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Recommended Reviews - Les Arpents
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During a two-night visit to Amboise, we were advised to give this restaurant a shot for our first dinner by someone who appeared to know what he was talking about (he owns the wonderful gourmet food and beverage shop down the road), so we booked ourselves in. The room is attractive, and the servers and hosts are all very friendly and welcoming, and speak English extremely well. The menu is modest in size, but offers a nice selection of items, many of which appealed to us, so choosing was a challenge. In the end, we opted for an order of the foie gras with cherries and one of the smoked mackerel to start, followed by the lamb with polenta and the yellow croaker with spring vegetables as the main. While we waited (...and waited) for our starters to be served, we were given a little dish of thin bread slices and a tonka-bean-infused slice of salted butter, and a dish of radishes in poppy seeds, which helped us to while away the time before our meal began in earnest. Eventually our starters arrived, and they were phenomenal. The foie gras also came with beautiful little cubes of what appeared to be a terrine wrapped in a cherry gel that was delicious. The mackerel was also delicious, beautifully arrayed on a slate plate with its sauces, greens and thinly sliced radishes. The main courses were just as beautifully presented, and just as delicious. The croaker came with a range of perfectly prepared baby spring vegetables, including some of the tastiest turnips I've ever had and a foamy sauce. For dessert we had their lemon tart--which was their signature dish, we were told, and one that nearly every other table ordered--and a cheese plate. The sole disappointment of the entire evening was that our order of the lemon tart--alone out of all the orders we saw delivered all evening--was not served on a beautiful Pillivuyt "folded" plate, but on a plain-old flat plate. But it was still exemplary, and a fitting ending for the meal, as were the cheese platter, which was presented in a huge assortment of which I think I could have selected as many as I wanted, but I went for just three. The meal was among the best we have had on this trip to France so far, but I wavered between awarding them four rather than five stars because the pacing was so slow. Even a swifter delivery of the radishes and bread would been a step in the right direction, but in the end I think the cuisine is the main factor to base stars on, so five it is.
We had a really nice meal here, though perhaps not a great one. There were elements of greatness, but also some misses. My wife and I had the prix fixe menu for 32 euros so had a starter, a main and a dessert. Before our starter they brought us this slices of bread with a bean puree instead of butter which was quite good. They also brought free radishes "planted" in a bowl of poppy seeds. It was beautiful, but didn't do much for the taste buds. Sorry of like gritty radishes. My wife had a cauliflower starter with grated beets and a sesame foam which she thought was excellent. I had the vegetable salad which was served with smoked herring and a herring oil emulsion. The lightly dressed vegetable salad was delicious, with delicate flavors. The herring was also delicious with a favor very reminiscent of the finest smoked salmon. The emulsion had a delicate ocean flavor and was a nice compliment to the herring. So the problem comes when the first bite of the salty herring completely overwhelmes the delicate salad. It seemed like two completely unrelated dishes served on the same platter. Each was delicious but together they felt disjointed. My wife had the confit lamb which came with a delicious stick of crispy polenta, slivered peppers, and a tasty sauce. This was a real standout dish! I had the duck breast. It was perfectly rendered with crispy outsides and a perfect pink center. It was served with spaghetti squash, summer squash, a nice sauce, and a little bit of perfect because sauce. Delicious, but not exciting. My wife had a chocolate and blackcurrent confection. One end was blackcurrent I've cream and the other was chocolate ganache, the whole thing studded with merangue dots and thin shards of chocolate like a delicious porcupine. I know it was great because she would only grant me the smallest taste! I had the cafe gourmond with was three small desserts served in shot glasses and a cup of espresso. One of the desserts was intensely chocolate with both frozen and creamy textures, another was a lemon cream, and the third was a peach soup flavored with verbena with chunks of fruit (possibly cherries), and a pistachio cream cap. All were delicious and each had interesting textural elements that made them fun in the mouth. Super friendly and helpful staff, nice wines by the bottle or the glass, and a pleasant atmosphere and decor. This a the work of a great chef, but at least for us, there were enough issues that I couldn't justify a perfect 5 stars. Still, it is a great restaurant well worth a stop.
6 months ago
This was BY FAR our absolute favorite meal in Amboise and perhaps even our entire trip to France. 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. read more
Oh wow 5 course pre fix meal. Took 2 1/2 hours and of course two bottles of wine for our table of 6. 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. read more
1 year ago
3 years ago
8 years ago
During a two-night visit to Amboise, we were advised to give this restaurant a shot for our first dinner by someone who appeared to know what he was talking about (he owns the wonderful gourmet food and beverage shop down the road), so we booked ourselves in. The room is attractive, and the servers and hosts are all very friendly and welcoming, and speak English extremely well. The menu is modest in size, but offers a nice selection of items, many of which appealed to us, so choosing was a challenge. In the end, we opted for an order of the foie gras with cherries and one of the smoked mackerel to start, followed by the lamb with polenta and the yellow croaker with spring vegetables as the main. While we waited (...and waited) for our starters to be served, we were given a little dish of thin bread slices and a tonka-bean-infused slice of salted butter, and a dish of radishes in poppy seeds, which helped us to while away the time before our meal began in earnest. Eventually our starters arrived, and they were phenomenal. The foie gras also came with beautiful little cubes of what appeared to be a terrine wrapped in a cherry gel that was delicious. The mackerel was also delicious, beautifully arrayed on a slate plate with its sauces, greens and thinly sliced radishes. The main courses were just as beautifully presented, and just as delicious. The croaker came with a range of perfectly prepared baby spring vegetables, including some of the tastiest turnips I've ever had and a foamy sauce. For dessert we had their lemon tart--which was their signature dish, we were told, and one that nearly every other table ordered--and a cheese plate. The sole disappointment of the entire evening was that our order of the lemon tart--alone out of all the orders we saw delivered all evening--was not served on a beautiful Pillivuyt "folded" plate, but on a plain-old flat plate. But it was still exemplary, and a fitting ending for the meal, as were the cheese platter, which was presented in a huge assortment of which I think I could have selected as many as I wanted, but I went for just three. The meal was among the best we have had on this trip to France so far, but I wavered between awarding them four rather than five stars because the pacing was so slow. Even a swifter delivery of the radishes and bread would been a step in the right direction, but in the end I think the cuisine is the main factor to base stars on, so five it is. read more
We had a really nice meal here, though perhaps not a great one. There were elements of greatness, but also some misses. My wife and I had the prix fixe menu for 32 euros so had a starter, a main and a dessert. Before our starter they brought us this slices of bread with a bean puree instead of butter which was quite good. They also brought free radishes "planted" in a bowl of poppy seeds. It was beautiful, but didn't do much for the taste buds. Sorry of like gritty radishes. My wife had a cauliflower starter with grated beets and a sesame foam which she thought was excellent. I had the vegetable salad which was served with smoked herring and a herring oil emulsion. The lightly dressed vegetable salad was delicious, with delicate flavors. The herring was also delicious with a favor very reminiscent of the finest smoked salmon. The emulsion had a delicate ocean flavor and was a nice compliment to the herring. So the problem comes when the first bite of the salty herring completely overwhelmes the delicate salad. It seemed like two completely unrelated dishes served on the same platter. Each was delicious but together they felt disjointed. My wife had the confit lamb which came with a delicious stick of crispy polenta, slivered peppers, and a tasty sauce. This was a real standout dish! I had the duck breast. It was perfectly rendered with crispy outsides and a perfect pink center. It was served with spaghetti squash, summer squash, a nice sauce, and a little bit of perfect because sauce. Delicious, but not exciting. My wife had a chocolate and blackcurrent confection. One end was blackcurrent I've cream and the other was chocolate ganache, the whole thing studded with merangue dots and thin shards of chocolate like a delicious porcupine. I know it was great because she would only grant me the smallest taste! I had the cafe gourmond with was three small desserts served in shot glasses and a cup of espresso. One of the desserts was intensely chocolate with both frozen and creamy textures, another was a lemon cream, and the third was a peach soup flavored with verbena with chunks of fruit (possibly cherries), and a pistachio cream cap. All were delicious and each had interesting textural elements that made them fun in the mouth. Super friendly and helpful staff, nice wines by the bottle or the glass, and a pleasant atmosphere and decor. This a the work of a great chef, but at least for us, there were enough issues that I couldn't justify a perfect 5 stars. Still, it is a great restaurant well worth a stop. read more
8 years ago
Recently opened. French cuisine with a modern twist. Interiors quite austere, but the food is the highlight. Service was friendly but slow, I guess this is due to it's being a new establishment. read more
7 years ago
A very nice place with creative dishes and helpful service. Trust the chef with your meal selection by ordering the gourmand menu - you won't be disappointed... only surprised! Beautiful presentation and a wide array of complementary flavors... exceptional!!! read more
7 years ago
