Alcazar

A quality meal - but you could end up feeling ripped off.

The quality of the food was very good, although a main course of 2 small sea bass fillets with some fennel, meant opting for a potato side order.

Service? Having been shown to our table and settled in, we were promptly moved to a different table. Generally the service was good but during a busy period some of our white Sancerre was poured into an identical galss containing mineral water.

Watch out for the catch on the set menu pricing that will leave you feeling really ripped off. At the bottom of the set menu it appears to show the value of each course, leading you to believe that you can swop one course for something of the the equivalent value on the a la carte menu. NO!

You will be charged for the whole of the set menu, even though you won't get all 3 courses, plus the cost of the a la carte dish. This increases the cost of the set menu by some 25-50% depending on which course you decide to swop - this is significantly more than going down the a la carte route from the start. When questioned, the waiter confirmed that this was correct and, judging by his replies, we were not the first to query it - not at all the sort of sharp practice one would expect from a Conran restaurant.

Nige and Lynne, Devon, England 02/2008
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Nigel Inman
Sunday, February 24, 2008

I visited Alcazar in December 2007. We booked the restaurant before we travelled as we were going near to Christmas and thought that there would be a limited number of tables due to the Christmas office party season!

When we arrived at Alcazar we were about an hour early for our table, yet it was no problem at all. The Waiters took our coats and led us up to the bar where we were seated and served drinks of our choice. There was no pressure to take our table at the reservation time, and the staff couldn't have been kinder.

We finally went down to our table at around 8.30. I ordered Snails to start, which were exceptional, and my partner ordered the crab bisque - which was truely the most heavenly dish to have ever crossed my lips! To follow we both had the Steak with Peppercorn sauce, which was an absolute delight, melt in the mouth.

At the end of our meal, we realised that we had lost our map, so had no idea where our hotel was! We explained this to the waiter, who then googled the hotel name at reception and proceeded to order us a taxi, and very kindly wrote the address on a piece of paper for us to hand to the taxi driver!

All the staff were helpful and not too intrusive......

We had a wonderful time - and despite the vast number of restaurants we visited in Paris, nothing compared to the food in Alcazar. I will be going back the next time I am in Paris!
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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Excellent atmosphere that smacks of London or New York loft. All the more surprising since it is hidden behind two relatively unassuming glass doors. It is pretty expensive though and the meat dishes are very average. Go for fish. Service can be a bit in your face and it isn't the place for an intimate first date but good for a rowdy blow out. Bar upstairs, Mezzanine, very cool but avoid the house champagne, yuk.
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Ceri
Wednesday, March 15, 2006