We booked St Germain for our wedding reception and from the very first planning stages they went out of their way to make our day a very special occasion. Nothing was too much trouble. They let us in early whenever we wanted to check anything out. They offered complimentary tastings. They were amazing. Communication was excellent. On the day the service was impeccable, the food was outstanding and the matching wines were to die for. We would definitely recommend them as a venue for a reception or just a special meal. Merci beaucoup Vincent. Incroyable !!

Awful.

Service was snotty and abrupt, particularly the guy in charge. The main was mediocre at best, suspect the scallops were slightly off.

They couldn’t even manage a decent drink – nastiest cheapest OJ I have ever been served in an establishment with these pretensions.

Fortunately there are several other restaurants near by.

For a touch of genuine French charm you need go no further than Merivale’s Papanui Road. As odd as it may be to find a French restaurant run by French restaurateurs in a mock Tudor hotel, once comfortably seated the experience is more truly French than the disappointingly kitsch and faux English exterior suggests. Such are the compromises which have had to have been made in post-quake Christchurch.

I have eaten here several times both pre and post quakes and have always found the service exemplary, the pace well measured and the knowledge as well as passion for the food first class. Having said this, its sad to say that as much as I enjoy everything this restaurant has to offer as as admirably executed as it usually is, well, it just lacks a certain je nais se quoi, a certain magic of depth and complexity even as the home-style classics hold their own in their own way. This simplicity is most safely if truly evident with the desserts, and so thank goodness for the wonderful cheese course for those seeking just a little more. Adding something like a Far Breton pudding to the menu would not go astray, however. Hint, hint.

Perhaps the reserved simplicity is due to the owners Breton heritage as they pay homage to the honest, hearty and essentially simple if nuanced Celtic home style cuisine which is at its best when made from the best this region has to offer. Or perhaps its more of a pragmatic compromise in the service of Kiwi waistlines and coronary arteries? Whatever the case and very sadly, however, much of the best that Bretagne has to offer is absent, including the renowned galette, as well as moules, huitres as well as that cidre, biere and kir are very thin on the ground and not obviously incorporated into the food. Thank goodness they have a well balanced, tight offering of reasonably priced, subtle if not outstanding but true to type French wines for a very refreshing change from the otherwise Moreubiquitous NZ product which is all too often overbearing and entirely inappropriate with food.

Playing picky and being entirely more to the point, the menu is a French culinary hodgepodge, offering classics from here and there and there whilst confusing this regionally minded diner. As an example, they once and not long ago served a ‘bouillabaisse’ which immediately conjours an expectation of Southern French generosity and richness. More accurately but being very generous considering what appeared, they served a cotriade, a technically equivalent affair but in this instance only amounting to a simple shrimp shell stock disappointingly unflavoured and completely void of the traditional fish and vegatables. I highlight this because as French as this restaurant is, it is Breton first and foremost and I wish it remained truer to its Breton roots even as a simple Breton nuance pervades everything on offer whether advertised or no. Sadly, I can only surmise that the manner of their diversification says way too much about the timidity of Kiwi diners seeking the safe than it does the integrity of Breton cuisine and Breton owners seeking to make a reasonable living?

As good and as reasonably priced as this restaurant is, I reserve my severest criticism of it to last. And this is that they do not change their menu nearly as often as desired. In fact, its possible to eat here after an absence of several months or even a year or more and receive exactly the same menu. French regional cuisine is built around a limited number of core dishes, but is as responsive to the seasons as any other cuisine, and I wish this restaurant could be as responsively nimble, creative and seasonally responsive as well as less prone to the error of attempting to cover too many regional bases all at once.

Great service and great food. Very attentive staff and knew their job well. The food was very nice including the onion soup and vegetarian crepe was tasty and filling. Nice to go to a good restaurant for a change. Good experience over all.

Delicious food. Comfortably appointed restaurant , slightly disinterested staff. Small choice of wine by the glass, but definitely worth visiting for the food.