"We lunched at Le Chidhouarn on 15 May. The large restaurant was empty on our arrival (12.00 noon) and we were shown to our table – in the corner, by the front window, with a lovely view down the valley – by the hostess, who subsequently took our order. As the restaurant specialises in fresh seafood, we selected from the 32 Euro menu, the Feuilleté de coquilles St Jacques au beurre Nantais as our entree and the Assiette Armor (Bar, saumon, rascasse and haddock fume in a bisque and beurre blanc sauce as our main course (we both chose the same dishes).The Feuilleté was delightful, the pastry clearly freshly made, and the coquilles similarly fresh. The Assiette was good, but being newcomers to French fish, it would have been nice to know which was the bar and the rascasse (the saumon and haddock were obvious). They were served with small spoonfuls of cooked vegetables.A small cheese plate followed with five segments of unidentified cheese. Our desserts of crème brulée and Sablé Breton au crémeux chocolat et glace chocolat were good, but not particularly special.Overall, the food was very fresh, tasty and represented good value for money.What disappointed us most about our lunch was the service, which we feel failed on a number of levels. Whilst our welcome was civil, it was not particularly warm. After taking our order, the hostess handed us over to a young woman, who was attentive in checking on our progress with our meals. That, however, was the limit of her interaction with us. She didn’t smile, provide any advice on what was being served, or question whether everything was to our satisfaction.Other little things included the lack of condiments on our table, and the carafe of water being served at room temperature, not chilled.Whilst these things were a little disappointing, the biggest failure of service came when another couple entered the restaurant after about one hour. The hostess placed them at the very next table – in a large, otherwise empty restaurant. We and the other couple ate our meals, forced to talk in whispers, as every word spoken was shared between the two tables. Had we been the couple entering the restaurant, we would have asked for a table further away, but we felt unable to ask the hostess to move the couple to a different table, for fear of offending them.Our thought in retrospect is that perhaps the owners have lost the passion for what they do – or perhaps simply they need to be customers in their own restaurant to experience the service from their clients’ perspectives."
