L'Escargot - Cambrai

Just a few minutes off the beaten track sits a small building twinkling in warm yellow light, begging for a visit. Upon entering, this quaint little restaurant exudes romance and intimacy. This is not to suggest that L'Escargot is exclusively for romantics or couples, on the contrary. You'll find all types of gatherings in the dining area of L'Escargot, from family meals to couples sharing an intimate moment. The restaurant gives the impression of a place with a rich colorful history and provides the perfect setting for a real conversation. The staff are welcoming and friendly and quick to suggest items from the menu, which is a plus without the French language.Food: The food in the restaurant is delicious, there are strong points for each dish I tasted. However, some dishes are far superior to others and are notably on a much higher level.Both my cousin and I had the set menu and the real star of the show was the escargot. A restaurant that so boldly proclaims itself with the title of a dish needs to get it right and this restaurant does just that. The escargot was perfectly prepared, light and delicious. A perfect starter.I was informed that the main course I had was a traditional dish of Cambrai, it appeared to be a beef stew. It was delicious but I felt as though it would be best complimented by something other than french fries. It was a heavy dish that could have been best served with something lighter.For desert, I had the creme brulee, which I felt was the weakest dish of the three. However, that isn't to suggest it was bad. It just didn't live up the the expectations set by the first dish. Overall, the food quality was high and modestly priced for the setting. The wine menu had many options in a good range of prices, the staff are only happy to suggest a wine that is to your liking.Value: Overall, the value of the restaurant cannot be denied. Having eaten in other establishments in Cambrai this was definitely the most costly but also the best value. In the case of L'Escargot, you get what you pay for. For the small difference in price between this restaurant and others in the area, the quality of the service and food goes up considerably. I give L'Escargot 7.5/10

On a dismal, dark wintry Sunday evening in Cambrai, there is possibly only one place to go - and that is L'Escargot! Brightly lit, on a corner, it was empty on our arrival, but quickly filled with locals who clearly knew the restaurant. The owner/maitre'd was charming and spoke very good English. The wine list was good and very reasonable and the menu was enticing for this odd small town in northern France. The chef really knows his food and it was all delicious.Thank you to the two owners for this haven of bliss!

Cambrai, 3rd Jan, -4 degrees, sunny and windy, mainly empty and getting back to work - a warm welcome and decent food was needed fast.Thank you l'Escargot for that great welcome and total understanding about our dietary preferences.The baked Cabillaud (Cod) on veg and the simple but superb goats cheese salad ( chips) were just the ticket.Back we come - hopefully for some of those great beers and a bit more of your wine list! What a find!

All the thing was delicious and owner nice guy. Good french meal choices and seafoods. Atmosphere was also great.

This is a very tricky report to write, as I would need to rate food, service, price level and atmosphere separately, to do it justice.we visited as a family. Food was great and didnt take too long. We had lovely steaks an duck, a beautiful vegetable terrine and pommes gratinees. Our waiter, the proprietor, I believe, helped us translating the menu to english. He was humourous and jovial, despite of or because showing clear signs he'd had a little wine before work. After a while, he giggled and suggested my husband choose a chocolate dessert (my husband is british of african descent). Not nice! As we were leaving, he seemed to have had a little more to drink, and he started asking my husband where he was from. My husband replied twice that he was british. The waiter giggled at this, and suggested Kamerun instead. For all of us, his behaviour nilled out the lovely food, decor and ambience of the restaurant. We have travelled a lot all over Europe with our children, but never experienced anything like this. It is just sad.