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.

Hidden away in a small hamlet about 15 minutes from Chinon makes for a wonderful break from the…read moretourist overload in Chinon proper. We had eaten in Chinon the previous night, and found that while the quality was comparable or perhaps slightly better, the price, quiet atmosphere and attentive service more than made up for the difference. The husband/wife team worked tirelessly to make our dinner pleasant, and although their English isn't as strong as one might get in a tourist hub - it was more than sufficient! We each had the prix fix menu for under 20 euros, including an appetizer, main, and dessert. With wine and coffee, we spent just less than 60 euros for two - highly competitive in Chinon, where similar prix-fix menus go for between 30 and 40 euros per person. The quality and taste if the food was without reproach, and presented fresh and simple French cuisine at its best. The fish/ratatouille main is a must-try, as is the prawn/fish roulade.

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 ...

This is a small, traditional French restaurant. The food is excellent. The kid's menu is a steal…read more The staff is very friendly and helpful. We don't speak French and they did not speak English, but they did a great job of accommodating us.

An 'almost gourmet' restaurant, but with good food, very nice ladies, and a cosy and comfortable…read moreplace. The deserts are pretty and tasteful. Accept a personal recommendation from me!

Choice of tasting menus in different price ranges from two courses to three courses. I picked the…read moretraditional gourmand choice with escargot appetizer, fish main course and a three cheese selection for dessert. Everything was delicious! We dined in the restaurant & since it turned out to be a beautiful warmish day, we requested to have coffee in their outdoor garden area. Tip, you can forgo dessert if you plan to get coffee, the serve mini portions of three kinds of sweets with the coffee! Just the perfect way to end a scrumptious meal! (At least for me . )

Truly the finest meal we had on our recent trip through the Loire. This is a lovely spot that is…read moreimpeccably run. From the opening amuse-bouche to the dessert was delicious. The service was unintrusive yet attentive. The food was uniformly fresh and the flavor pairings were exciting. The cocktails ran to the classics-- kir royale, Americano-- and were always en pointe. We were a party of three and all ordered from one of a few prix fixes menus on offer. The total can to about US$50 per person-- a perfectly reasonable sum for cocktails, wine and food, all on a very high level.

We were happy to find this place through Yelp, which isn't as often used in France as in the US…read more Our reservation was for noon, and we were one of only two tables there for lunch on a Wednesday. The staff is very friendly, and seemed to enjoy speaking a little English with us. I started with a goat cheese tarte, and had the pork as the main dish. My hubby had foie gras and the vegetable plate. For dessert, I ordered the baba au rhum and that's where it went a bit wrong. The server put the plate with the cake down and proceeded to pour bottled rum over it, telling me to tell him when to stop. Eeek. How do I know how much rum to soak into a cake like that? Well, it turned out to be way too much, the rum was so strong that I couldn't eat it. All in all, we enjoyed our meal, but it would have been better without the ruined rum cake.

Charming servers asked about my visit to Tours and general experience. Service was quick, I was the…read moreonly customer eating a late lunch. The duck was fantastic, with crispy skin, succulent meat, and perfect golden potatoes. Would recommend.

We didn't have reservations so we were super lucky. We were early so I believe that is the reason…read morewhy we were able to get a table. The restaurant is small and quaint. The waiter and host were very pleasant. We ordered some cocktails to start and then the experience started. They brought out a small tasting of appetizers which were so delicious. The bread and Black Sea salt butter was unbelievable. The presentation and service was amazing. Each course was an event. The escargot was in an edible chees shell. We had an amazing bottle of wine to enjoy with our entrees which again were so delicious. The prices were so reasonable for wine and food. We would highly recommend and will definitely go back.

After scrolling through various options for French food in Tours, we decided to eat at L'embellie…read morefor dinner and it was the best choice! We came to the restaurant right at opening at 7pm and was lucky to get a table outside with no reservation. My bf and I opted for the 3 course dinner. The meal started off with two free dishes, a pancake with goat cheese + chicken skewer, and a tomato soup. Both were delicious! For the appetizer I got the shrimp tarter and my bf the fried quail. The shrimp tarter was very refreshing. The fried quail taste like Japanese karage "fried chicken". Both starters were amazing! For the main course, I got the tuna filet and my bf the beef tarter with foie gras. My tuna filet was a bit dry and flavorless, I would not get again. My bf loved his entree! The beef tarter was very tender, and together with a bite of foie gras and flakey pastry, it was a taste of heaven! For dessert I got the whites chocolate and raspberry cake with raspberry sorbet, and my bf got the chocolate, praline and hazelnut mouse cake. Perfect dessert to finish off an amazing meal in Tours! Overall I highly recommend L'embellie and would definitely eat here again if I visit Tours again.

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