L'Authentic — Restaurant in Torcy

We decided on this restaurant as our son wanted to eat snails while visiting France and we deeply regret not reading the reviews before hand. There are many restaurants in the area wishing for your custom so we had expectations that the general standard of restaurants would be exceptable, unfortunately L'Authentic was way below our expectations.

Before we ordered we asked how long the food might take to get served and where informed about 20 minutes, the reason I asked was as it was only 20.00 with about 35-40% occupancy I noticed customers waiting patiently for there food.

Food

1st course was served and immediately noticed the over cooked boiled eggs on the express menu starter salad. (The dark grey ring around the egg yolks you find if you cook eggs to long) The 2nd course ,3 of us ordered the plank steak , the variation in the sizes of the steak was inconsistent ,with the biggest steak being twice the thickness as the smallest served to us ,meaning cooking times where wildly different assuming all steaks should be cooked to the same temperature.

Service ?

When a waiter finally noticed me - the bored customers sitting at the table we got some service but only after waiting 57 minutes between clearing of the starters to actually being served a plate holding 4 cooked potatoes, a small bowl of bearnaise and a raw steak (which you cook yourself at the table) and a side salad for garnish.

The bill

An additional charge was added to the bill which was stated as a supplement charge for the weekend customers(which was noted when posting this review) The bill has the date on it 9th September 2025 which is a Tuesday so there should be no additional weekend charge.

One might brush a side 1 negative experience but with the below par food , extremely slow service and the overcharge on the bill we can only recommend finding somewhere...

We chose this restaurant based on good reviews and a busy crowd, but it was a terrible mistake. This was one of the worst dining experiences we’ve had in France. For a cook-at-the-table meal, the expectation is clear: raw food should be presented separately, with utensils to handle it safely until cooked. Instead, we were served raw meat—including chicken—on the same plate as cooked potatoes and salad. There was no separate plate for cooked food and no utensils for handling the raw meat, leaving us to either risk food poisoning or leave hungry.

When we raised the issue, the response was essentially that raw chicken is “clean” here, so it’s fine. I don’t think that’s how food safety works, and judging by the swarm of flies around us, I’d doubt this place’s idea of “clean.” Despite voicing our concerns, nothing was done to address them, and we still had to pay for the experience.

Sitting there with our salad soaking in raw chicken juices, swarmed by little flies, was revolting. We couldn’t wait to leave. The beer was the only redeeming factor here, so maybe it’s okay for a quick drink—but avoid the food at all costs unless you want to gamble with your health and risk ruining a...

We chose this restaurant based on positive reviews and hotel recommendations —but it turned out to be a huge mistake. This was easily one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in France.

For a cook-at-the-table meal, basic food safety should be a given. Instead, raw meat—including chicken—was served on the same plate as cooked potatoes and salad, with no separate utensils for handling it. This posed a clear risk of cross-contamination. Additionally, there were no separate plates for cooked food, forcing us to either eat off a contaminated plate or risk food poisoning.

The restaurant also lacked proper ventilation. With multiple tables cooking at once, the dining area became unbearably smoky, leaving our clothes reeking of cooked meat and smoke.

Overall, this was an overpriced and poorly executed meal. If you’re looking for a safe, enjoyable dining experience, I’d strongly recommend avoiding this tourist trap.

The only saving grace for this place was tania the waitress...