Brulot — Restaurant in Grasse

Quaint little restaurant, BUT the experience was far less than we had hoped for. Three of our party of four ordered filet. One medium rare, two medium. When the entrees came out, one of the 3 filets was correctly cooked and delicious. The other two, however, were beyond poor; the medium rare was medium well and so sinewy and stringy, it reminded me of a Swiss steak from a Swansons TV dinner. The other was supposed to be medium, but was so overdone that it would have made a better moccasin.

Understanding that things sometimes go wrong, we told our waiter and showed him the piece of leather; he agreed and nodded and went about his business. I had shared my meal with my partner and we did not want to wait for another entree, so I let our waiter know and he said that the cook was done and he wouldn’t have been able to give us another steak anyway. Okay..head scratcher, but no problem.

When the check came, we had expected a credit for one of the two horrendous steaks…nope! I asked the cashier/waiter to credit the steak…he had agreed that it was bad earlier so I thought there would be no problem. He refused, saying that he did not own the restaurant and that the owner was not present. I asked for the manager, but again was denied. I asked for the name and phone number of the owner and my now very smug waiter refused to give me a name. He suggested that I return the following day and discuss with him…clearly my time is of no value.

Look…all we wanted was to be credited one of the 3 entrees, that’s it…not the wine or the appetizers or even the other Swiss steak they served as a filet. This guy simply reiterated that he was not the owner and would not credit us.

A short argument ensued and I paid, not wanting to have the restaurant call the police.

I have literally never felt so poorly treated at a restaurant while also being completely helpless to elicit accountability.

PLEASE, do not patronize this restaurant. Trust me, the food quality was mediocre at best (well the potatoes were outstanding), including the portions that were prepared correctly, but this establishment is simply not accountable. If you are not willing to own up to and correct a glaring, blantant mistake and outright refuse to accommodate your (very reasonable) customer, then you simply do not deserve to be...

Go and get it right. Brulot is famous for its woodfire oven so if you want to turn up and have a soup, you only have yourself to blame.

Go as a couple, reserve a table for two outside (there aren't bigger tables outside) and order one beef filet and one magret de canard (duck) and split them between you so you can have half each. Get the duck saignant (rare) and the beef too - mind blown.

The real magic is the duck that will out-duck pretty much all duck you've ever had. Crispy outside, beautifully tender inside. The potatoes are delicious and the pepper sauce and the mushroom sauce are perfect... Just have the sauce with the potatoes (because the meat is perfect as is)

If you order the fish they'll probably cook it in aluminium so you won't get the deep grill grooves like you do with the meat.

A godsend of a restaurant that we have been going to religiously for decades... But like I say, order badly and you might as well have gone anywhere. The woodfire is...

Avoid, service was traumatisingly bad. First time we got kicked out of a restaurant for sharing a main course. My friend and I came in at 9:30pm on a Tuesday, not a very busy night, but took ages to get our order taken. We ordered a starter and a main to share with drinks, looking for a light meal. But they brought out 2 of the same mains, and insisted that we cannot share the mains. This was not communicated at the time of ordering. They just left both mains on our table, indicating that we have to eat and pay for both although we only ordered one. When I brought the extra plate back, the chef smashed the plate in front of me and wanted us to leave right away. They then handed the bill with both mains on, but the server was kind enough to take it off for us and said that the chef’s temperaments are usually like this. Proceed at your own caution and be VERY clear when ordering. Food...