Beach Bar Ile de Ré — Restaurant in La Rochelle

Having visited this bar/restaurant two years ago and thoroughly enjoying it we were excited to return. We had driven 9 hours across France, eager and hungry, and arrived at this restaurant with our two young children at 5:30 pm. Upon asking about food, we were politely informed that service would start at 7 pm. Deciding to wait, we took a seat and ordered some drinks.

At 7 pm, we requested menus from a waiter, only to be told that we hadn’t booked a table and they were fully booked. We explained that we had been told to wait until 7pm and asked if they could fit us in. The waiter said he would check with his colleague, but after 20 minutes, we saw him serving other customers while completely ignoring us.

Frustrated, we walked inside and tried to explain the situation to who we assume was the manager. Unfortunately, she rudely dismissed us, repeatedly saying “no” without listening to our concerns.

In the end, we had to take our children back to the campsite on bikes and feed them from what little we had left in our cupboards. This was a deeply disappointing experience, especially after such a long journey, we understand that mistakes can happen but if the Manager had listened rather than just repeatedly saying no the whole experience could perhaps have been rectified without ill feeling. I’d advise others to cautious about relying on this restaurant’s service. A shame as this place could be great but is let down by service which is also apparent in...

Having thoroughly enjoyed our meal here last year, we were eager to return. We booked a table a couple of days ahead as it does get busy. We have 2 young children, both slightly fussy eaters and one is a vegetarian, so as always checked there was something on the menu for everyone before booking.

We were one of the first dinner services at 7.15pm but it seems they had already run out /didn't have several items on the menu. The only vegetarian starter (focaccia to share) was not available. The kids menu was pizza or chicken nuggets but the pizza was not available. We tried to order some pesto pasta from the main menu for my daughter but that was unavailable too! In the end the only vegetarian thing we could offer my 11 year old was a salad or chips. We decided to leave and go elsewhere.

The food coming out of the kitchen looked delicious and our waiter was great (very apologetic and understanding) but we were very disappointed.

So my only tip is to check what on the menu isn't available before you bother sitting down to order! (Perhaps we could have been told so many items were unavailable when the menus...

21-Oct-2022: A couple of days ago we have been already here, it wasn't spectacular, but a good experience - a sign "said" closed from 15:00 through 17:30, but then they were even not selling a Coke after 17:30 with the advise, the will only open again at 18:00... But being there. Never mind... I came back today, a couple of minutes before 15:00, but I got told, the bar already closes 10 minutes before... No Coke, no takeaway, nothing. This is all but customer friendly, they obviously don't care about you... ok. 22-Oct Update: next day, next try. Now it was 15 minutes before close and today it is 15 minutes (not 10 like yesterday), when it's not possible any more for me to get a drink - while another group of people just got their drinks next table. And the sign says closed at 15:00h... (see fotos) I wanted to speak with the manager, but got told he is the manager. Ok, so this behavior is obviously in line with his guidance. Now I understand the other comments giving "few-star-comments" with the note, that after recent manager change many...