nom du restaurant restituant un bel hommage à Marcel Pagnol, (je me revois encore lire toute émue "Et dans mes petits poings sanglants d’où pendaient quatre ailes dorées, je haussais vers le ciel la gloire de mon père en face du soleil couchant.") nous avons été plus que charmés, régalés comme des rois et reines.

Le cadre - comme chaque voyageur déjà passé en ces lieux a pu le confirmer - est une véritable halte pour l'esprit. Les hôtes sont exquis, à l'attention de chacun, nous avons été servis avec autant de célérité qu'avec efficacité, sans être pour autant bousculés.

Les mises en bouche ainsi que le menu "d'Augustine" étaient fort copieux pour un tarif bien raisonnable au regard de la qualité des mets, et nous reviendrons déguster à celui de "l'oncle Jules", très prometteur également.

En conclusion, je pourrais écrire tout un article de presse au sujet de "La Bartavelle" et de ses bonnes gens, cependant afin de synthétiser je dirais simplement, tel Balzac (sans avoir la prétention de son écriture, loin s'en faut) "Manger fatigue".

Certes, "Manger fatigue" mais quel bonheur d'être fatigués de si bien manger, à la bonne...