Le Presidial à sarlat — Restaurant in Sarlat-la-Canéda

Stunning food, stunning location. So so good, oh mon dieux 😍

Every dish was outstanding, the wait staff so warm and friendly and the location is like from a movie. By far the best meal of our trip. It was a bit pricy, but nothing crazy and well worth it.

To start I had a non-alcoholic cocktail of passion fruit, mango (?) and I don't actually know what the red stuff is. The flavour was super intense, sharp and tasty without being too sweet. 10/10

Next we got complimentary beef and carrot with little slices of toast. Firstly, getting free food is always nice. It makes you feel welcome. The dish itself was great, not too heavy, flavourful and interesting. 9/10

For starters we both had foie gras. It's a specialty of the region, with just about every shop selling it, so we had to try it. Also wifey was extremely jealous of my lunch in Bergerac so she didn't want to miss out again. It was divine. Tender, rich and juicy. The sauces it was served with paired well and with plenty left over we mopped it up with more complimentary bread. 10/10

For mains I ordered the lamb and vegetables. Lamb was lovely and tender, rich but not heavy and matched well with the vegetables which were simply boiled or steamed. The green (mint?) sauce around the plate added some intensity and sharpness that paired very well with the meat. 9/10

Wife had the duck leg with orange sauce. She really enjoyed it, the duck meat was fresh and fragrant, not too rich as duck sometimes is. Skin was crispy, potatoes had a nice crunch on the outside, but creamy inside. 8/10

For dessert I had the chocolate mousse. They were very careful to let me know this is made with dark chocolate and it's not a very sweet dessert. I think desserts that pile on sugar are like horror movies that rely on jump scares - a cheap trick. This mousse was outstanding. The cocoa flavour of the crumble and the mousse were so intense. Perfect end to my meal. 10/10

Wife had the walnut caramel tart which was a sweeter dessert, but again, sugar was not the primary taste. I don't know how they do it, but the caramel was so intensely rich, with the nut flavour singing through, the whole thing texturally dense and chewy, fudgy. Amazing. 10/10

I almost wanted to swap dessert, but that chocolate mousse had me seeing stars. I'm going to dream about it...

I cannot recommend this place enough. An...

Le Presidial enjoys a beautiful location that makes dining there pleasant. There's something appealing about the setting that creates a nice atmosphere for an evening out. The fact that the place was completely booked when I visited shows it's clearly popular with diners.

The food was okay - eatable but with some issues that kept it from being better. The vegetables were noticeably too salty, which detracted from the meal. The meat had good flavor and was well-seasoned, and they got the cooking right (au point), but it was quite chewy - not what you'd expect when paying these prices. It wasn't bad food, just not quite hitting the mark for what they're charging.

The staff were friendly and welcoming throughout the evening, which I appreciated. They created a warm atmosphere and made us feel comfortable. However, at this price point, I found myself expecting more polished service touches. Having to pour our own wine felt too casual for what the restaurant financially positions itself as. The wine selection was decent enough, so it wasn't about quality but rather the level of service.

Overall, it's an okay place with a beautiful setting and nice staff. The food is decent enough and the location does add to the experience. While I wouldn't say it's exceptional value, it's not terrible either - just somewhere in the middle where everything is fine but nothing stands...

We were shown to our table through a beautiful, well maintained garden, subtly lit and a sanctuary from the busier narrow ancient streets. The service was attentive and polite. We had smoked fish carpaccio and fois gras with truffle ravioli, and both were delicious. The seared tuna with a meat jus and fois gras was excellent and light with prettily arranged vegetables. The fish of the day was also perfectly executed and delicious. The deconstructed lemon dessert was light with an intense flavour and contrasted nicely with the dusting of crumb. The wine selection was surprisingly limited, but the Sancerre was perfect for what we chose. The service was excellent to begin with but two thirds through our meal it was evident that some of the staff had been let go and we largely forgotten about and had to remind them of our presence to order a coffee. All together, a fantastic setting with a stunning ancient building as a backdrop. We will definitely return as it was a fantastic experience, but they just need to improve their awareness of the diners' needs and wants. Romantic, beautiful,...