Au Vieux Châtelet — Restaurant in Paris

I was very poorly attended last Saturday (13/04/2019).

First, I ordered the menu (starter + main course + dessert) for 16.50euros. The entry was super simple, like something you can do at home in 5 seconds. (Detail: I could not eat everything). The main course was horrible as well. It should be tagliatelli with chicken and vegetables but tasted like seafood (???). I do not know how and of course I could not eat everything. Then I signaled to the waiter and after many many minutes, he brought me the bill without the dessert.

I asked him (very polite) why but his reaction was completely scary. He was talking in English and French at the same time. He acted as if I had done something seriously wrong. I did not understand his reaction, I asked him why he was acting like that and he was simply ironic.

So, he brought me the dessert, and guess what? It tasted horrible.

The same waiter brought me the bill again with the dessert included. I did not understand why he was charging me for that, he was ironic once again saying that: "Do you know how to read the menu?" "You did not understand the menu!" and mixing English with French when speaking (which I am not obliged to understand).

Detail: at the entrance, he had explained to me and I had already chosen the combination of 3 (starter+main course+dessert). So I told you that he knew about my dessert and why he did not bring it right after the main course? Why he was charging for this? The menu is completely confusing. I asked to speak to the manager which he ignored me and said nothing.

At the end: I paid what I owed because I'm not a deadbeat. But I made a point of saying: I am not French, I do not speak French, but I am a client and the least I expected was respect for the employee and to be treated properly.

NOT RECOMMEND FOR ANYONE!!! Food horrible. Poor...

Honestly, I was really let down by this restaurant. The service and the food were both way below what I expected.

I went there for lunch, but quickly found out that a lot of the dishes on the menu weren’t even available. I tried ordering a couple of different things, but they told me they were out. No one mentioned this before I started ordering, which was frustrating. I ended up going with their recommended duck leg, it's looks good but it was super dry, tough, and tasted like it wasn’t fresh at all.

But what really got me was the payment issue. I paid for my meal and asked for a receipt, but after waiting about 20 minutes, the server suddenly told me my payment didn’t go through. This was confusing because my bank app clearly showed the payment was successful. I showed them the proof, but they didn’t seem to get it. They even called over other staff, and they all insisted I hadn’t paid. They couldn’t prove the first payment failed, but they assured me if it didn’t go through, I’d get a refund within a day. Trusting them, I figured maybe there was a mistake and paid again.

The next morning, I checked with my bank and saw that both payments had gone through. So, I’d been charged twice. I went back to the restaurant to sort it out, but the staff there claimed they didn’t know anything about it and told me to talk to the manager, who wasn’t even there. They said I’d have to come back when the manager was around. I had to rearrange my plans and go back later that day. In the end, the manager did refund me for the extra charge, but the whole experience was just a hassle and left me in a bad mood. I mean, who wants to deal with that, especially when you’re supposed to be...

First the Good: The restaurant is good located, close to the Louvre, the Seine river and other touristic attractions. The menu offers a variety of french options and also a “daily lunch menu” with really good prices. They accept cash, debit and credit card so it was pretty easy to pay. The restaurant has a upper space as well as outside tables (really common in Paris) with a beautiful view of the Seine. They use fresh ingredients, which is important in my book (is usual in the French bistros but I think is important to mention).l, so expect home made french fries, tasty fresh salad and some cool selection of meats. The proteins were good seasoned and the sauce of my duck was also pretty good. the fries had a super nice garlic taste.

The not so good The proteins were a bit over cooked and the salad and fries could use a bit more seasoning, which is easy to solve in the salad but if you don’t salt french fries enough, it is pretty difficult to fix because you end up consuming way more salt than necessary. The service was definitely something that can be better. The service was rude at times and sufficient at times. The only time the waiter gave me a smile, was when he asked me how I wanna pay, which made it feel even more forced. Would I come back? I don’t think so, I have visited other bistros in Paris with a better overall experience. But feel free to give it a try if you are close and want to have a really fair...