Le comptoir du Relais — Restaurant in Paris

Location: I think this was in the 6th. Either way, the area was hustling and bustling with activity and the vibe was energetic. Great area.

The place: So, there are actually three places that fall under this umbrella - the seafood counter, the tapas bar and the restaurant. The seafood part is tiny and standing room only. Maybe 10 people fit in there. The tapas place is set up like a small bar and the restaurant is the sit down place. We ate at the restaurant (outside). It's a very busy restaurant but we showed up without reservations. I want to say it was around 6 p.m. It is VERY popular with tourists.

The goods. I had a glass of white, dude had a glass of red. We both thoroughly enjoyed the wine. In terms of food, this is where I'm going to mix in my comment about the service. Let's tell it like it is: the minute our waitress heard my friend speaking English, that was it. This was the catalyst to a bad service experience. First off, when he asked if there were English menus, the answer was no and off she went. She didn't even offer to translate or make suggestions. Following this, she basically ignored us for a good 15 minutes - I mean it really felt like we weren't even there. When she finally came over and realized I spoke French, WELL, we were blessed to have her take our order. For me, it wasn't a disaster - I told her what I wanted - one item that I thought I ordered never showed up though, because she didn't order it. My friend though, asked for a suggestion - because he doesn't speak French and I couldn't possibly translate everything on the menu to him, and he doesn't eat red meat or pork. So the waitress tells him the ONLY thing he can have is the roast chicken. That's funny because I'm fairly certain I saw salads and fish on the menu but I guess she couldn't be bothered to make the effort and offer him a selection because hey - he doesn't speak French.

He ordered the chicken and foie gras. Well guess what, friends? While I was eating my escargots, buratina and saucisson, fully expecting he'd be getting chicken at some point, we find out that the only thing he was getting was foie gras (the pâté variety) because the waitress never ordered the chicken. Are you kidding me? So while I enjoyed the salad - it was very fresh and who doesn't like Burata? And the saucisson (made by a friend of the chef) was as good as what I've had in Italy, I can't give these guys more than 2 stars. The service was unacceptable and considering the price we paid, it should have been the opposite.

Service: See above. I'll also add that no one asked us if we wanted more wine when they came to take our empty glasses. We had to tell them we wanted more.

Price point: 76€ - completely ridiculous considering the service and the fact one of us didn't even get a meal!

I know this place is a hit with most people, but I won't...

Was here 10 years ago and really enjoyed the Pork Belly, beef steak and the food quality was really good THEN. Came back this time with my friends to revisit those good dishes but they were taken off the menu.

We had the pork knuckle with mash potatoes which was pretty yummy and crispy. The pork cheek with lentils in a pot was quite average. Too much lentils but the soup was quite tasty. Lobster penne pasta was tastiest of the 3 mains we ordered and probably the only one I would reorder again.

In terms of service experience, The female restaurant manager was still as angry and unfriendly as before. (Would have thought after 10 years service quality would improve). There were empty tables all around when we arrived for dinner but she told us we had to wait an hour. Given they don’t take reservations and we were the first in line, we didn’t understand why we couldn’t have those tables. Anyhow, we told her we will wait. Then she showed us to the bistro 2 doors down to wait. After about 30 mins, she came to get us and showed us to our outside tables. The male waiter who served us was also pretty rude and sarcastic towards us when we tried to ask him for recommendations etc. Somehow there seem to be preferential treatment from the manager and wait staff towards other local patrons than tourists.

Overall a lousy and disappointing experience. Won’t bother revisiting again. (And I’m really sorry...

Was here 8 years ago and had a superb experience where they had excellent meaty dishes and a bone marrow with caviar on top that was amazing. Came back here for that but they had taken it off. We were really annoyed by the poor service by a standoffish staff we were later told was new, (lack of EQ and was quite pushy with the starters), and also the really pricey but average starters that felt a rip off, for the size we got. To make things worse, the steak was overcooked and the waiter argued with us over it. It was shocking. This review would have been 1 star were it not for a very nice wait staff who swooped in to save the day by ensuring that we got the steak replaced, and also came to check on us a few more times, and was so nice and pleasant to speak with. She added 2 stars to this review so pls restaurant management if you're reading this, give her some recognition for damage control and great customer rship mgt. And you should really improve the starters and screen for better wait staff. That guy annoyed the tables he was serving with his lousy attitude, from what we could see. Overall the food was really average at best. 2mth dry age steak didn't quite...