Café Portebleue — Restaurant in Confolens

Firstly, let’s be clear: this is NOT a French restaurant. It’s an English restaurant trying and failing to do French food, run and mostly staffed by English people, with English menus, and with only English customers in evidence on our visit. Worse than that though, it comes across as an Essex view of what a French restaurant would be like if it was in Benidorm.

Now the food: there is nothing authentically French about it, and none of the nice touches that are regularly in evidence in even the most average or simple French restaurants. My starter came with a small pile of salad leaves that had obviously come out of a bag from a supermarket, and had no dressing (particularly disappointing when the French do these simple things so well and so fresh). The main course was smaller than the starter, with the ‘Magret de Canard’ consisting of four small and thinly sliced pieces of duck for an astonishing 20 euros. The ‘red wine sauce’ was akin to thin gravy and tasted of nothing. The dauphinois potatoes were obviously microwaved, with big lumps of potato, not at all creamy . . . although they were the most flavoursome thing served all evening.

The wine was awful. A pichet or carafe of house red in a French restaurant is usually pretty good, although not the best. Here it lacked any flavour apart from being quite vinegary.

At approximately 30 euros per head for two courses plus drinks, we left feeling conned, ripped-off, and hungry. The French should step in and shut this place down - it is offensive to their culture and their cuisine. Please, please, please, go somewhere else . . ....

I hadn't been to a restaurant in Veurteuil for years, but chose this one as it was the original one that we discovered over twenty years ago and is owned by the hardworking chef (Nat.) My sisters came to visit- and they are difficult to impress as they worked in hospitality and have eaten at Michelin rated restaurants worldwide! - and we all went for the ribeye steak as it genuinely is a family favourite. Seasoned and cooked to perfection to our individual requests, the taste was sublime, the size 'twice that of a UK restaurant' and the quality of the meat amazing. (Well it is Charentaise!) A carafe of the house red, which they offered us the chance to taste before ordering, was smooth, fruity and delicious (we have a very narrow plate for wines but we do know what we like). We couldn't eat it all so they wrapped it and when eaten the next day it was just as delicious cold with a salad! My sisters could not stop complimenting the food even when they were getting on their train to head to Paris! My husband never passes on a dessert and regularly chooses the café gourmand given he doesn't have to choose one dessert! It did not disappoint, and yet again, my sisters commented on the size and range of the portions- at least three were deemed 'full portions'! Staff,lovely, smiley and efficient. Restaurant spacious and clean. I think that my husband will make sure we don't leave it another 20 odd years to go again! 🤣🤣 IMPORTANT UPDATE: We have since tried all of the other restaurants in Verteuil and IMHO this is by...

Had lunch for 2 here. Apero, 3 course meal, wine and coffee all for 40 Euros. Very popular so book a table well in advance.

It's now January 2023, lunch again and the house menu. Fish Cassoulet, chicken and stuffing roll in a pastry case and an ice cream and meringue dessert in chocolate sauce . A glass of a decent red wine and coffee for two. The chef brought our food to the table and chatted while the excellent young lady managing the dining room flitted from table to table. Just a superb piece of old world service and atmosphere. If this seems a bit over the top... just try it but book to get the best tables. Oh! The bill came to less...