Restaurant du Moulin, La Cezille
I had good memories of this place so I was looking forward to taking advantage of the tasty-sounding game menu. As expected, the food was nearly faultless, but the good work in the kitchen was sadly let down by the nasty trolls who were serving.
Everything was very slow - we had our main courses 1h45 minutes after we arrived - but did we complain? No. We were happily guzzling wine at not inconsiderable expense.
Our friend had ordered a birthday cake for her husband earlier in the week, originally for 10 people, later reduced to seven. It was delicious, so delicious it seems that they wanted it back, expressing shock and incredulity at our request for some foil to take the remaining cake home! What were they going to do with it? Serve it to other customers?
When the bill came there was a discrepancy of about 108 Francs, or so we thought... on closer inspection it turned out to be 8 Francs, to which they reminded us that they had kindly given us the rest of the cake for free. On our way out we overheard them saying that it was the last time they would serve "people like them". What that was supposed to mean I can't say, but if they mean foreigners they can forget about their business surviving in an area populated by so many.
The icing on the controversial cake was the birthday gift that we accidentally left behind. We called to tell them we were coming to pick it up a little too late - it had already been opened. Hags.
L'Armoire
The purpose of this page is really to change my mind, for better or worse. On this occasion, however, I merely wish to sing the praises of a restaurant I've already raved about.
I met some friends for lunch at l'Armoire just before Christmas. Two of our group went for a heaven scented truffle risotto, while the remaining three, including myself, all had burgers. It was out of this world - well, out of Geneva anyway - quite simply the best I've tasted in this town. Subtly seasoned, crumbly meat served with chunky paper-wrapped wedges - yum.
And, whereas the service was once slow and inattentive, on this occasion our waitress was smiley and enthusiastic. Maybe it's a lunchtime thing.
Bollywood
I had good memories of Bollywood on a balmy summer evening last year until we ate there again last week.
We were astonished when one of our party was told by the waiter to 'hurry up' with his order, despite us having waited patiently for half an hour. And the food that followed forty minutes later was barely adequate - dry samosas followed by even drier tandoori salmon - even by our drunken standards (we were by this point hammered, having consumed a bottle of wine while waiting).
To make matters worse on an extremely busy occasion, one of the other two servers apparently wasn't even allowed to take orders (Tourette's perhaps?) so it's hardly surprising that service was slow. Yet the management milks customers' appetites for al fresco summer dining by adding even more tables beyond their hedge border.
Bollywood's attractive location and exotic menu will no doubt keep on attracting tourists and passersby. Which is just as well because they must be running out of regulars.
Les 5 Portes
Restaurants Revisited was inspired by a return visit to Les 5 Portes, which is apparently no longer deserving of my positive review. In future I may also use this page to mention restaurants that have improved enough to merit a kinder critique.
The first worrying sign of decline was the person that took our reservation; he threatened to give our table away if we didn’t get there on time. Of course, when we arrived at 8.29 for an 8.30 booking, the restaurant was half empty.
When our food arrived, the staff had mistaken dourade for canard, but the mix-up was soon rectified and my fish duly appeared. Unfortunately, it was dry and overcooked, accompanied by risotto instead of gnocchi, ‘spring vegetables’ that turned out to be four measly beans, and ‘herbs’ that were nothing more than a sprig of parsley. It was only when I saw the same dish arrive at another table, generously stuffed with herby greenery, accompanied by plump vegetables and gnocchi, that I realised I had been duped.
I asked the surly server what had happened; he looked all nervous and dropped a glass. The friendlier waitress was a little more forthcoming, explaining that my dish had been for someone else but by the time they realised their mistake I had already started eating. So they thought they would just leave it and hope I didn’t notice.
Monsieur Gourmand wasn’t happy either. His Simmenthal steak was slathered with a completely unnecessary sauce that tasted a bit like Benylin. And ‘rare’ shouldn't mean ‘cold’.
It’s one thing to serve substandard food; it’s quite another to patronise your customers. Needless to say, this was the last time we will be patronising them.
I had good memories of this place so I was looking forward to taking advantage of the tasty-sounding game menu. As expected, the food was nearly faultless, but the good work in the kitchen was sadly let down by the nasty trolls who were serving.
Everything was very slow - we had our main courses 1h45 minutes after we arrived - but did we complain? No. We were happily guzzling wine at not inconsiderable expense.
Our friend had ordered a birthday cake for her husband earlier in the week, originally for 10 people, later reduced to seven. It was delicious, so delicious it seems that they wanted it back, expressing shock and incredulity at our request for some foil to take the remaining cake home! What were they going to do with it? Serve it to other customers?
When the bill came there was a discrepancy of about 108 Francs, or so we thought... on closer inspection it turned out to be 8 Francs, to which they reminded us that they had kindly given us the rest of the cake for free. On our way out we overheard them saying that it was the last time they would serve "people like them". What that was supposed to mean I can't say, but if they mean foreigners they can forget about their business surviving in an area populated by so many.
The icing on the controversial cake was the birthday gift that we accidentally left behind. We called to tell them we were coming to pick it up a little too late - it had already been opened. Hags.
L'Armoire
The purpose of this page is really to change my mind, for better or worse. On this occasion, however, I merely wish to sing the praises of a restaurant I've already raved about.
I met some friends for lunch at l'Armoire just before Christmas. Two of our group went for a heaven scented truffle risotto, while the remaining three, including myself, all had burgers. It was out of this world - well, out of Geneva anyway - quite simply the best I've tasted in this town. Subtly seasoned, crumbly meat served with chunky paper-wrapped wedges - yum.
And, whereas the service was once slow and inattentive, on this occasion our waitress was smiley and enthusiastic. Maybe it's a lunchtime thing.
Bollywood
I had good memories of Bollywood on a balmy summer evening last year until we ate there again last week.
We were astonished when one of our party was told by the waiter to 'hurry up' with his order, despite us having waited patiently for half an hour. And the food that followed forty minutes later was barely adequate - dry samosas followed by even drier tandoori salmon - even by our drunken standards (we were by this point hammered, having consumed a bottle of wine while waiting).
To make matters worse on an extremely busy occasion, one of the other two servers apparently wasn't even allowed to take orders (Tourette's perhaps?) so it's hardly surprising that service was slow. Yet the management milks customers' appetites for al fresco summer dining by adding even more tables beyond their hedge border.
Bollywood's attractive location and exotic menu will no doubt keep on attracting tourists and passersby. Which is just as well because they must be running out of regulars.
Les 5 Portes
Restaurants Revisited was inspired by a return visit to Les 5 Portes, which is apparently no longer deserving of my positive review. In future I may also use this page to mention restaurants that have improved enough to merit a kinder critique.
The first worrying sign of decline was the person that took our reservation; he threatened to give our table away if we didn’t get there on time. Of course, when we arrived at 8.29 for an 8.30 booking, the restaurant was half empty.
When our food arrived, the staff had mistaken dourade for canard, but the mix-up was soon rectified and my fish duly appeared. Unfortunately, it was dry and overcooked, accompanied by risotto instead of gnocchi, ‘spring vegetables’ that turned out to be four measly beans, and ‘herbs’ that were nothing more than a sprig of parsley. It was only when I saw the same dish arrive at another table, generously stuffed with herby greenery, accompanied by plump vegetables and gnocchi, that I realised I had been duped.
I asked the surly server what had happened; he looked all nervous and dropped a glass. The friendlier waitress was a little more forthcoming, explaining that my dish had been for someone else but by the time they realised their mistake I had already started eating. So they thought they would just leave it and hope I didn’t notice.
Monsieur Gourmand wasn’t happy either. His Simmenthal steak was slathered with a completely unnecessary sauce that tasted a bit like Benylin. And ‘rare’ shouldn't mean ‘cold’.
It’s one thing to serve substandard food; it’s quite another to patronise your customers. Needless to say, this was the last time we will be patronising them.
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