Restaurant des Frères Marchand — Restaurant in Nancy

A tourist trap.

I went there a few days ago with my boyfriend.

First surprise : we had to give bank card information when we booked as a "guarantee". That's not the first time something like this is asked when booking a table in a restaurant. However, as both Frenchies, we can assure that it is extremely rare, if not something you don't see here.

Then, we thoroughly read the menu beforehand and were drawn towards the idea of being able to have a free refill of fondue. We went to the restaurant with great expectations, as it was expensive and seemed high standing.

However, I have to warn everyone that it is definitely a tourist trap. I come from Les Vosges. The food they present is supposed to be traditional from Les Vosges, and I can tell everyone that it was in reality low standing food, nothing special nor truly traditional.

The first thing we found unpleasant was the way the staff members greeted us. The man called me by my name in a way I didn't enjoy, almost pedantic.

Then, we took a seat and immediately ordered the fondue. It arrived under 10mn max. Some of the bread was stale. The amount of cheese for the fondue was utterly ridiculous. The charcuterie was pretty basic, if not already cut out when they bought it.

But the best was yet to come.

When we asked for a refill, the staff first wasn't sure they could refill it for free. Then, we heard their "boss" say that they shouldn't apply the free refill promise to us, as we had initially decided on sharing one portion of fondue. Nothing of such had been mentioned on the menu, nor in the reviews. The man arbitrary decided on it on the spot. The man came back, rudely telling my boyfriend that if all "clients did like" us, "they would not do free refills".

Absolutely unexceptable for a restaurant that claims to be high standing. We have already gone to many restaurants with high standing quality that actually lived up to the expectations, sometimes even for a cheaper price and better service.

Overall, we were badly greeted, ate food that honesty wasn't so good, were literally and without any care mocked by the staff, and the promise of a free refill (that many people had praised in the reviews) was...

Let's clear the air. Its a good place. I could give it a 4 star but I will not. Like any popular touristy restaurants, it has its flaws. Let's start with the drinks. A 25cl Grimbergen is 7€!!!! That's not acceptable. Then comes the main dish. We had a Fondue and a Tartiflette. I imagined the Tartiflette was an entree, it was so small. But the taste was what you could expect from a dish like this. The Fondue was not special. I had many Fondue in France and Switzerland but this one was pretty average. It supposed to be a volante, as much as you could eat. I just asked for half of cheese and charcuterie, as second helping, which took nearly 35mins to arrive!!!! Its not a cooked dish. They just need to put those on a plate and I do the cooking in cheese. But it didn't arrive. Three waiters came to ask and we repeated ourselves for three times. Ultimately when it arrived, I returnedit as I lost the interest and the waitresstold me that there were 120 people in the restaurant so a delay is expected. I was gobsmacked. Never had suck experience before where I was told off for asking why it took so long. This is not a cheap place. The decor is great but the prices very high too. So I expect it to be good in taste and good in service. Both is terrible. Overall, very very...

When arriving in Nancy we were looking for a restaurant and passed the big restaurant Freres Marchand. At first sight we found it a bit touristic and big, so we decided to look for another restaurant.

But there must have been something appealing because we decided to return to the restaurant for our diner.

We had a nice table and the restaurant was very relaxing, the service was very friendly and the food and wine were very good.

The next day while passing the restaurant at lunch time, our waiter (Aurelien) recognized us and said helo. We were so happy to be recognized, so we decided to have our lunch in the restaurant. Again a very good experience.

We returned for lunch the next day. Aurelien was again our waiter and he better knew what wine we had the day before and recommended to try another local wine. Again very good food and excellent wine.

In the evening we had diner in another restaurant and decided to return to Des Freres Marchand to have our desert with good wine.

Special thanks to Aurelien for the excellent service and recommendations. Thanks to the whole team and owner for the good food and nice atmosphere

We will be back to Nancy and to...