Restaurant Maximin Hellio — Restaurant in Lisieux

A place we were excited to try given its 1-star Michelin status... (as we love to experiences these types of restaurants.) Unfortunately, the experience was far from what we expected, especially considering the standards associated with Michelin-starred establishments.

Our table was served by four different staff members, none of whom seemed to be on the same page. (No warm welcome, they seemed to be unhappy to serve our table). The service was chaotic, with cutlery being tossed on the table every time (literally!). It felt like a joke, as if they were provoking us. (See pictures)

Every time a dish was served, there was little explenation about the food experience. In a place where the culinary experience is supposed to be a journey, this lack of communication left us feeling disconnected from the meal. At one point, they mistakenly set our table with cutlery for desserts and then had to awkwardly take them back—honestly, who expects three desserts at once right?

The confusion continued when we ordered espresso. It's a basic coffee, yet the server seemed to not know what it was and served a regular coffee. To add to the chaos, our table wasn't cleaned between courses, leaving us surrounded by remnants of past dishes. During the coffee course, we had to pour the remaining wine ourselves. Yes! because the staff left us to finish our wine during coffee!

The food, while technically well-prepared, and very delicious, did not make up for the poor service. The replacement dish for the fish was a tiny portion of meat, a bit too small. (They also did not serve us any bread until we asked)

Overall, the experience was more comedic than culinary. For a Michelin-starred restaurant, this was incredibly disappointing. We hope they can improve, as the potential is definitely there, but the execution was severely lacking.

Also... there seemed to be no sommelier at the restaurant with the right knowledge to inform us about our wine choices. We did not even get to see a glimpse of the menu before we could make our...

Where do I start with this place, myself, partner and twin boys visited this place as we were in France and wanted to experience a michelin restaurant as a family. We got the tasting menu and OMG, this has been the best food I've ever tasted and also the rest of the family tasted. Being a chef, I was told that unfortunately my food was no where near as good as this place. I can't even find words to describe the amaizing experience from start to finish. Food just kept coming and they must have known we were from Glasgow as an unlimited supply of the best corn bread served with 2 types of butter- sweet butter and seaweed butter- kept coming. Every single course was outstanding, and just kept getting better and better, and I knew we must have been in good hands being fed by a chef who has worked in the finest establishments, with the best chefs in France and he was at the helm, alongside his wife who i think ran front of house. The service was outstanding too. The attention to detail was incredible. It was a shame I couldn't try any wine as I was driving, hopefully I will be able to try the wine next time round. Maybe they will let me have some work experience in the kitchen, free of charge obviously? A stage, I'm sure they call it. I would love to complete my chefing by working in a michelin restraunt, I envy your skills, chef! Thank you for giving my family the most memorable food experience ever, I really can't believe we were so lucky to come to your...

We decided for a weekend getaway in Deauville and found this place, very well located, one star michelin, so why not indulge.

The perfect choice as we found out while dining, the staff is lovely, we tried some wonderful dishes, the lobster and crab were outstanding, the subtle use of kombawa refreshing, the french caviar a delight. The homemade bread, even if a sidedish does deserve to be mentioned, it would make some bakers would be envious.

A great restaurant, we'll happily try out again, we had...