La Ferme Marine Aresquiers — Restaurant in Montpellier

From its hippy-ish beginnings 20 years ago, associative, shabby but charming, this magnificent outdoor place with a splendid view of the lagoon and the sea won over a loyal audience for its small concerts and its excellent but casual, quality food. Today, there is only good the casual that remains and a money pump has shamelessly taken the place of its qualities. This is a sort of charmless canteen, an open-air kitchen and terrace, about 25 tables covered with ugly plastic tablecloths. A brief welcome is followed by the impossibility of attracting the eye of the waitress throughout the meal. Our meal started after waiting 15 minutes to order wine (I had to get up to get the waitress, the first of five times during the evening) and then 30 minutes for oysters as a starter. When I managed to get hold of the waitress she said, without apologizing, that “everyone arrived at the same time." Nevertheless, at least five tables that arrived well after us had already been served for a while. One of my guests spilled her glass before she'd even had a drop. The waitress was unable to provide any help or even a sponge to clean the table and we had to wait another 15 minutes (and the 3rd time I got up) before she came back with a drink to replace it. When, finally, the dishes arrived, mine (a kind of mussels marinières) was so salty that it was difficult to eat. I forced myself because I was so hungry. But they were miniature mussels the size of my little fingernail, I've never seen such tiny ones. And even then, a good third of the shells were empty. Another guest began to attack his seafood pasta dish (overcooked pasta decorated with a mediocre sauce, badly seasoned, of which the seafood consisted of two unshelled prawns in a lonely duel) but the dish was stone cold. The waitress brought them back after a short passage via the microwave without any apologies. I was beginning to wonder if there were hidden cameras and any moment people would burst out laughing and applauding as the prank was revealed. The waitress came back after a while to ask if everything was ok. Of course I said no, it wasn't ok at all, and I listed everything that went wrong, politely, but firmly. Her answer ? “Ah, you were unlucky then." Didn't give a f*ck. Unsurprisingly, we resisted the temptation of a dessert or even coffee. At the till not only did they still not apologise for this festival of fiascos, they didn't even offer us a digestive and, the final affront, they tried to make us pay for the glass of wine that had been spilled. Massive disappointment ! A terrible experience never to be repeated. If anyone's...

So it is not common that I give this rating to a restaurant. Here are the reasons why: 1) there was no one there to receive us or to greet us. At least one min after we arrived, the chef (who was in the open kitchen) asked us if we had made a reservation. We gave our name and he said "ah yeah, I think I read something like that. Well, just pick your table and sit anywhere you want". I was not expecting a royal welcome but a minimum effort would have been appreciated. 2) We sat down and we were given the menu after a long while. The waitress said they didn't have half of the things (she covered it with her hand to make sure we got it). 3) We had to wait too long to get our appetizers even though the restaurant had only 6 or 7 tables taken. 4) I ordered the most expensive dish (just because it was the one that offered the most things: two fishes, couteaux, mussels and gambas for around 24 euros). We were told it could easily be for 2 people and I accepted. It turned out I was still hungry after finishing the dish. 5) Eventhough the atmosphere was very nice because of the view, once the sun set, we couldn't see a thing because there was no light. I was still finishing my dish and my friend had to use the lamp on her cell to light up my plate - otherwise I would've choked with the mini fish bones!

On the positive side, the view is really something. It is far from being a fancy restaurant and so you can feel almost like home. Prices are rather fair (apart from the dish I ordered which was a complete scam) and the chocolate dessert I ordered was very good! The waitress was very kind with us and did her best to help us have...

Un concept qui faudrait préciser sur votre site , car ce n’est pas la définition que je me fais du restaurant. Au moment de l’arrivée , si comme nous vous arrivez en même temps que plusieurs personnes, une « hôtesse «  parle sans crier du coup il faut lui redemander ce qu’il faut faire ….il faut aussi crier son nom car elle ne s’approche pas et par politesse personne ne dépasse personne….du coup le concept démarre il faut prendre ses couverts , verre , cendrier….puis choisir une place avec votre nombre de chaises ! ….on a aussi pris un stylo et un « menu » ou il faut cocher nos choix mais attention il faut en faire plusieurs car ils amènent tout le bon d’un coup …nous avons pris plusieurs plats et cela ne rentrait pas sur la table on dit à la serveuse vous pouvez rajouter une table …car elles sont très petites pour les la table de deux personnes…elles nous dit non ! On lui dit on ne va tenir les plats …on a pris une chaise !!!!!!!!.après il vous faut aller à l’entrée déposer votre bon …..prendre vous même le pain l’eau ….il vous faut tout aller chercher et à chaque fois ils ne vous amène que les boisson payante . J’ai une allergie alimentaire, « l’hôtesse » a notre arrivée me dit directement aller en cuisine, étant un peu gênée de les déranger car ils bosser ….j’attends…je leur dit et ils me disent de cocher ce que j’aimerais et me demande de le redire a celle à qui je donne mon bon de commande….😏les allers retours n’en finissent plus !😥 je m’exécute …bref un catastrophe le plaisir de se faire servir ,la définition même d’aller au restaurant est absente. Cela est concept , ce n’est pas ce que je juge , mais il faut avertir et mettre un peu les plats servi sur le site car la carte est très courte , en ayant une allergie je sais qu’avec une carte aussi petite je ne vais rien manger ( a la réservation je l’ai précisée) cela éviterait que comme moi ne manger des huîtres et simplement du pain ( ou vous devez vous lever encore et encore pour aller le chercher ) avec du beurre…..ouf il vient avec les huîtres ! C’est une vrai déception, mais l’endroit est...