Le Champignon Sauvage

What a disappointment! I had been looking forward to dining here after cooking a few really nice dishes from David Everitt-Mathias' recipe book. Unfortunately, what I'd managed to create in my own kitchen was far better than the food I had this evening!

I can only surmise that the chef managed to get a special deal on a truck load of pigs and that accounted for the amount of pork that featured in the menu. To start, 3 canapés, two of which were bacon/ ham based. Then an amuse bouche of a cabbage and smoked bacon veloute topped with truffle foam. My starter of Scallops was bacon free and nicely cooked, but the flavours didn't really work well together. Then came the main course, I'd ordered partridge with mushrooms and cavola nero. The dish was bland and the cavola nero was stuffed with more bacon and onions. Also on the plate, two pieces of pak choi, underneath which were hidden more bacon pieces! Between us, my party ordered 4 desserts, I tried them all and none were particularly good. I would also echo others' comments on the mismatch of flavours like the bitter chocolate and olive.

The service was not what I would expect from a 2 michelin star restaurant. We had to wait a really long time to order both food and drink. I ordered water with lemon, but instead was given plain water and no lemon was forthcoming. Our waiter dropped one of the canapés, and then left it sitting on the table for half an hour while we ate. He also spilled the amuse bouche of the table behind us. The waitress who brought our main courses was able to repeat to us what we were having – I doubt many people would fail to recognise that they had ordered the lamb when a plate of lamb is placed in front of them – but wasn't able give any more detail about the provenance of the food or techniques used to cook it. She also took 3 attempts to tell one of our party what fish they were eating (in the end we had to remind her). One of our party ordered a cheese course, the other 4 were left to sit for 30 minutes and wait while he chose and then ate his cheese, with no offer of dessert or anything else to fill the time.

I would not recommend this restaurant at all. I've had better food in a gastro pub for a third of the price.

We found the service surly in an unpleasant way. The flavour combinations just don't work, for example chocolate with olives, the olives did not complement the chocolate and the cheese cake which tasted of burnt caramel and salt. Non of the six dinners (who have all been to many fine dinning establishments)liked these. When pointed out to the women who was front of house, she explained that the pudding were as “the chef intended” and implied it was our fault for not liking them. My lobster starter came on a bed of risotto which was far sweeter than any of the sweets. The poor french waitresses seem to be in fear of her which leads to a tense atmosphere. 0/10

I cannot stress how disappointed we were with the meal we had last night at Le Champignon Sauvage. We had been wanting to eat there for years. The welcome was lovely, as was our glass of champagne, but the setting is dull, dull, dull. I have been lucky enough to eat some beautiful food in some very special places and this experience left us feeling very flat. The highlight of the meal was a sweet corn and white asparagus soup/foam which was delightful, but everything else missed by a mile – the lobster was over run by orange, the wood pigeon was tough, all vegetables were cold, why would I want to eat cold slimy porridge??? and my home made brownies are far better than the bitter chocolate and olive dessert. Thankfully my last Michelin rated experience really did live up to the hype, but it wasn't at Le Champignon Sauvage – we would have been better off stopping for one of the steak or curry nights in the excellent Cotswold pubs we passed on the way – and so would you.

Went on Valentines Day, No vegetarian selection, they rustled something up, and it taseted nice, but you feel like an after thought, like you're strange/odd/pain not to eat meat or fish, front of house services not customer focussed or can do, like you should feel grateful you're there at all. Atmosphere impersonal, sterile dining, like eating at you old aunties house. Toilets poor. Shame Michelin don't take the whole expeeience into account. Save your money, go to either The Chef Table in Tetbury, or No.5 in Winchcombe if you want michelin starred, quality dining with good service in a nice at atmosphere

Hard to review when the best was great and the worst was very poor. Plenty of space and pleasant decor. The serving staff were attentive without being too obvious. Many of the dishes were a little over complicated with a bit of this and a bit of that. The bread was excessively crusty and the brioch solid (even crunchy). We were told this is how it was supposed to be. The zander was over-cooked and “tough” but the partridge good. Things inproved with the dessert, the petit fours were great and the coffee ecellent.

Most of my eating out is done in London, the home counties and in foreign parts where I would expect and usually get better aspecially at the price.