eurorocket

Just a quick point on La Boule Rouge: Having eaten there on a couple of occasions I thought it would be an interesting experience to take my elderly mother. We sat down and the usual array of salads was put in front of us (this is something my wife deprecates, believing it to be wasteful. On this occasion she wasn't with us) and a bottle of wine was poured. Then we ordered a couscous and I made the point that we wanted to share the couscous (my mother does not eat a great quantity, especially carbs) and have additional protein (merguez) en plus. The waiter was incredibly rude and showed his displeasure at us ordering only one main course including by gesturing with his fingers about how little money he was making out of this and that somebody has to pay for the array of salads he produced, gratuit, at the beginning. Now I understand a bit about restaurant economics and I understand a bit about customer service and this guy's ungracious and obnoxious behaviour leads me to recommend to all my friends to avoid the place like the plague. A different sort of couscous place is L'orientale on Ave Trudaine. I recommend it heartily!

I have to tell you that having eaten without incident at Mollard for nearly a decade I would not be able to recommend it again after my last experience. Admittedly, we went early in the evening (to suit my elderly Mother), around 7.30, but the always variable service hit a new low. We more or less had to beg to order, the wine was forgotten, water had to be requested twice, even bread was not immediately forthcoming. Onto the food - a dismal grantinée that had been sitting and waiting far too long, the dried out end of the torchon of foie gras (returned in disgust, but with barely an acknowledgement, let alone an apology) followed by a hideously expensive chateaubriand comprehensively overcooked (ordered à point) with curdled béarnaise. I could go on. Actually, I couldn't because at that point we left the barely half-full restaurant and went elsewhere for a coffee. The sadness of the whole experience was that Mollard has been a fixture in our lives for many years. I have an apartment just 15 minutes away and this was a place my kids loved coming to all through their teens. No more, alas. Excuse the melodramatic tone. Anyway, wherever you go, I hope you have a great time. I hope you avoid Mollard. Final thought - even with years of experience of the place I was always disappointed that their wine list was so downright poor. I guess I no longer need to let it worry me...