La Petite Auberge

Yummy food, dodgy service

Having read some reviews I thought I had to check this place out last night, so I dragged along a friend of mine to see what was on offer. I've always bypassed La Petit Auberge as its size somehow gave me the impression that it was more of a cafe, but in fact the menu is huge and the food definitely puts it in the French Restaurant category. I wasn't sure whether to go for the calamari in Pernod and Chilli or the Escargot, so - as I always do - I asked for the waitress's opinion, to which she replied that you had to eat bread with the snails and the Calamari was just fried calamari. Probably the most useless response I've had from someone when I've aksed that question and she seemed almost ****ed off that I'd made conversation. Anyway, I went for the calamari and it was absolutely gorgeous, highly recommended as a starter. My friend had chicken liver and bacon salad which he gave a hearty thumbs up to, too. Then I decided to be unadventurous and opted for the mussels which again were lovely, although the top ones were quite dry as all the sauce was unreachable at the bottom of the bowl. They should also think about giving you a bigger bowl for the shells, as it became quite a tense balancing act halfway through! My friend had steak with potatoes. Again, he approved. For dessert I ordered an amaretto cheesecake and was told after five minutes that they didn't have it and would I be okay with a mango one. I find this strange as normally I would expect them to at least come and offer me the menu again to choose, rather than providing me with one alternative. Anyway, I went for it and it wasn't great. I can make a better one. Dessert-wise I would pop into Fig and Olive and get something to take away instead, on my next visit to La Auberge. But despite a few things I would change in terms of service and attitude, there will still be a next time, as the savoury food was delicious, the range was great, and the setting is small but just right for a touch of French cuisine.

By Sophie_RT at 09:46 on 19/10/10