James G.
Yelp
During a two-night visit to Amboise, we were advised to give this restaurant a shot for our first dinner by someone who appeared to know what he was talking about (he owns the wonderful gourmet food and beverage shop down the road), so we booked ourselves in. The room is attractive, and the servers and hosts are all very friendly and welcoming, and speak English extremely well.
The menu is modest in size, but offers a nice selection of items, many of which appealed to us, so choosing was a challenge. In the end, we opted for an order of the foie gras with cherries and one of the smoked mackerel to start, followed by the lamb with polenta and the yellow croaker with spring vegetables as the main. While we waited (...and waited) for our starters to be served, we were given a little dish of thin bread slices and a tonka-bean-infused slice of salted butter, and a dish of radishes in poppy seeds, which helped us to while away the time before our meal began in earnest.
Eventually our starters arrived, and they were phenomenal. The foie gras also came with beautiful little cubes of what appeared to be a terrine wrapped in a cherry gel that was delicious. The mackerel was also delicious, beautifully arrayed on a slate plate with its sauces, greens and thinly sliced radishes. The main courses were just as beautifully presented, and just as delicious. The croaker came with a range of perfectly prepared baby spring vegetables, including some of the tastiest turnips I've ever had and a foamy sauce.
For dessert we had their lemon tart--which was their signature dish, we were told, and one that nearly every other table ordered--and a cheese plate. The sole disappointment of the entire evening was that our order of the lemon tart--alone out of all the orders we saw delivered all evening--was not served on a beautiful Pillivuyt "folded" plate, but on a plain-old flat plate. But it was still exemplary, and a fitting ending for the meal, as were the cheese platter, which was presented in a huge assortment of which I think I could have selected as many as I wanted, but I went for just three.
The meal was among the best we have had on this trip to France so far, but I wavered between awarding them four rather than five stars because the pacing was so slow. Even a swifter delivery of the radishes and bread would been a step in the right direction, but in the end I think the cuisine is the main factor to base stars on, so five it is.