Les Caves Du Boulingrin - Reims

Exploring Reims on a Sunday. Stopped in to have champagne and escargot at about 1700 hrs. We didn't even get in the door and the man in charge rushed us to keep us from coming in. In the little French I know, I interpreted his comment to say they were closing. We accepted this as it was close to 1700 hrs/5pm. We went across the street to The Market Brewhouse and were delightfully served our drinks. We watched as the same man at Les Caves served a French couple. We also saw him refuse an Indian/Pakistan couple. We can only assume that we were refused because we are not French or the desired clientele.

I went to Le Caves with my wife while we were waiting for a visit to Mumm. It was about lunch time and we decided to eat something before going to the Champagne tasting. We had some “tapas”, like cheese and charcuterie with a bottle of champagne. The restaurant is conveniently located downtown Reims and the price was ok. For us was a good deal, many of the restaurants around were closed, it was a Sunday.

Very nice place. We did not explore the premises outside of where we were sitting in the main room. It was raining, so no one was using the outdoor seating space. The service was friendly and courteous. The food was very good. We started with a bottle of Gewurztraminer, we remember it from being in Alsace last year, even if we can’t pronounce it. It is a very sweet wine, so if you prefer dry, it is not for you. The dinner rolls they served were excellent. For an appetizer we ordered foie gras and tuna tartar. The foie gras was served, unusually, in a small glass cup covered with jam. It was good, but not out of ordinary. Tuna tartar was mixed with tomatoes and greens and was beautifully presented on a plate with limes and tomatoes and a bit of pesto sauce. It had very good texture and flavor. For the main course, Marinated Scampis turned out to be shrimp, served on a bed of linguine and Top Sirloin Steak, perfectly medium rare and served with potato au gratin, excellently prepared, very tasty. For desert we both got the specialty of the region – Pink Biscuit and ice cream souffle. It was all right, the biscuit a bit dry and souffle reminded me of mochi ice cream. Overall, very good meal, 70 euro, no cover charge.

Recommended by our hotel and on first impressions looked like a good recommendation . The choice of food was good and I chose the langoustines for starter which was delicious. My partner had the salad Lyonnaise which was ok as well. For the mains I had the Sole Meunière and my partner had a baked sirloin steak. My sole was forgettable and my partner mentioned his steak was nothing special. The service though was terrible. The waiter was rude and abrupt. We felt humiliated in one occasion in front of other diners when he mocked our pronunciation of one of the dishes. he just opened the wine and left by the table without offering us to taste. He wasn't attentive he disappeared and left us waiting for the bill. All in all pretty bad experience. We will never return!!

A group of friends went for dinner and had an excellent time, service was very good and the food excellent. Spent all evening and were the last too leave, nothing was too much trouble. We had one vegetarian and one gluten free person in the group and their meals were catered for, but we had booked in advance notifying them of this.