Rabelais - Fontenay-le-Comte

We happened upon this restaurant as much by accident when driving around Fontenay le Comte. The food was excellent my wife had the hake (best she had ever eaten) and I had the vegetarian alternative. Food very reasonably priced given the quality Staff were very friendly

Yesterday was the first time we had booked a table at your Restaurant. My wife and I arrived at 12.15 and duly went through the covid check which was fine. We chose a table outside and in fact we were the only persons out there initially. We noticed just a few diners inside the Restaurant so it was not very busy at all. Bear in mind it was quite a warm day however we waited over 20 minutes before the waiter asked if we required a drink. My wife ordered sparkling wine and I ordered a large local beer. This arrived after five minutes or so. The beer glass was fifty percent beer and 50 per cent froth. In fact I poured all the beer into the wine glass just to show how little was in the beer glass. The starters were ok but nothing special. Incidentally we noticed other diners had bread rolls we needed to ask for ours. My wife's main course was Salmon with Risotto. The Salmon was under cooked on the inside and over cooked on the outside. The Risotto was bland to say the least. My main course being entrecote which was ok but the frites were disappointing, hard and not crispy. We declined the desert. Finally we had to wait in a small queue to pay our bill (certainly not value for over 80 euro) due to Guests either checking in or out. All in all a disappointing visit hence the cancellation of visit number two which was intended for my wife's birthday.

We were staying overnight at the Hotel Le Rabelais SPA which we had selected on the basis of the Trip Advisor App. We were very disappointed with the main course dishes we chose, my wife chose a chicken ballotins which approximately half was grisly and undercooked and I chose veal kidneys which were badly prepared in that the white core had not been removed and was served with either a sauce made from potato flour or on a bed of what may have been instant mash. The starters and dessert/cheese board were fine. It was not a restaurant which we would recommend although the hotel was better than anticipated. Service was acceptable.

I have a general rule, not eating dinner in hotels. I have to correct that in this case. I had a vegetarian dahl and rice, all local and organic. my wife ate the hot meal. eat, especially my wife was very good. will return!

We were randomly on this restaurant when we drove around fontenay le comte. the eating was excellent my wife had the hagel (best they had ever eaten) and I had the vegetarian alternative. foods that are very favorable due to the quality personal was very friendly