La Jouvence - SaintGengouxLeNational

During our visit to Saint-Gengoux-le-national, we lunched on the terrace of this restaurant. We chose the menu of the day we didn't know the price. After delicious rillettes, a teaspoon of tomato served with semoulum, cheese, dessert and wine included, we were chopped to pay only 32€ with coffee. good reception and friendly service.

We visited this place 4 or 5 years ago and it remains outstanding as the best value lunch (it wasn't open in the evening during our stay in St Gengoux) we have ever encountered in France. On a sunny day we ate at a table...outside the restaurant. Don't expect a lot of privacy as tables are set close together, but the busy atmosphere from dining locals adds to the appeal for us. We had a choice of 2 starters, 2 main courses and several desserts. Food is plain but wholesome, tasty and adequate in quantity. For example, a starter of pate and salad, and main course of veal and gratin dauphinoise. Service is brisk and better if you do speak a bit of French. But the most amazing thing is the price starter, unlimited bread, main course, cheese and dessert, coffee and a quarter litre of perfectly adequate wine each for 12.5 Euros!! I didn't believe such value still existed. Highly recommended as an authentic French experience.

We went out of season, picking the restaurant because of the menus outside. We booked no need, there was only one other table in use. We arrived, ordered our apperitifs, and then were presented with a chalked menu, a la carte. I asked for...the menu as outside Only lunch time . Rubbish. There was indeed a set lunchtime menu outside but the other menu was separate and contained items that would be more appropriate to evening dining. The a la carte menu worked out to be two thirds more expensive for a pretty unimaginative menu. We would not have eaten here if this had been made clear at the outset. So already hacked off, I tried to order wine to go with the meal. I wanted to order the house red. Ok it was a cotes du rhone and we were in Burgundy but we had been to the cave that day and tried and bought several cases of local wine so I did know what I was doing. The lady in charge would not allow me to order the house red but kept saying that local wine was only a euro more so I must buy that. In fact I would have had a litre of house wine as opposed to a bottle and it would have been less. That wasn 't however the driving factor, but the fact that I wanted a heavier wine. If they want me to drink local wine, so insistently, then why not have it as a house wine? The food was adequate, not worth the money, and the irritations made it certain that I won 't eat here again.

Bof....Sans plus Service très bien, aimable mais le menu du jour sent le tout fait...Une déco vieillissante, à voir pour les menus traditionnelles.

Ne me fiant absolument pas à l'avis Suisse, agressif, déplacé et vulgaire, qui à mon avis, inverse les rôles et ne connait pas le mot "empathie" (je me demande s'il parle de la Jouvence !), j'y ai emmené mon petit groupe de 6 personnes, en randonnée roller itinérante. L’accueil fut largement appréciable, toujours une solution pour des situations qui sortent du périmètre de la restauration (un doliprane, recherche des horaires de bus, conciergerie pour nos sacs, etc ...).la patronne fait de son mieux pour maintenir une attention particulière à chacun de ses clients, et si une question arrive, elle prendra le temps de terminer avec le précédent, afin d’être à 100% pour chacun ! Je pense que c'est peut-être ce qui "défrise" certains ... ne pas être capable d'attendre son tour, toujours trop pressé, ne pas prendre en contre qu'il y a une planète qui tourne autour des "nombrilistes" !!! Bref, la cuisine était très bien sur l'ensemble du groupe.Concernant le service; ce sont des petits jeunes en formation. Tout le monde commence un jour ou l'autre quelque chose, il faut savoir être indulgent avec les erreurs de jeunesse ! Et ce ne sont certainement pas eux qu'il faut blâmer mais les formateurs ! Donc peut être mettre en place des briefings / débriefings pour entendre et partager des ressentis, des expériences, des savoir-faire, des obligations, des processus imposés, etc. Pour notre part, le groupe n'a pas remarqué de problématique.Coté emplacement, rien à dire, excellent !Coté budget, tout à fait correct.Voilà, je vous recommande ce restaurant ! merci pour votre accueil et vos aides, au plaisir !