Hippopotamus — Restaurant in L'Haÿ-les-Roses

Where do i even start?! One star is too many. We were a businesses party of 18 people, so a potential win of 500euros! I am writing on behalf of us all. Although we were german in origin we had a native french speaker with us and all of us spoke good english, so no language barrier.

The situation: We arrived on a snowey evening, the place was empty, only one couple and another family of three. -We had to move tables ourselves so that everyone could be seated. Once seated, we asked for a few extra sets of cuttlery and glasses because those that were brought were not enough. Most of the glasses were dirty. We ordered drinks and food with one waitress who was obviously in over her head. Although she was nice, she was completely clueless. Our food arrives all at way different times. Most of the orders have the wrong sides with them. Nearly all of the orders were cold AND the best part, RAW!!! (we all order medium or done) Some, who had the time too, sent their meal back to the kitchen to reheat, others like myself, was asked if i would like to do the same but only as the others were already finishing their meals.

So, i ordered the T-bone, medium done, price 32€ and a tiny iced tea, 4€ With mashed potatoes as my included side. I get: a barely brazed, T-bone (the bit that was cooked, i ate) with cold jacket potatoes.

So naturally not happy with my meal, i grabed our native speaker and asked for the manager. We explained that it is not to standard for the price tag and that we would like to reach a comprise. We politely proposed i pay a maximum of 20 euros because, i did eat the edible parts. The manager, in a condescending way said she would give me the 4€drink for free and that is it, because i ate some of the food. Then continued to discussed with us for 20 minutes how we were at fault. When i then stirnly said i would only pay for what i ate, i was threatened with having the POLICE called on me! Some of our party had in the between time ordered dessert unaware of what was going on, and then soon realized that even that was inedible! In the end, when i said she should call the police, the manager buckled and we agreed i pay 22euro total.

So come to the time to pay. Suddenly i have to pay 26€, so the drink at full price included. So i pay. At this point i just wanna leave. My colleagues pay each in turn for their meals... then as we are putting our jackets to leave, our now very timid attending waitress says we can't leave yet, we are not allowed to. There is 6€ still left open. Not possible considering every one of us paid individually for all they ate...!

Bottom line, they couldn't tell us what it was for, but didn't allow us to leave until it was paid. I know exactly what is was for - the remaining amount for my meal that we agreed i didn't have to pay. They thought they were being clever. In the end our native speaker practically threw the 5€note and 1€coin into the hands of the poor waitress out of pure frustration.

End note. I feel sorry for the cowering waitresses. (they were very polite and apologetic) It's no wonder this place is mostly empty everything about it was terrible. This is not acceptable service by the standards of ANY country (not just because we are German)

Please do not eat here. Worst steak house i have ever been to, and i go to allot and...

If you can eat elsewhere, I would suggest you do. This was a terrible establishment to identify itself as a steakhouse. I was quite disappointed to say that the "steakhouse" doesn't even meet the standard of what is served in Canada.

Wife and I came by here after a long uber ride into Paris and wanted something quick to eat before calling it a night.

Foods we ordered - names won't be accurate as I don't plan on remembering the meal

Steak on the bone (something like their XL) - 1/5 When I ordered, the waitress asked if Medium was fine but I asked for a medium rare to which she said okay and sent our order in. When she put my steak down not only was it THIN, the meat had cooked so much that it was thinner than the bone it was on, I knew right away I got a welldone steak. Second hint? I ALWAYS cut my steaks down the middle when ordering so I can see right away the level of doneness and I gave up after a few attempted because my knife literally could not cut through without digging the tip of the blade in and dragging out.

To their defense, they provided me a new steak which funnily enough was much thicker than the previous but closer to rare than medium rare. I think they were trying to make up for the wait time by getting it out to me ASAP without letting it rest.

New steak - 1/5 Quality is terrible (closer to a Canadian Choice than Prime beef) which made it really chewy. Wasn't rested so juices and blood were spilling out. Peppercorn sauce is also very watery

I also got a summer spritz which was decent and my wife got a italian salad which she didn't enjoy.

Overall good for a QUICK work lunch meal, but McDonalds nearby would probably do you...

Service started out okay, but throughout our stay, they kept being us the wrong orders. Then my husband got his 'steak', which was essentially a medium rare ground meat hamburger with an egg on top. They didn't have mashed potatoes as a side, so we had to pick a second side when the steak came, so he got served his meal in 2 parts.When asked about which tartare i was served, the waitress assured me it was salmon, though it looked like beef. Of course it turned out to be beef, which I explained to the waitress was fine, as I didn't want to wait even longer h your the meal. She was apologetic and took the meal, as someone else was waiting for it.. not sure what was meant by that. Getting any of the waiters attention was another story. Trying to order dessert and getting the bill took another 15 minutes in itself. Mid way through the meal, they also decided to turn off the lights in our side of the patio. Not sure what happened there but no one seemed concerned. To top it all off, my husband has been sick and vomiting all last night and into this morning. Let's see what happens to our plans for the...