L'Essentiel

We had a wonderful lunch here and sat in the beautiful, peaceful courtyard. The staff were so friendly and helpful. Coming from the UK, the list of wines by the glass was excellent value and the staff advised us on the best pairings with our courses which was great. The food was delicious and inventive but still felt like a taste of Perigord. Everything was lovely but the desserts in particular were some of the best we’ve had! A very special meal, thank you.

My husband and I dined here for our wedding anniversary while on a visit to Perigueux. The staff could not have been kinder or more professional. We loved the garden area for dining. The hydrangeas were stunning. Our service was perfectly timed, and our host assisted with the wine choice. We wound up with a regional wine that was absolutely perfect with the courses. We were pleased with our meals, and the faite maison candied grapefruit brought as a treat on the “lagniappe ” dessert tray was divine. The sweet younger waiter ( there are two very good ones!) even popped out to say hello to us one day as we passed in front of the restaurant. All in all a lovely experience.

An excellent restaurant, we enjoyed it !

Delicious food and wine. Very froendly owners. Children also welcome, I never saw them eat their vegetables so fast.

Service was great. The setting was delightful. We were seated outside in a cute courtyard. Food was pretty good. We had the foie gras and special local mushroom dish for starters. Followed by veal sweet breads and lobster and finished with cheese and a caramelised pineapple desert. :-) I would highly recommend this Michelin starred restaurant if you’re in the area.

Lovely ambience on the patio. Extremely polite staff, yet relaxed. Well worth their 1 star. I went for the 2 course lunch (+ amuse) including wine and coffee and spent under 50e per person. Highly recommended!

For a Michelin starred restaurant, we were pleased with the food, however we were disappointed in the service provided. For a standard 3-course meal (entrée, main, dessert), we spent a total of 3 hours at the table, as the wait for each course was very long. At our arrival, we were greeted by a waitress and our order was taken by a second older waitress. Pleasantly surprised by their wine selection, we made a few pictures of the wine menu as a remembrance and to research the wines in our own time. This second waitress noticed and harshly asked us why we were taking a picture. Following our explanation and apology (her tone implied that was she not pleased by this), we offered to delete the photos off our phones. She then replied in a cold manner, saying there was no need, but that she prefers that customers ask first, before taking pictures. We understood her point, however her tone was extremely unpleasant and nobody had told us/it wasn't indicated anywhere that pictures of the menu were not allowed. This set an awkward tone for us as customers, as we hesitated to take photos of the nicely presented dishes throughout the night, for fear of being scowled at again. There were also a few details we noticed, such as the lack of table cloth, no individual plates for the bread (nowhere for each person to put their piece of bread, eventually needing to put it back onto the serving plate or on the table, which is a bit improper). Although the food was good, our experience (especially in regards to the customer service) was not very pleasant overall, we will not be dining there again.

After enjoying the sights and experiencing the charm of Perigueux, I had the pleasure to dine ar l'Essential on my final night there.. After having enjoyed superb cuisine in other restaurants in this delightful city, I did not expect that it would be possible that the quality and refinement I had previously experienced could be exceeded. But - l'Essential was indeed superior in every way - in terms of atmosphere, service as well as the delicious and imaginative cuisine which I enjoyed. Worthwhile going to Perigueux just to dine at this great restaurant. 10 out of 10 for everything!!