La Petite Cour — Restaurant in Lille

We recently dined at La Petit Cour, and unfortunately, it was the worst dining experience we've ever had. When going out to eat, you expect something enjoyable, but the food here almost made us ill.

The starters were passable, though incredibly dull. The frog legs, in particular, were bland, with hardly any flavor; only the accompanying sauce added some taste. The fish was decent but, again, quite flavorless.

Then came the main courses. The beef tartare was not well-prepared, with large chunks that didn't add much appeal. But the low point was definitely the shrimp croquettes with fries. I've had shrimp croquettes many times, but never anything as terrible as these. It was clear they had been frozen, with a mushy, soft texture that literally fell apart when picked up. The smell and taste were even worse—a strange chemical-like scent and flavor that I couldn't swallow without feeling nauseous. We had to send it back because it was simply inedible. Even after it was removed, the unpleasant smell lingered. We were later told the chef had washed their hands with something that accidentally transferred to the food, though it wasn’t entirely clear. We did get a refund for this dish, thankfully.

For dessert, we ordered the crème brûlée and the apple mousse. The apple mousse was delicious, but how does one ruin a crème brûlée? It arrived completely burnt, with a strong, ashy flavor that was overwhelming. We sent it back and received a new one, but even that still tasted burnt.

It's hard to understand how dishes could taste this unpleasant and yet receive such positive reviews elsewhere. We won’t...

So four years ago we visited this restaurant and had a fabulous time. My partner was dying to come again and I left the decision making to her. She tried to book last minute online, but didn't get a reply same day. I told her let's go and ask if they have a table for two. Well there was a long queue and we were worried we couldn't get a place. I told her to queue and let's ask. Well result we got a table by the window inside. It was very busy so open at 1930 by 2010 fully booked out. We didn't eat any starters as we love the main courses, she had the swordfish which was utterly delicious it was so tender. The veal confit was amazing so tasty and again tender. We also shared the baked camembert which is to die for. We were so satisfied and it left us a wonderful memory of coming here last time. I highly recommend here and it really is an institution. The man sitting next to us told us he eats here nearly everyday. For good reason. If you found my review helpful please press like. Thank...

Excellent food and friendly service in an exceedingly charming venue.

We were immediately impressed by the outdoors-indoors decor with exposed red brick and the feeling that this was formerly the conservatory between two other buildings :-)

The service was excellent. The staff coped very well with our lack of French, and did a great job of explaining that a dish was small scallops, even though they didn't know the words in English.

There was a complimentary pre-meal snack of chicken terrine and bread. Our meals of: escargot, steak tartare and mousse scallops, fish and cheese platter (set menu) was excellent and we enjoyed all of it. We had a constant supply of bread baskets throughout the meal.

Would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for an authentic French meal in a Bohemian setting. Price was what we expected and pretty reasonable given it's just off the main square. The set menu didn't...