Everything about our meal was excellent and exceptional. The food was delicious and the service was…read moregreat. We ordered prefix menu of one starter, one entree and one dessert for 42 Euros. The tartare, monkfish and duck filet were our favorite, the flavors were exceptional and the waiter suggested great wines to pair with each of our entree. The restaurant is located at the city center of Tours in a small alley, easy to find with Google map. The space is not very big but cozy and warm, the quality of the food is beyond what we paid for, highly recommended!

The restaurant was recommended to us by our AirBnb host after we asked them for some guidance after…read morebeing disappointed on our first night. Thankfully we were able to get a table without a reservation as it was indeed excellent. It was also obvious that it was a local favorite with several tables clearly occupied by couples on a date night. We decided to have 2 courses each and share a dessert. For starters we had the foie gras and a warm salad with quail. Followed by entrées of fish and pork loin. And a dessert that was essentially a very indulgent Brioche French toast. Everything was quite impressive but I do think the first course and dessert triumphed over the entrées. In any case I'd go back again if I were back in the area. The service was also on point and friendly.

Wonderful steak frites, excellent service, friendly atmosphere. The dessert selection is fantastic.read more

I'm sorry I don't get the other reviews. Only thing I can think is the chef changed…read more Positives: great location by the castle and semi attentive staff. Portions are big/fair. Based on prior reviews we had high hopes. There were 4 of us so we each tried something different. The 2 steaks/duck were super tough ( cooked med rare). We said something to the waiter and we asked if we wanted it to be cooked some more. No thx - additional cooking would make it even more leathery. Fries looked like they were cut in half, then in half, then again. Really why serve a bunch of broken potato pieces. The waiter praised the house wine, and pushed it hard but honestly it was not very good. Maybe "buvable'. A bit sour, no complexity. But heck it pairs with the steak. Sorry, but our worst meal yet in France. (Day 8) . Take your chance- hopefully your experience is better than ours. But don't say nobody forewarned you ...

Had the fixed price menu. Everything was really great. Really good flavors and super interesting…read more It was a pretty good price for everything. Service was really good. I would highly recommend. The only thing that we didn't love was the dessert. But admittedly we are hot fudge sundae type of people so that dessert was probably just too refined for our tastes.

We had a great experience here. Both the owner/chef Olivier and the other staff member were very…read morewarm, kind, and helpful. We learned that the name of the restaurant means "kitchen in the middle of the room," which is literally the case here. We were served some hard salami as a complimentary treat with our drinks. The menu is minimal with only 2 options for each course (starter, main course, dessert), but this is not surprising as it's a very small kitchen with one cook. We shared a starter of crispy phyllo filled with stewed pork, veal, chicken and onions and each ordered duck and turkey parmentier as our main course. The food was so cozy and comforting. It was definitely more rustic than some of the other dishes we had eaten on our trip, but we really enjoyed all the flavors and would definitely come back. Olivier in particular was delightful. Even though he was cooking all the food, he checked in on us multiple times and ensured we were enjoying ourselves. This is a small restaurant and reservations are definitely required.

I'm sure their food is very good. I accidentally- made the reservation at L'llot in Paris. We…read morewalked in and I felt attacked and embarrassed as they loudly and rudely said you cannot have a reservation we are full, look around. They asked abruptly to see my confirmation and as i fumbled with my phone as they were so forcibly rude. Such poor treatment for an honest mistake which could and should have been handled in a much more hospitable manner.

I don't revel in giving bad reviews. We dined at 5 restaurants in Amboise and L'Ecluse was by far…read moreour least favorite. It wasn't even close. I feel like I was really misled by all the positive reviews because I can't see how we dined at the same restaurant. First for some positives. The staff is very helpful and kind. They do a good job of explaining the dishes. The dishes were all beautiful and very creative. That said, I feel like for us the food was style above substance. Our favorite bite of food was an amuse bouche of fried Loire catfish. It was wonderful. I would have preferred a full portion of this as my entire meal in retrospect. Both of our starters were disappointing. My mom had sea bass carpaccio which was beautiful to look at but was missing both acid and salt and actually made her sick for several days after. I had "The Tomato" which was stuffed with basmati rice and Thai curry, basil pesto, and buffalo mozzarella. It was an odd combination of flavors, yet it had so little flavor. The rice was undercooked, and this dish too was missing both acid and salt. It really tasted very bland for something that was so pretty to look at. How disappointing. We both had the prawns with wok-fried noodles for our main courses. It was served on separate plates for the prawns and the noodles which seems so odd and didn't even make sense like they were two different dishes. The prawns were pretty decent. The noodles were not that good. They were undercooked and way oversauced and the sauce was pretty sweet. Both of our desserts were good overall. In the end, although I loved visiting Amboise and would 100% like to return, I will definitely be skipping L'Ecluse in the future. It did not live up to its reputation. Not at all.

Wonderful meal. Server helped us in English and the food was fabulous! Glad we were able to get in.read more

This is a beautiful, cozy place, especially the outside area. The food was good. We tried the veal…read moreand duck meat. Both dishes were delicious. They have good dessert options. The only problem with this restaurant is the parking- they have no parking.

Upon leaving our hotel, we turned the wrong way and boy, I'm glad we did. Stumbling onto this…read moreplace was an extremely happy and tasty accident. My salmon and feta appetizer was incredible - not flavors I'd ordinarily put together but the chef clearly knew what he was doing. My fish was stunning as was our dessert. The quality of the food for the value is possibly unparalleled between Vouvrey, Rochecarbon and Tours. Had we been in Rochecarbon one more day, I can say we would have visited again. Magnifique!

I inadvertently did the unthinkable. We arrived late into Vouvray and my gracious VRBO host…read moresuggested trying to get to one of the only 2 open restaurants in town before they closed at 10pm. She said not to go after 9 because they will not want to serve dinner within the last hour of being open. She also said that the French Italian restaurant across the street from Le Val Joli was very popular but that Le Val Joli is the best if I could get there in time. I made it to the restaurant by 8:45, leaving plenty of wiggle room before closing at 10. The woman who welcomed me had a puzzled expression when I asked for a table and said she would need to check with the chef. I asked her if they were still open and she said no, they were closing at 9. The restaurant still had a few tables full of people eating and she said they would still be there for awhile and that she could check to see if I could be served. I was mortified I had tried to walk in just a few minutes before they were set to close and apologized profusely, offering to come back again when there was more time. She was incredibly kind and said she would just check with the chef. The chef came out looking understandably exasperated with me but still kind. He pointed to a few things on the menu that would take less preparation time and said I could stay if I only ordered what could be prepared quickly. After driving for 5 hours, and as embarrassed as I was, I was desperate for real food. I accepted the chef's terms and ordered the foie gras, fish, and profiterole for dessert. I believe the chef is also the owner of the restaurant and while he was still clearly irritated with me, he was willing to feed me on his terms, and I was happy to be fed. The hostess may also have been an owner. She was incredibly kind and clearly wanting to make sure I was able to get food. The meal turned out to be the best meal I experienced on my trip across France. I was sad to speed-eat through this meal experience but I was determined not to be the last table at the restaurant to demonstrate to my gracious hosts that I understood I would be holding them up due to my untimely arrival. Even so, the meal was incredible. The buttery smooth foie gras melted beautifully with every bite. The fish was fresh, tender, and absolute perfection. By the time the profiterole came out, I was so satisfied by the rest of the food, I only took a bite, then ate the ice cream from the center and called it a good night. I'm certain they were unimpressed by my speedy eating skills, and I hope I didn't offend the chef who had prepared such an impeccable meal truly made to be enjoyed, not inhaled. My stomach was happy nonetheless, and the meal was one to be remembered. I just hope next time I make a stop in Vouvray, they don't remember me and I'll take the time to truly enjoy every bite of the amazing food they serve at Le Val Joli. If Vouvray is on your route through Loire Valley, or if you can make the detour, Le Val Joli is well worth the trip. Just make sure you arrive with ample time to enjoy every incredible bite! (deny knowing the woman with very rude timing who showed up on their doorstep in search of any food & was served the most memorable meal in all of Loire Valley)

Stopped here for their formula lunch while visiting wineries of the Loire. We had an excellent meal…read more& appreciated the service & atmosphere. The food and wine list were lovely.

We enjoyed eating at this family run business. Good food and amazing service. We enjoyed…read morerecommendations from owners. Must eat here

Stopped here for lunch and was impressed with the menu and the waitstaff. Great people watching…read moreviews as well!

This was BY FAR our absolute favorite meal in Amboise and perhaps even our entire trip to France…read more They have a 3-course and 5-course prix-fixe menu option; we selected the 3-course and were very satisfied by our choice. The menu was a mystery. We only needed to indicate if we wanted meat or fish for the main course. Note that each of the courses (even the meat and fish courses) are totally different between the 3 and 5-course menus so the 5-course menu had different fish and meat dishes (as well as the other courses) than what we were to receive. We began with tomato biscuits with cremeaux of zucchini, coriander, and lemon. They were delightful! Next, we received another amuse bouche, which was broccoli mousse with peach and celery (sounds a bit odd but it was delicious!). Our official first course of the three came next. This was maybe my favorite course--white beans with red pepper gelee, chorizo sauce, sweet pepper sauce, fried chorizo, and pickled mustard seeds. I was really impressed by the variety of flavors and textures and everything just went so well together. I love beans and this was such a gorgeous way to elevate them. This fish course for our menu was a Merlu fillet (a type of European hake) with different textures of tomato, served with basil sabayon. This was another home run. I loved the fish. It was cooked perfectly, and the tomato and basil flavors were subtle yet perfectly complemented the fish. Keep in mind our meal was in August 2025 so these ingredients were in season at the time. For dessert we had two different desserts between the two of us: lemon tart and "the prince with fig tree." Both were really beautifully presented and delicious. Service was also excellent. Every single member of staff who came to our table, from the server to all the food runners, asked us if we prefer English or French and then spoke to us in that language to explain the dishes. I really appreciated this and noticed they asked the same question to every single table. That to me really highlighted that they were intentional and placed importance on ensuring each customer had the best experience they could and fully understood what they were eating. I would absolutely recommend Les Arpents to anyone visiting Amboise, and I hope I have the opportunity to visit again someday. It was a really highlight of this trip.

Oh wow 5 course pre fix meal. Took 2 1/2 hours and of course two bottles of wine for our table of…read more6. The place is quite cute and not loud. We had ling cod, duck, excellent bread, cheese, desserts. One of the owners served us and told us he owns along with the chef. We all enjoyed the experience of not knowing what you would have.