Having seen the rave reviews for Le Breard, which indeed drew us to the restaurant in the first place, I feel very reluctant to go against the trend and say we were very disappointed with our Breard experience but disappointed we were.
Yes, the service...was impeccable but very stern and aloof. (I assume that's their deliberate style, intent on remaining as inconspicuous as possible.) We prefer a more human touch. Our problem, not theirs.
The main problem was the food. We opted for the 'Sensation' menu: 4 courses for 58€ each. The first course was salmon, supposedly seared on the bbq. It was actually a slither of mostly raw salmon with a garnish of samphire. It was nearly completely tasteless. It would have benefitted from a drizzle of sauce but, quite honestly, eating raw fish wouldn't have been much easier even if it had tasted of something.
The main course was pieces of duck, served too bloody for our English liking. It was served with a teaspoonful of runny mashed potato and an overwhelming amount of sliced, cooked apple. The apple overpowered any taste the duck might otherwise have had. It was a real struggle to eat it. In our opinion, duck and apple just don't go!
The third course was 4 small pieces of cheese, all pretty mild and accompanied by, wait for it, a large pile of plain stewed apple and a smaller pile of tiny cubes of stewed apple mixed with whole grain mustard. We yearned for a picant chutney!
The fourth course for me was a very hot, runny mousse with a spoonful of cold chocolate sauce, referred to as ice cream. My companion had something with chocolate and coffee in it, which he enjoyed.
As for drinks: Upon arrival I asked for a glass of Prosecco, whereupon I was told (probably whilst holding back the disdain) they only served Champagne! I ordered a glass. It wasn't very bubbly so I assume the bottle had been open a while. My companion chose an aniseed-type drink. He then had 3 glasses of wine. Altogether the bill amounted to about 170€. A lot of money for a disappointing birthday surprise occasion.More