Le Vacherin

An enjoyable lunch and starters where hot and delicious. The main course dishes could have been warmer when served. This said the food was good and well presented. The experience overall was good but the value for money proposition use to be much better.

Restaurant staff were very caring and attentive.

A wonderful local restaurant with an incredibly inventive menu and very friendly knowledgeable staff

The service is always impeccable, the food of great quality and yet reasonably priced.  You have the feel of a high class eaterie combined with a homeliness that makes your dining experience both comfortable and luxurious at the same time.

My wife and I booked a small lunch party for family and friends following our wedding on Saturday. The food and atmosphere were excellent, and so was the service. We were made to feel comfortable from the moment  we showed up to the door (slightly early), we had a great time, and will be coming back soon.

thank you once again for a great afternoon.

I get the impression that this place used to be good a few years ago but I cannot stress enough how wide a berth you should give it now. The food is average but the nail in the coffin is the service from the managerial team... they are rude, arrogant and generally rather unpleasant. 

I get the impression that this place used to be good a few years ago but I cannot stress enough how wide a berth you should give it now. The food is average but the nail in the coffin is the service from the managerial team... they are rude, arrogant and generally rather unpleasant. 

Went for my birthday meal with my parents and boyfriend. We have never witnessed service like we witnessed at this restaurant. My mums main course arrived which was the lamb and there was a hair wrapped in the broccoli, my mum indicated to the waitress that there was a hair on her plate she said we could get a new dish. Then came back from dropping the dish off in the kitchen to ask my mum if it was her hair, we asked for the manager who then went on to say that their are no women in the kitchen and none which have black hair (two waitresses had black/dark brown hair) The service there after was rude and alluded to the fact we were trying to get a free meal. The manager deducted the service charge and my mums main dish of the bill but it completely ruined the occasion and did not receive a single apology from management, never have I witnessed service like this before let alone in a supposedly award winning restaurant.

The food was lovely before this incident and our waitress was lovely, the manager however was rude, unprofessional and disgusting in his manner and customer service or lack there of. Do not dine here unless you enjoy disrespectful, unapologetic and rude management staff. Some training on the customer is always right maybe required

visited with my partner for his birthday and we both left the restaurant feeling unsettled. What was meant to be the cherry on top of the icing to a lovely day, turned out to be extremely anticlimactic. We would’ve laughed it off if the disillusionment came solely from the food. But absolutely nothing ruins a fine evening like bad etiquette from a waitron.

What makes me really upset is that I can’t shake the feeling that we were subjected to subpar service because I purchased a groupon deal for this event. I wasn’t going to bring it up as I didn’t want to end a lovely date on a low note. It was my partner (who never complains) that commented on how he though the waitress was being rude to us because of the discount.

The brunette waitress who cleared our entrées didn’t ask us once how we found our food. Considering I left about a third of the scallop tartare, an attentive waiter would’ve asked wether there’s a reason for that. It is a well thought out dish with contrasting flavours but the scallops were ultimately not fresh enough and not the standard that one would hope for a Michelin guide restaurant. The usual freshness of the ocean and sweetness of raw scallop was replaced with a faint fishiness that comes distinctively from seafood that is not fresh. I would expect the produce in a restaurant to be as good if not better than the quality that I source from the markets. It is 4am and my stomach is still bubbling.

Nothing really stood out for him from the set menu so he decided to have a look at the a la carte desserts for a better option and found a lemon soufflé. He asked for attention and was met by a patronising voice shouting “wait a second, I’m still putting your order in”. The friendlier waitress came to us as it was apparent that we wanted to change something from the order we’ve made a second ago. There was a price difference in the desserts and it goes without saying that we are willing to pay extra or whatever requested. When she informed her colleague about the swap she began to shout really loudly that she could not do that because we paid for a groupon deal and the soufflé was much more expensive. We heard the whole conversation even though they were a whole corridor down because of how hysterical she was being. We began to get more and more uncomfortable.

She then told us that the menu was “specifically put together for the groupon discount” and nothing could be changed because it would be more expensive. As far as I know the prix fixe menu exists for £33p/p anyway and it’s not some special groupon menu. The deal simply adds a discount and offers a bubbly + hot drink (which we didn’t get). She said we could have the soufflé “only at full price” and I explained that I was happy to pay more for the swap only to hear her repeat about the groupon deal. Considering I’m not asking for free cake, it would’ve been nice of her to ask the manger to accommodate a small birthday request. I don’t mind paying “full price” as she kept saying. The conversation ended with “can I cross out the soufflé then?”.

While waiting for the cake, I asked the other lady for the evening menu and the brunette caused a scene and said we ordered from the groupon menu and we could only order from that list. She thought we wanted to change something again but I simply wanted to check out their evening menu. By this point we were both really angry and upset.

To make matters worse they gave the birthday cake to the wrong person (I made a note and called the restaurant beforehand). The mille feuille we both ordered was disgusting and worse than pub food quality. What was supposed to be a beautifully buttery pastry was replaced with a stale and vegetable oil tasting cracker. I haven’t complained once about the food until this point but really had to ask the waitress how the pastry was made. To my disgust but not surprise she told me that the chefs couldn’t tell us as the sheets were store brought. I left more than half of the cake, no one commented and just took the plate away. I’ve never left a restaurant feeling so cheated and sad.

The service was slow and so inattentive. The food was mediocre and inedible. They served us rock stake bread. Our starter after an hour and main course which was inedible. The manager wasn't interested and when informed about our complaints, he did not acknowledge us, let alone apologising. Very disappointing experience 

We were both very impressed with Le Vacherin - the food was absolutely nop notch and the service was very professional, if slightly more formal than I prefer, but that wasn't a problem.

Actually the prices were the biggest surprise for me, giving the quality of the food and wine - I thought the bill at the end was extremely reasonable.

Sadly, this restaurant is a little out of our way for frequent visits, but we will definitely go when we are in the area.