Restaurant at Hotel de France - Chinon

Following a disappointing encounter with At'Able the previous evening we were once again optimistic about enjoying some good French cuisine and arrived at this restaurant without a reservation. They seated us on a table immediately opposite the entrance as they were fully booked. This turned out to be problematic for the people carrying food and plates in and out of the restaurant so they showed us to a table in a room at the rear which was fine. When our meals arrived my food had clearly begun to cool down but was still warm, however, my husband’s meal was actually cold. I could see that the waitress was genuinely surprised and apologetic and she returned a few minutes later with the food piping hot (thank God for microwave ovens! . As for the food quality, it was ok and certainly nothing special. A second evening of disappointment in Chinon. We will be visiting the lovely Chinon again so hopefully third time lucky when we return!

The food and service were excellent, but you need to make sure to have reservations if you're more than a group of two since it's a fairly small establishment. I had the 35 euro menu, which started with a scallop dish, followed by filet mignon, then an assortment of their special desserts. The staff and hostess were very friendly and helped us with our choices.

We like the central spot the restaurant sits in but decided to try this restaurant rather than our favourite Les Cafe des Arts which stis next door. The service was friendly enough, but in comparison, the set menu was more limited and as a result our meal was more expensive. For us, it is the poorer of the two restaurants.

We had a nice meal but similar to many others. Menu has some large salads. Plat du jour was Reasonably priced. Advise reservations.

I always think food in France is over-rated, and this was no exception ! Mark you, I am probably a bit fussy.