L'Ambroisie — Restaurant in Paris

My husband and I went to dinner at L’Ambroisie in Mar 2024. From the overall dining experience and the food, It’s a complete disappointment.

SERVICE:

The greeting of the lady at the reception was cold and not professional. We were then led to a very small table in a dinning hall packed with tables. The tables were closely packed, there’re wait staff and guests walked past your table during the whole dinner. And you could hear what the people talked in other tables.

We ordered two glasses of champagne and a bottle of sparkling water. It came with still water instead of sparkling and we informed the wait staff. The original wait staff took our drink order came and said to us in a not very good tone: ’was it my mistake?’. Both my husband and I were stunned.

Then we wait for a long time for someone to give us the menu but no-one came. We asked for menu but it only came with French. The wait staff said that there’s no English menu, however, someone would come to explain the menu to us. However we waited for a long time and no one came so I explained the menu to my husband instead as I know little French.

FOOD:

The butter was like something off the shelf and just being removed the butter foil wrap and dumped on the plate and put it on the table.

My husband ordered the scallop for appetiser and pigeon for the main. I ordered the foie gras for appetiser and lamb chop for the main. The wait staff recommended us the langoustine as the second course.

The amuse bouche was basically just a block of smoked salmon. Like seriously?

Re the appetiser, mine was foie gras, The presentation was messy. The garnish was some big green leaves and they looked like being randomly put on the plate. And the few dot of sauce was just sweet. The texture of the foie gras was smooth and nice but then when you cut through the foie gras, you would hit a hard block underneath, that’s the blanched white radish with the bitterness of which when the radish not prepared properly. If the chef would like to use white radish, at least the radish should be cut into mirepoix with some yuzu or citrus dressing and a hint of parley oil.

For the second course of langoustine. The texture and flavour of the langoustine itself was very good. However, the garnish of spinach was way too salty. The curry sauce was too strong that it over powered the whole dish. So at the end, my husband and I just finished the langoustine alone, without touching the spinach and the sauce.

For my main of lamb, again, the presentation was messy. It looked like they were trying so hard to overcrowd the dish with a lot of things. I tried the sauce and it’s runny and lack of taste. The lamb chop was tender and the favour was good. But the lamb chop was not pan seared before serving so it made the whole thing very boring. And the crust was way too thin and sweet, which sticked to your teeth!

For the pigeon dish of my husband, he’s told that it’s medium rare. But it’s way undercooked. My husband has given up on it as it’s so uncooked.

The whole dining experience including the food was so bad that we thought that it’s really a waste of time and money there. We didn’t even order dessert or coffee as we just wanted to leave. They did offer some petit four. The texture of the canelé was not nice and it sticked to my teeth.

Definitely won’t go there again and do not recommend it to anyone looking for truly Michelin...

L’Ambroisie is known for its prestigious three Michelin stars and reputation for refined French cuisine. While the food quality and structure met expectations—flavors were elegant, and the craftsmanship was evident—dining at this level is about more than the food alone. Unfortunately, the overall experience did not reflect the standards one should expect from a restaurant of this ranking. Several areas, especially in service and hospitality, fell notably short: Reception Despite the restaurant’s formal dress code requiring jackets, no assistance was provided upon arrival to take or store our coats. A gesture as simple as offering to hang guests’ jackets reflects a baseline of hospitality and is standard in fine dining. Instead, I was left to place my jacket on the back of my chair—something more suited to a casual bistro than a three-star establishment. Dining Etiquette At one point during our meal, we were enjoying a side dish and had paused to chat with our cutlery placed in the pause position. Without asking, a waiter removed the dish. This demonstrated a lack of attention and respect for the guest’s dining pace. It’s not about offering exceptionally detailed service—this is about basic service fundamentals that were missed. Wine Service We selected a 2015 wine from the wine list, but the sommelier brought a 2016 vintage and was prepared to open it without prior discussion. When questioned, he stated the wines were of the same quality and price, seemingly to promote the 2016 instead. However, vintages matter greatly in wine, and this kind of substitution—especially without consent—should not occur in a professional wine service. Respecting the guest’s original selection is a fundamental part of sommelier professionalism. Language and Communication The entire service was conducted exclusively in French, with no effort made to accommodate English-speaking guests. As someone who does not speak French, this created a very isolating and difficult experience. In an internationally renowned restaurant, multilingual service or at least basic English support should be a given. Reservation Communication Prior to our visit, I included a note in the reservation requesting to be seated near another party in our group who were also dining that evening. I received no response, acknowledgment, or update regarding this request. Only upon arrival was I informed that it would not be possible. This lack of communication felt dismissive and contributed to a poor first impression.

Conclusion While the culinary execution was commendable, the overall service did not meet even the minimum expectations for a Michelin-starred restaurant—let alone one with three stars. Fine dining is a holistic experience where hospitality, communication, and attention to guest needs are just as important as the food itself. L’Ambroisie, regrettably, has significant room for improvement in delivering a complete and memorable...

I've been to a fair amount of 3 star restaurants and I feel that they all choose a different trade off between execution and innovation. Either the cuisine is very daring but some dishes may fall flat. Or, they bet on tried and true recipes with the best and finest ingredients but may lack a touch of fantasy.

L'Ambroisie is completely, unapologetically committed to the second approach. There is enough creativity in the dishes to be worthy of 3* but the cuisine is mostly about getting the fundamentals exactly right. For instance, they have been working with the same beef producer for decades and they have developed a very opinionated way to give us the best this meat has to offer, which I don't think has changed much over time.

So there's something old school about the place. The dining room decor seems straight out of the early nineties. The serving staff was all male wearing black suits. When we were offered champagne to start our meal and I remarked that I didn't drink alcohol, the server insisted (one of the handful of times in my life I am still offered alcohol after I disclosed that I don't drink) by saying, but this is just champagne. My wife had a menu without prices on.

Another anecdote on the old school aspect - the occasion was my wife's 40th birthday. She speaks French pretty well but she has an accent. So when the staff came to wish her a happy birthday and asked (!!!!) how old she was and she said that she was turning 40 in French, the waiter asked: how much? 45? So i don't know who said gallantry was dead in France!

Many high-end restaurants are focused on a prix-fixe menu, however l'Ambroisie is entirely à la carte - you may choose starters, fish, meat, cheese and desserts or skip any of these. The dishes you choose though are really just the tip of the iceberg as most of the food is coming as a nearly uninterrupted flow of small plates in between your options.

Then, comes the cheese. The cheese platter is pretty impressive in its own right with about 20 or 30 "classic" options. I had just 4 cheeses and each came from a superlative piece of cheese served in the perfect conditions: the camembert was just starting to run, the cantal flavor was exactly right etc. Our waiter told us that someone already asked for a piece of every cheese which he served, on the condition that the diner would clear their plate (he didn't tell us if they did).

Finally came the desserts, our menu came with the option to get an assortment but since this is à la carte I ordered extra and we got to taste every dessert on the menu. I'm expecting the dessert menu to be highly seasonal so that option may be gone forever, but one of the cakes, a dacquoise, was among the 5 best desserts I ever had in my life. What a wonderful way to end this dinner (although of course, you get a post-desserts...