Le Bouchon Bordelais

Disappointing food foie gras starter was one of the worse dish I have ever seen, overcooked and overpriced, bread at £2 surely frozen from delice de france was instead undercooked. Shame as the ambience is lovely but will not go back
Comment on this reader review

linda
5 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Monday, September 19, 2011

Oh what a shame.

Back in the day this was a lovely place. It's now horrendous... made unbearable by the tragically unpleasant management... Think "Basil Fawlty, the 'Allo, 'Allo years". I pity the poor waiting staff who must bear the brunt of their customers' disgruntlement.
Comment on this reader review

4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Sunday, September 18, 2011

Nice food but HORRENDOUS service!

I don’t normally write reviews but after such an awful experience I felt inclined to save others. We had a booking at 7pm and were made to wait for over 15mins for a table. Once seated the service was nothing short of terrible...our starter took over an hour to come out and I had to ask for water 3 times and only got it when I walked up to the bar and asked the bartender myself. After a long day at work my partner and I were starving so having to fill up on bread was a disappointment at such an expensive French restaurant. The main (when it finally arrived) was lovely, the seafood fresh and was a good size. We gave up asking for condiments when after the 2nd time we asked... it just never came. Such a shame as the atmosphere and food was great just let down by such poor wait staff. I know we were not the only ones disappointed when we spoke to the people sitting next to us.....If you want an enjoyable French dining experience dine elsewhere...we will not be returning.
Comment on this reader review

christain
4 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Thursday, September 08, 2011

Not the best of experiences.

Had to wait for our table then once sat I felt totally harangued by the pushy waitress. Steak wasn't cooked to order, the fries were too salty and my pavlova used shop bought merengue (dry dry dry!).

The bill was just dumped on our table when we didn't ask for it and we had been overcharged. When it was changed and eventually came back the service charge was still at the previous amount.

I won't be going back.
Comment on this reader review

Mark
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Friday, September 02, 2011

The +

- amazing service by most friendly staff. Very rare at that level

- wonderful atmosphere, nicely busy, linen table clothes and napkins much appreciated

- very good Gavi de Gavi white wine

The -

- No dish had taste/flavour at all.

Starter: foie gras poele - Consistence OK, portion too tiny, taste absolutely none

Main: whole lobster chosen from the Fruits de Mer selection, surprisingly comes with grated cheese on top ?!?!?! WTF....?!?!? and french fries. Shame as it removes all the taste from the lobster.

Dessert: home made mousse au chocolat. good consistence but absolutely no taste of chocolate. probably made with cadbury chocolate and therefore very sweet.

Bill = £130 for 2 with 1 shared starter 2 lobsters 1 dessert 1 bottle of wine. fair price IF ingredients were good quality.

Conclusion: the Chef should rethink the quality of his ingredients.

Will sadly not return as rest is enjoyable.
Comment on this reader review

7 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Saturday, August 06, 2011

6 of us went for dinner here on a Friday night not long ago and found the experience to be broadly in line with those below. Food - ok, atmosphere - pleasant, service - variable, value for money - just.

Between us we ordered four steaks and two had the Chateaubriand. I can't speak for the others, but I found my steak to be acceptable but no more. The pepper sauce tasted like it was straight from the packet, so I dodged the majority of it. The biggest disappointment was the Chateaubriand which was so modest that I am pretty sure I heard it apologise on arrival. At £25 per person for two cuts each, the shared portion of pomme frites & salad hardly made up for the conspicuous absence of meat on offer. My fellow diners did raise this, but were met with no more than the customary Gallic shrug.

The service we received was a little chaotic (our drinks order sent to another table etc) and the maître d’ spent most of his time drifting in and out when his floor staff could have used another pair of hands. That said, our waitress was friendly and obliging where possible.

I'm left feeling undecided about Le Bouchon. They seem to have delusions of grandeur that are unbecoming of what, in France, would be a ten a penny small town bistro. If they would bring the prices down 20% and up the portions and service by a corresponding amount my feeling is they would endear themselves to their customers far more.

I wouldn't rule out another visit, but I won't be rushing back.
Comment on this reader review

Bootsy - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Thursday, February 10, 2011

I went for dinner and ordered a steak with pepper sauce. The whole thing was unedible as the sauce tasted of cleaning product. I returned the dish to be told the kitchen made a mistake and put vinegar instead.

Also we agreed to pay for our starters but we had to wait 20min for the staff to bring the card machine. When we asked to remove the service charge they challenged why.
Comment on this reader review

2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Thursday, January 27, 2011

We went here for a friend's 30th birthday. It was absolutely awful. There was a large group of us, 13 people, and we had the set menu but it was a huge rip-off. I wouldn't mind spending £40 a head if we got really excellent food BUT the steak was so tough and fatty I wouldn't even want to pay £4 for it! Unfortunately I didn't complain since I didn't want to upset the birthday party but do yourself a favour and avoid this place.
Comment on this reader review

4 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Six of us went there for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. They accept Tastecard which gives 50% off the food bill. When the bill arrived, my friend said he would pay for all of us and presented his card. When the revised bill came back the service was still a total of the whole amount, around £32. He said to the waiter to take the service charge off and we would pay cash instead. The other five of us all put money into a basket on the table but the waiter came over all aggressive and wanted to know what was wrong with the service. My friend said that £32 was too much of a tip for bringing food to a table. The waiter went crazy and said he was working for £2.50 per hour and this was his wages.Then the manager came over and wanted to know what was the matter with the service too. I was in the loo at this time and when I came back upstairs everyone was getting ready to leave. I said goodbye to the waiter and thanked him for a lovely evening. He said he had spoken to his manager and we were never to come back here again. Then my wife explained to me what had happened. I was very upset being barred by a waiter because the tip was not good enough. I have been going there for years so I was very disappointed not to be going back again but at the same time there are plenty of other restaurants around who, in times like this, will be glad of your custom. Oh and there was £27 in the basket so my wife lifted it and took it with us leaving the cheeky sod with nothing.
View/Add comments (1)

J. Fletcher
6 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Monday, October 11, 2010

Sitting in Le Bouchon as I write and my oh my ...what can I say after such a disastrous dinner. I would not recommend the crab bloody Mary which was at least three if not four days old! When my partner who is a head chef complained that it was not fresh we were told by the maitre D that we did not know what we were talking about and he started have a go at us. Next came the mains....well after a 35 minutes wait! Despite asking them three times if the food was on the way and were reassured it was 2 min away. Fries were totally undercooked, salad was not dressed and beef for the tartar was not fresh! Needless to say we did not order dessert! The only redeeming factor was one of the lovely waiters, Vincent, who did everything he could to ensure we had a lovely evening.
Comment on this reader review

Catherine
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Friday, July 09, 2010