La Cascade — Restaurant in Digne-les-Bains

La Cascade has a great location—there’s a peaceful waterfall right next to it, and for a moment, you think you’ve found the perfect spot. But then you actually try to eat there.

We walked in and immediately saw several empty tables. Great. Except the waiter stopped us and told us to “go back in line.” One problem: there was no line. Just us, standing there like we had misunderstood a very specific method on how to enter a restaurant.

After about fifteen minutes of waiting at our table with no menu, no water, and no sign of life, I got up and politely asked if someone could take our order. The response? “This is France, be patient and wait for your order.” Said with the kind of tone that makes you wonder if you’d accidentally insulted his ancestors. Meanwhile, other tables who arrived after us were already halfway through their meals. Patience is apparently table-specific.

When the food arrived, it didn’t exactly redeem things. Some of the fries were limp, pale, and tasted like they’d been cooked by someone who’d already given up. The steak was overcooked and dry—more of a suggestion of meat than a proper dish. Not terrible, just completely average in the most forgettable way. But it’s hard to enjoy even that when the service feels like a test of endurance.

Then came the bill. We waited another 20 minutes before I finally got up to pay. On the way to the counter, the waiter stopped me like I was trying to sneak out and asked, “What’s your table?” I said, “Table 14,” and before I could say anything else, he cut me off with “Good, good” and waved me on like a child who’d finally done something right. But the question remains: what have I done wrong?

I’ve eaten at all the way from Michelin-starred places to hole-in-the-wall diners in cities and towns all over the world. I’ve never been treated like I was doing the staff a favour by just showing up to eat. And no, being “busy” isn’t an excuse. There’s a difference between being overwhelmed and being dismissive and disrespectful —and this was definitely the latter two.

La Cascade looks like the kind of place you’d recommend. But nice views can’t cover up bad service, and charm doesn’t excuse condescension. The price wasn’t hell expensive, but definitely not straight up cheap either. At the end of the day, people remember how you made them feel. And here, that was...

Editing my response after a sarcastic response from the owner. Here’s the deal. This place has a spectacular view and setting, but it’s a little run down. And as you might expect from a restaurant with such an outstanding location, the food is very, very average. It’s not awful or inedible by any means, but i wouldn’t recommend it unless everywhere else is full, you’re starving and need to refuel. I can’t fault the staff, and disagree with reviews here saying there was a long wait or they were inattentive - they run the place like clockwork and were friendly and effusive. But the food arrives a little too quickly, which is a red flag, and the result is a burger with not enough flavour that’s not quite cold enough in the middle to warrant a complaint, but suggests it wasn’t cooked to order for you, and fries that aren’t piping hot and crispy like fries should be. Fries are a basic staple, and it’s not that hard to get them wrong. These were more like soft British chips, and that’s not a compliment. Edible, yes. Enjoyable? Meh. So, there you have my more detailed review. It would be nice to recommend this place further - and I genuinely want them to do well - but they need to step their game up in the kitchen for that to...

Very bad place to go eat with your family, they treated us like money machines. Very rude, non polite and aggressive waiters. Please avoid this place at all cost!! Most of the waiters where frustrated and I had the impression they enjoyed making the customer feel uncomfortable, a way of ventilating their frustrations. Anyway they don’t care because the location is somehow “good”, but that is not a reason to threat your customers with disrespect as we are on holiday and everybody likes to be threaten with respect, especially for the high amount they charged (which was obviously over rated for the food and drinks ordered). So from my point of view there is a serious ego problem with the staff. Me and my family are feeling deeply insulted because of this incident. We will never, never ever go back to that Resto (unless one day the staff changes to a more respectful customer oriented team). Moestièr saint Marie it self is very beautiful and the walk up the Church was great 😉 Pity for this bad experience, really really...