Cristal Hotel Restaurant

Le Gambetta

➤ 12 Rue Gambetta, 49400 Saumur, France, French Republic

Européen • Français • Restaurants • Gastronomie De Premier Choix

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"This is my third visit to Gambetta over many years. It has been consistently serving great experimental food , and with all great experimentation there are occasional things that do not work but that is acceptable. In general what works here is almost everything and there is a richness of variety and the experience is over all very enjoyable. I have always thought that thier tasting menu was what to go for because this is where you want to experience the wide repertoire. So the mise en bouche was remarkable with crab meat wrapped with smoked salmon and a delicious oyster amongst others. This was followed by a starter which was a modern take on Paella and this was very effective. John Dory based plate followed and then a sort of 'panache' of three different bits of lamb including some offal which is not to everyone's taste. The dessert was a mixture based on lemon and was excellent but what didn't work was the wasabi 'creme brule'. This was indeed an amazing gastronomic experience. I chose the wine pairings with the meal chosen by the restaurant. This cost and extra 43 Euro per person for 4 glasses of wine of 10 cls each. This was not good value. The wine with the starter was a rather indifferent wine from the south west of France which was a blend of Ugni Blanc. The wine with the John Dory was a good Graves. But the greatest disappointment was the red which was a Morgon 2010 followed by a pleasant sparkling Saumur with the dessert. So why was the wine so disappointing in a region that is so rich with all sort of wines a sthe Loire valley? Why was there no dessert wine from Vouvray or cotes de Layon with the dessert. I already had a pink sparkling Saumur as an apparetif and another sparkling one with the dessert simply was an anticlimax. As to the red wine, this was unpleasant. The reason for this I suspect is that the wine has been opened more than 24 hours before and then treated with a vacu-vin. This method leaves a wine that looses it flavour but maintains all the heaviness. There is a distinct character to such a wine. I commented on this to the waiter and did not drink the wine but there was no reaction from the waiter or the owners and no attempt to address this in any way. A similar experience had occurred to me previously in a previous visit in which I mentioned this to the waiter who told me there was nothing wrong with the wine and refused to replace it. So this experience would not put me off Gambetta because of the quality of the food. What it would do however is to avoid the wine pairings and choose from the extensive and great wine list with numerous half bottles. I would advise others to do the same."

La Bourse

➤ 1 Place de la Bilange, 49400, Saumur, France

Gril • Barres • Français • Européen

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"We went to 7 but it was closed. So we crossed the street. A very average lunch: Cesar salad with curry sauce so not Cesar). Tomato feta in November: we are the seasonal product! Roasted chicken without interest ... There is bcp better relation quality price in Saumur . Three lunches in this establishment several months apart and always the same observation ... Too bad given the location. Menu taken on the map because Caesar is not on the menu ....."

Keating Steak and Wine House

➤ 1 Place Saint Pierre, 49400, Saumur, France

Steak • Sushis • Français • Asiatique

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"I hate leaving crummy reviews as I love and try to celebrate good food wherever I go and it just feels mean and petty to then go online and vent. In addition to that, one crappy review can have the effect of really dropping a great restaurants aggregate review which again is a great shame and does a good restaurant a solid disservice. So without venting I'd like to recall a visit to Keating Steak and Wine House from last Summer.My wife and I had the rare opportunity to get out and get some valued time to ourselves as my Mum babysat our daughter whilst we were all holidaying in Saumur (which by the way is beautiful and this experience should not stop you visiting).We turned up (admittedly without a booking) for lunch on a beautiful Summers day at 12.40pm the restaurant was nearly full with only 2 or 3 of it's 20 or so outside tables (however completely empty inside that had another 20 or so tables) but we were turned away which was a shame as I'd done my research and my wife and I were both in the mood for a classic steak frites and this according to my research was the go to place. We were then told to return in 10 mins as they'd be able to seat us. So we decided we would.Upon returning the instructed 10 minutes later (now with 6 or so table available and still empty inside) we were met with almost indignation by the same waiter of turning up to lunch at 12.50pm but after some gentle persuasion we were eventually seated. We ordered swiftly and both chose the €19 menu as we'd already studied the options and knew exactly what we wanted. Our drinks arrived after 15 minutes and following another 5 minutes I called the waiter to check on our starters as we were starting to get hungry and how long can a beef carpaccio and some mushrooms take? We were borderline insulted just to the point of thinking "did that really happen?" and told they were on their way.It's at this point that things started to become weirdly comical as my wife went inside to use the loo only to be told that it was "out or order" the waiter offered no other advise but my wife eventually found an alternative (she's smart that way having always been the resourceful type). My wife returned which is more that I can say for the waiter who only reappeared 15 minutes later with a raft of very angry fellow diners who'd been waiting to pay their bills (the other waitress on duty was we understand not trusted with money so could not handle money). Despite negotiating with both members of staff neither of our starters materialised and our lunch ended with our waiter presenting us with a bill for the bottle of wine saying that it was not possible to serve us as the kitchen was closing. This was at about 1.40pm, an hour after originally asking for a table. Needless to say we did not pay for the wine and then had the virtually impossible task of finding another restaurant that would accept us for lunch at 1.45pm (remember this is France).So apologies for the crummy review, who knows we might have just got you on a bad day as the vast majority of everyones reviews are all glowing. But an apology instead of abuse and indifference in ocean going quantities to our experience would have been appreciated and might even have been accepted.Enjoy!"

Le Pot de Lapin

➤ 37 rue Rabelais, 49400, Saumur, France

Sushis • Poisson • Européen • Français

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"There was six of us for dinner - celebrating my wife's birthday. My wife and I had been here before and we were so impressed she wanted to come back here for her birthday dinner.We had lots of drinks - Cremant de Loire for an aperitif - excellent.... , a very good local white wine with starters a great local red for mains and a superb sweet with puddings. All the wines were excellent. We also had a couple of beers and ciders. All the drinks were very reasonably priced and excellent.The food was all very lovely and cooked perfectly, and all looked great and appetising. All food is on a daily blackboard - no set menus - everything fresh very day and a changing menu according to local product availability.The staff / owners were extremely friendly and made us very welcome. Food and drinks were explained when required. Service was excellent and unobtrusive. We were seated outside on a pleasant and warm evening.We will certainly return again next time we are in Saumur.Highly recommend."

Auberge reine de sicile

➤ 71 rue Waldeck Rousseau, 49400, Saumur, France

Kebab • Poisson • Européen • Français

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"Had dinner here on a Thursday evening. Welcome and service was very good but the dishes were even better. The amuse bouche of Lemon Mousse was intriguing but wonderful. Started off sweet but changed to unsweet - amazing. Both of us had the gazpacho starter which had a ball of sweet and chill pepper ice-cream in the middle - just marvellous. Mains were chateaubriand for me - perfectly cooked - and sandre (pike-perch) with mushroom risotto for my wife, which she says is one of the best fish dishes she's ever had. We both finished with cheese with a wide and varied selection offered.With kir royals and wine the bill was 100€ which we thought was very reasonable for the high quality of food and service. Highly recommended."