L'assiette du marché

I’ve got mixed feelings about this – posh – restaurant. Lovely service and atmosphere, but the food is not that fantastic. The “formule hebdo” set menu is alright: 23 euros for a starter, a main dish (you can’t choose the side dish, though) and a dessert (which was delicious). The food is reasonably tasty, but for the price you can eat much better elsewhere in Lille. The rest of the menu is really expensive, and although I haven’t tried it (I ordered the set menu), it seems way too pricey for what you get. In a nutshell, I wasn’t disappointed, I had a good meal, but it wasn’t memorable enough for me to go back.

Je suis allée manger récemment dans ce restaurant, et j’en suis ressortie avec un avis mitigé. Le cadre est agréable (je n’ai pas du tout eu l’impression d’être à l’étroit contrairement à d’autres qypeurs, bien au contraire), le restaurant très bien situé, et le service est bon : attentif et malgré tout discret. Pour la cuisine, nous avons choisi la formule hebdo (entrée, plat et dessert pour 23 euros, avec le choix entre trois options à chaque fois), et pour ce prix-là nous avons bien mangé. Du canard croustillant sur un lit de lentilles en entrée, plutôt bon (surtout les lentilles, le canard n’était pas exceptionnel). En plat, du râble de lapin à la corse. La sauce était bonne mais le lapin un peu trop cuit, et nous n’avons pas pu choisir l’accompagnement (courgettes), alors qu’un autre serveur l’a proposé à des clients… En dessert une charlotte au poire et coulis de fruits rouges délicieuse. Au final pour ce prix-là la cuisine était raisonnablement bonne (même si on mange bien mieux ailleurs pour le même prix), mais hors du menu les prix me semblent très exagérés par rapport à la qualité de ce qu’on peut manger dans ce restaurant. Je ne suis pas déçue mais je n’y retournerai pas je pense.

I visited this restaurant a couple of nights ago whilst visiting friends. I can safely say that it is one of the best meals that i have had in France. All 3 of us found the food to be superb and cannot fault it in any way. The waitress was attentive and ensured that we had a truly wonderful meal.
Whilst the prior review spoke of poor service, we arrived at 1930 when the restaurant was very quiet so had no problems in this regard. The place is large so i can imagine that service does start to fade once it fills but, again, was not a problem for us.
At 22€ for a 3-course meal when using the set menu (17€ for two courses), this is certainly a meal that will not break the bank but will leave you suitably content that it is great value for money

Beware of the poor service in this restaurant. We visited as a party of six on a Saturday night. We arrived at 9:30pm and did not receive our main course until after 11:30pm. The waitress was stressed out and inattentive. It took 15 minutes to get an English menu. The proprietor refused to apologise for the poor service that we received and wouldn't give his name. We gave up and left before the desserts. My French friends were embarrassed at the behaviour of their compatriot. Lille deserves better !

Posh, expensive restaurant that had me frantically checking my wallet to check that I had enough money to handle the ‘reckoning’!

But the food was so so good, probably the best meal I had in Lille. I can’t remember the fancier names on the menu…but I had some kind of sausage/potatoe starter which was small but delicious and my main course of a steak ‘langue du chat’ (no cats were harmed in the making of this meal….but I suspect a cow was left less then happy!) with béarnaise sauce and chips. This was equally delicious as my starter and both left the kind of taste that stays with you until you next eat…in a good way…except possibly if you breathe on people. The wine was really good.

I think this is the kind of place more for a special occasion, if you are taking a client out for a meal maybe or you have a big date. I think this was the 2nd most expensive meal I have ever had to pay for…but it is worth treating yourself now and again. I noticed one of the French reviews seems to suggest that that place is not too dear, so I can only guess that either the reviewer is loaded or that I was just severely shafted (can I say that…it is a lot tamer than my initial thought) by the exchange rate.