Restaurant Djardin - Seafood & Mediteranian Cousine

If you like bad food and even worse service, you’ve found your spot!

Four of us ladies (American tourists) went for dinner last night a bit after sunset at 7:30. The lovely menu descriptions drew us in. After seating, our waiter, Manojlo, (already surly for some unknown reasons), asked for our drink order. We were told no tap water was available; we could only order by the bottle. Okay, beers it is. Also, no substitutions or additions were allowed, such as wanting to pay to add shrimp to a salad. We also requested bread which was delivered with dinner- two slices each of dry white and brown, two slices of which were small bread ends.

For dinner, we ordered two Jardin dinner salads and two main gnocchi with shrimp to split. I’m not sure which option was worse, so I’ll start with describing the salad. It looked and tasted like something you would take home from an event and eat two days later after finding it in the refrigerator. The lettuce was already wilted and the kitchen going heavy on the dressing did nothing to help or hide its condition. The cheese was the only topping not in short supply. The amount of avocado given in each salad was equivalent to the leftovers in the skin after a first pass scooping out each half for some other use.

The shrimp gnocchi was just sad. My friend jokingly counted out the total of 4 shrimp and 12 gnocchi to ensure an even split between us. I’ve made and had plenty of gnocchi in many restaurants and friends’ homes and I believe nonnas worldwide would be embarrassed by this “effort.” It tasted as if a 13 year old mad about being away from their screen and not wanting to learn technique alongside their grandma made them. The gnocchi were dense and gummy, with no ridges to help the sauce adhere, rather than light and delicate. The shrimp were rubbery and overcooked which was especially disappointing given the care in which other restaurants have treated and served their seafood.

Our waiter never returned after dropping off food- no checking on the food, offer of freshly grated cheese on the pasta, or asking if we wanted more drinks. What made this particularly egregious was seeing the attentiveness paid to the table of two behind us- immediate provision of a full basket of bread, giving of hand towelettes, multiple table checks. Every interaction Manojlo had with us seemed disdainful and like an undue burden put upon him.

The only silver linings of the meal were that we did not experience food poisoning (posting 16 hours later) and that we had plenty of room for dessert at a different spot. Recommend avoiding at all costs.

DO NOT let yourself be tricked by the great location or menu...

Where to start this review of one of the most unpleasant experiences that I had the displeasure of witnessing. Firstly, the food was mediocre at best, but what caught my eye were the differences between advertised portions and served portions. In the menu it says 1kg of octopus but the actual portion is 6 tentacles with the bunch of onion mush. Another example is 280 grams of bass fish and the actual portion was not bigger than the index and middle fingers put together. Steak was tough to the point at which you would need a sword to cut it. Shere hubris was the tomato salad, priced at 4€ but containing only half of a single tomato. Secondly, the serving experience was awful, never in my life have I seen the chef REFUSE to come and speak with the customers. His later excuse was "I have done nothing wrong" like that gave him the right to refuse addressing our complaints. Thirdly, after our back and forth with the waiter, chef decided to show up and explain the situation. One of the highlights of our discussion about portion sizes and to my shock was his admittance of weighing PRECOOKED fish. This was the first time I saw precooked meat being taken as and actual portion measurement, but the portions were still to small from advertised, chef then explained how it is not just the meat that is weighed but the side dish as well, which meant we got approximately 200 grams of octopus and 800 grams of onions and carrots! At this point I was prepared to hear that they weigh the plates as well. Lastly, the OWNER was ultimately involved and she tried to placate us with CAKE of all things. She told us that this day was conveniently the 14th anniversary of their establishment as that was somehow relevant to the discussion and she also elaborated how they had to cut the size of the portions but NOT CHANGING the menu's to appropriately show it, which could be ILLEGAL. Owners husband also showed up to tell us that their seaside fish restaurant is actually a FINE DINNER and that the portion sizes are just for show apparently. Icing on the cake was his attempt of insulting us with "People only measure portion sizes at basic taverns!" which only shows the size of his hubris and distaste. Avoid this restaurant...

I am extremely dissatisfied with the experience my group and I had at this restaurant. Two hours before our scheduled arrival, I called to pre-order our meal. The owner offered me two menu options and informed me that the table would be set up indoors. Assuming they were busy and that the outdoor terrace was occupied, I agreed to this arrangement.

However, when we arrived at the restaurant at the agreed time of 1:00 PM, the terrace was completely empty. I then asked if it would be possible for us to dine outside since the area was free, even if it meant splitting the group across multiple tables. At this point, the owner began yelling at me, accusing us of being too demanding and telling us we should be grateful she accepted our reservation at all. She also stated that she wasn’t there to fix the mistakes of tour guides and that we should have notified her the day before. Shocked by her behavior, I was left speechless and stepped out of the restaurant.

In the end, the group had lunch inside as originally planned. When I returned to pay the bill, instead of the waiter, the owner herself came to collect the payment. I told her that while the group was satisfied with the food and the service from the waitstaff, her own behavior was incredibly rude and unprofessional. I also mentioned that I would no longer bring any groups to her restaurant and would be leaving a negative review. This only led to another outburst—she refused to let me pay the bill, demanded to see my tour guide license (which I showed her), and even asked to take a photo of it (which I refused). She then stated that she would charge the bill directly to the agency and demanded that I leave the restaurant, all while threatening me.

This was an absolutely unacceptable experience, and I strongly advise anyone considering this place to think twice. The owner’s rude and aggressive behavior left a very bad impression on both myself and the group. I will certainly never return, and I deeply regret bringing my...