L'Oratorien - Saint-Maixent-l'École

We eat in this restaurant having stayed in the hotel. The food was disappointing and they were unable to provide any gluten free bread for my coeliac wife. Why is France so far behind when it comes to providing these things. It seems that the restaurant is stuck in the 1970's like the hotel. We arrived for dinner and were offered a table outside. I am not keen on sharing my food with flies and other insects so asked for a table in the restaurant. We were then informed that this wasn't possible so I asked for directions to another nearby restaurant. After further discussions we were told that we could eat inside after all. We both went for their set gourmet menu. The starter that I had was 3 types of melon and some Spanish ham, tasty enough but uninspiring for a so called high end restaurant. My wife reported that her salmon dish was good. We followed this with guinea fowl which had been prepared two ways but they weren't able to provide the peas it was to come with and offered beans which I declined so ended up with some soggy chips. The meat served off the bone was dry and overcooked though the leg meat was fine. I opted for the profiterole for pudding which I thought would come with choux pastry but it was a very sugary sweet sponge and the rest of the dish wasn't great. Despite the comments from others about the food we were very disappointed and felt that it was very poor value for money.. The wine was also overpriced.

Tonight we came full expectations to the restaurant. We drove for an hour and were completely excited to discover this restaurant of the Younan group. I am impressed by the professional approach towards projects of Mr Younan in MG- Petit Chêne and Domaine les Forges, but they should definitely upgrade the hospitality of their restaurants. Our reservation, although made and confirmed 2 times yesterday, did not came through. No attempt to accommodate us was taken. 7 tables were free and the terrace was completely free. A mistake is human but if you want to achieve high quality hospitality it 's all about how you deal with it. There are always possibilities to solve these matters. Even a table outside with a blanket would do. Offer us a glass of wine in the bar and let us wait for an hour. Its all fine. 'Our staff can only handle 15 couverts (although way more seats were there) 'We were send to some sort of snack bar.. Deeply disappointed we left..

La carte, très succincte, nous a permis de découvrir des plats étonnants, savoureux et à la présentation très artistique.La formule menu semble reprendre les plats de la carte.Le service est excellent et attentionné, comme à l'hôtel d'ailleurs.Le restaurant du Logis St-Martin est une très bonne adresse, de même que l'hôtel aux chambres pleine de charme et quelque peu désuètes.Le temps très instable de ce mois d'août ne nous a malheureusement pas incités à bien profiter de la jolie piscine.

Bons produits qui semblent frais, travaillés correctement, mais très cher pour ce que c'est (une entrée avec 3 œufs de caille sans originalité débordante, par exemple).Belle carte des vins; il manque cependant des vins proposés au verre... Le cadre est joli mais la salle de restaurant a une décoration vieillotte avec notamment de la moquette qui peut faire classe chez les seniors de plus de 80 ans mais qui est très peu hygiénique !

Saint-Maixent est ma ville. Mes racines. L'endroit où je reviens me ressourcer. A priori, je n'ai donc aucune raison d'y faire du tourisme, pourtant cette si belle façade, ces superbes critiques sur Internet m'ont convaincue de passer le portail pour un déjeuner gastronomique. Et je n'ai pas été déçue: le cadre à l'intérieur vaut celui de l'extérieur : poutres, cheminée ... Une atmosphère calme et raffinée, des serveurs aimables et souriants et qui connaissent leur métier. De bons conseils pour le vin par exemple. Une cuisine inventive : tomates-mozarella revisitées avec une explosion de saveurs en bouche, rouget cuit à la perfection et une gourmandise au chocolat à tomber. Des produits parfaits, le Chabichou par exemple ou le thon de la pré-entrée, la pâte de fruit à la mangue ... on n'en finirait pas de trouver de bonnes raisons d'y retourner très vite. Une en particulier : profiter du savoir-faire d'un grand chef, d'un service impeccable, d'un beau cadre sans le côté coincé, guindé, froid que l'on peut parfois trouver dans ce genre d'établissement.