Located in a peaceful and somewhat romantic French village, Café des Arts is a great place to stop at after checking out the magnificent cathedral and strolling through the quiet streets of Chartres. It's away from Paris, but there are still many tourists here to see the cathedral, so it doesn't quite have that small town feel. This restaurant in particular is a decent place, and I can tell that the locals frequent it as well as the tourists.
I ordered a salmon with rice dish here. The salmon was just a chunk-not very big and with the skin still on it. The rice had kind of a buttery texture to it; maybe it was from the garlic that appeared to be strewn about the dish. Or at least I imagine it's garlic. In a small bowl in the middle was sauce for the whole thing, and to the side were two lemon slices presumably for squeezing but I suppose they could also serve as garnish. That's quite a mouthful. All this food was quite good. It's better than what I'm used to eating; that's for sure. I was still pretty hungry after eating it, though. It didn't feel like a complete meal at all, even though it looked like one on first glance.
Since I didn't want to leave the restaurant until I was full, I also ordered a crème brûlée here for dessert. It's just normal crème brûlée, except it comes in a fairly sizable platter. Where I'm from, crème brûlée comes in small cups that you collect en masse at buffets, but this here was a much larger serving of the same dessert that basically tasted the same. There's the hard and sweet outer "shell" on top that you break with the spoon, and then the soft flan-ish substance beneath that. It's all good and fine, but sort of lacking in originality and only has quantity to make up for that.
The two items I described above cost about ten euros each. I was still hungry after eating twenty euros of food, but I didn't want to spend any more money and I was already in a rush to leave for the train station. It was really hard to get the waiter's attention here so I could pay and go. I could have just left the cash on the table and walked away, but I also needed to pick up my change. I had to threaten to walk away before they stopped me and let me pay. It was quite a letdown. I wish they had been a little quicker in letting me cover the bill. The place was just okay; it had its ups and downs like any other restaurant. The food could be a little cheaper and more filling, and the staff could let me pay without me having to get up. Other than that, this place is decent. read more