While staying at Le Grand Lodge, my fiancée and I were exploring the hotel and stumbled upon the menu cards for the restaurant and bistro both in the lobby of the hotel. The bistro is technically a part of the bar, not the restaurant--the restaurant serves a four course meal, or you can order a la carte. We waited to be seated to the restaurant (which was very empty at about 7:30pm during peak holiday season) the host was a little rude and impatient when asked if the bistro can be also served in the restaurant, because we were unsure of the workings and both menus were next to each other in the lobby. Agitated, the host did bring the bistro menu to us, along with attitude that the restaurant doesn't serve usually the bistro menu.
A side note, the restaurant and bistro/bar are all in one general area, separated by a wall. You can hear conversations and see other hotel stayers and their dogs easily through the fireplace. The bistro had very few but full tables, and the restaurant portion had very many but empty tables.
I ordered the french onion soup and my fiancée had the chicken club sandwich (from the bistro menu). The french onion soup was edible, once I got past the centimeter of melted mozzarella cheese that was on top. It was not extraordinary, and rather sweet. My fiancée said the chicken club sandwich was very good, the chicken was moist and tender. The fries that came with his sandwich were also hot and crispy. He wanted to order beer batter cod fillet sticks, but was told that they are no longer being served.
We also ordered drinks, the blue lagoon drink my fiancée ordered was warm, watered down, pulpy from the pineapple juice and very sour. I ordered a brise du grand lodge, it was very good, not too sweet and would recommend it if someone likes cranberry juice.
While we didn't order too much, and are usually very easy going, what knocked down the stars was the service. Perhaps because we are in our early 20s and often are not taken seriously as due to looking young. The host was rude, and the waitress was impatient and rushed--despite there being many, many empty tables. This restaurant has great potential and the wine list is extensive, but even if food is phenomenal, the way you are treated while dining says a lot about a restaurant. read more