L'Effet Boeuf — Restaurant in Quimper

We can only give 3 stars for our visit which was real shame as L'Effet Boeuf was a recommendation to us.

To start with the positives: The food and drinks are excellent. The sharing platter starter was really high quality and just the right amount to share with others. Each main course was also perfectly cooked according to the intructions provided to the kitchen. The restaurant is very modern and spacious with a good sized outdoor eating space. Each individual dish is also priced fairly and should therefore represent value for money.

Our experience however was let down by the front of house staff. There were multiple mistakes with our order which resulted in main courses arriving at different times and dishes not presented in the way they were ordered. I should say at this point we speak basic French and therefore used combinations of both the English and French menus to try and make things clearer as most of the front of house staff had basic English which isn't a criticism at all as we were in France.

Unfortunately however it was difficult to understand how so many mistakes were made. As an example there was only 1 x main course costing €25 and I pointed to it on the French menu so it couldn't be mis-understood in any way yet it came out as something conpletely different. We also explicitely asked for the burger without cheese and cooked well done which the waitress repeated back to us at the point of order and it came with cheese and once returned to the kitchen came back pink rather than well done. There were also other mistakes that meant our experience here wasn't as it should have been and while the food was cooked according to the intructions provided to the kitchen by the staff it was a long way from what we actually ordered.

Overall the service we experienced was very poor, there were times where the front of house staff were largely invisible and we could see another table behind us getting frustrated by this as well. It may seem a small thing but having to go to ask for the bill doesn't represent good service and we were not the only ones having to do this. Our bill reflected the mistakes made and therefore didn't reflect the value for money it should have done and this was made clear to little avail.

To summarise if there were two pieces of constructive advice i could leave its remember you're in the customer service industry and therefore its important you listen to customers, serve your customers and ultimately make sure they leave having had a positive and value for money experience. The second piece of advice is to ensure this happens you really need to sort out the front of house and have effective systems in place, small things like ensuring staff are always walking the floor would make a big difference.

I certainly wouldn't want to discourage anyone going to L'Effet Boeuf as the quality and standard of cooking is very high and its also fairly priced if you recieve what you order. You do however need to be aware the Front of House is'nt as effective as it should be based on our experience and this could therefore impact your overall experience as it did for us which was really disappointing as we had high expectations on what was our last night of a family holiday...

▪️Compte-rendu : pour une première, ce fut une expérience satisfaisante !

🔺Accès et cadre : « L’effet bœuf » se situe à quelques mètres du bord de mer et de sa magnifique plage des « sables blancs », juste derrière la thalasso. Le stationnement n’est pas aisé en l’absence de parkings à proximité, mais les ruelles alentours proposent toutes quelques places aux visiteurs. Sur place, pas de vue mer mais un restaurant accessible, dans un quartier calme, mitoyen d’un café-bar hype qui ne vient pas perturber nos oreilles. Le restaurant est bien organisé : À gauche en entrant, le comptoir puis, en retrait, la cuisine silencieuse car protégée par une grande baie vitrée, et au bout les sanitaires. L’espace restauration prend place sur la droite avec une grande salle harmonieuse, lumineuse, moderne, avec des espaces satisfaisants entre les tables et une décoration simple, un brin cheap, en clin d’œil avec l’ingrédient principal des lieux, le bœuf. Aux beaux jours, un espace terrasse est prévu avec, à son bout, un coin cosy limité aux premiers arrivés.

🔺Restauration et rapport qualité/prix : Ici, pas de secret, vous venez forcément pour manger du bœuf 🥩 ! Sans être un « viandard » invétéré, vous apprécierez les différentes propositions chaudes et froides entre morceaux nobles (filets, faux-filets), brochettes, tartare, carpaccio, burgers… 👉🏻 Pour commencer,parlons donc de la viande, pièce maîtresse des lieux et but de l’expérience qui ne déçoit pas. Elle s’avère tendre, goûteuse, de qualité, pour ce que nous avons pu en juger, mais assez chère rapportée au poids. Ex : 22€ le plat pour un faux-filet et son accompagnement. 👉🏻 En accompagnement, le plat est servi de base avec de la salade (portion trop juste) et il vous est proposé, au bol, des légumes (mixte de pois, carottes…) ou des frites. Là aussi, sauf à avoir prit une entrée au préalable, les portions s’avèrent un peu chiches à notre goût. Vous pouvez cependant choisir un accompagnement supplémentaire à partager, en légumes ou frites selon votre choix initial, et celui-ci vous sera facturé 3 euros, ce qui est correct. Bémol pour le bol de légumes dont le goût est masqué et dénaturé par la sauce soja trop présente et imposée. Les frites sont servies bien cuites et s’avèrent très correctes. 👉🏻 La carte des desserts est variée, classique cependant et sans réelle surprise, sinon les prix élevés, qui viennent alourdir la facture finale en l’absence de choix plus modestes, dommage… 👉🏻 Pour finir ce chapitre restauration, la carte des vins qui a son importance dans un restaurant servant le bœuf à toutes les sauces. Le choix est correct, varié, mais comme pour les desserts les prix alourdiront irrémédiablement votre facture. Un bon vin adossé a une bonne viande rouge c’est la cerise sur le gâteau, non ? Hélas, notre choix d’un Bourgogne à 29€ fut une déception comparé à des crus similaires goûtés par ailleurs, plus fins et suaves. Cette bouteille de Brouilly est la vraie mauvaise note du repas et participe à l’étoile en moins.

🔺Service : Professionnel et sympathique. Ouverture du vin devant vous, attention, manquait juste le sel et poivre chipés sur la table d’à côté.

▪️En résumé :

Sinon la sauce soja sur les légumes qui a déplu, le vin pas au niveau du prix, l’expérience fut bonne, tant en plats qu’en desserts, mais les prix élevés et non justifiés viennent contrebalancer la note finale de 3,5/5, tout proche du 4.

Accès et cadre : 3/5 Rapport qualité/prix : 3/5 Choix et service : 4/5

Visite en avril 2022-

*Mes notes comme mes commentaires sont régulièrement actualisés au fil des expériences vécues. Je m’astreins à être le plus objectif possible afin de vous faire partager un avis éclairé, juste mais sans concession, pour la défense et le respect du consommateur d’une part, pour l’information et l’espoir d’amélioration de l’établissement d’autre part. Un avis reste l’expression d’un ressenti individuel qui tâche toutefois de se baser sur des éléments...

Service was friendly initially. Ordered starters, a salad, that was nice, with a beef filet and carpacio as mains. Asked for seignant for the filet. It was well done and didn't like it, chewed through a few bites. When the waitress came to take it away my wife was almost done with her carpacio so I didn't want another filet or anything else. I should probably have asked for another one as the carpacio was very cold, pretty tasteless and could have done with warming up a bit.. When we got to paying I asked if I had to pay for the filet (€26) and was told yes, the chef thought it was cooked properly and they had offered me an alternative.. fair enough, if that's what he thinks seignant should be, I don't agree, but we paid .. maybe they thought we were just some tourists, but I wouldn't...