Enjoyed a superb meal at Bistrot Bruno Loubet last week. I am glad I only read the HD review and not the only other user review here or I might have given it a miss. That would have been a tragedy as it was one of the best meals I have had in years!

The room was busy and buzzing when we arrived and the lively atmosphere really boosted our sense of anticipation. With a table of four we were able to order a variety of dishes which was a relief as we were all struggling to choose. Our waiter was charming and friendly and helped us out with some personal recommendations, all of which completely hit the mark. All of the dishes were excellent but the Guinea fowl boudin blanc and the snails and meatballs were outstanding. For mains the boned and rolled rabbit was rich and delicious while the grilled, marinated quail was full of flavour but a little lighter. The grand finale came for the two of us that could squeeze in dessert (the portions are generous - be warned) as the thin apple tart was pudding heaven and my friend was equally blown away by the rhubarb mille-feuille.

I really cannot wait to go back to Bistrot Bruno Loubet - the food is superb , the portions are generous, the service is friendly and knowledgable and it is also really great value (esp the wine!). I real find.

An acceptably average evening was rendered almost unbearable by some of the worst service I’ve ever had the misfortune to be at the receiving of. The food was okay but did not marry up to the reviews that I had previously read which was disappointing as I had been very much looking forward to this experience. What a surprise I was in for. The snails and meatballs were too oily, however the hare was delicious. It’s a sorry state of affairs that the highlight of the meal was the dressing on the side salad. It’s the best I’ve had anywhere so well done for that. But back to the diabolical service. On food alone I would have rated this experience a 6.5 but being treated like an irritating small child, getting sneered at one minute and then ignored for an extended period of time the next my rating has plummeted to a measly 1. My friend arrived early and sat at the bar while she waited for me. Upon being sat down she was promptly forgotten for ten minutes when finally her arms waiving wildly in the air reminded the bar tender someone sitting at the bar normally wants to be served a drink. While the waiter showed us to our table he answered his mobile phone and then proceeded to gesticulate in general the direction of where we should sit. We got the gist of where we should go. Once seated I had the audacity to ask some questions about the menu; who would normally dare reveal such ignorance?! My questions were answered with an exasperated sigh, a roll of the eyeballs and my favourite response of all “well it says on there doesn’t it!” spoken whilst ripping the menu from my hands and waiving it away. The detail I wanted was in fact not supplied on the menu. When it came to pay the bill we may as well have been dead to him as our waiter proceeded to disappear to the far end of the restaurant again only to return to stop us from again having to waive our hands wildly in the air. This is something I would normally never do however given that every other wait staff also ignored us we were left with little choice, the only other option being to get up and leave without paying which I almost wish I had done.