EN BONNE COMPAGNIE
– 6 Quai des Negociants, 11200 Homps
The
restaurant is located just at the side of Canal du Midi in Homps. Homps has a
number of restaurants, some just open in the summer but this place is open all
year. The place is unpretentious but the in-door dining room is very nicely
renovated in modern style. The food is French, made with quite a lot of
ambition, but still the prizes are affordable. The owners are English that
makes it easy for those who still are a little nervous for ordering in French.
Homps
(pronounced “omps”, with a short “o” as
in “off”) is one the many beautiful places along Canal du Midi. It is the home
of the sparkling wine Chevalier de Malte, that Swedish readers might remember
as the first drinkable and affordable sparkling wine that we could buy in
Sweden.
Trying to revisit in September 2013: The outside restaurant had more than 12 free seats and it was totally empty inside so we decided to eat here. We were ingnored when we came 15 minutes past 1 on a Thursday. Finally we stopped the owner and asked her if we could get something to eat. "20 minutes waiting", she snapped - no welcome, no smile, just a very stressed body-language and an angry face. "Waiting for what?", we asked. "To order", she said, "we have many customers". We were not in a hurry so we could have sat down with a drink and talked for a while, but it was so obvious she did not want any more customers that day. We did not want to disturb her so we left for Restaurant La Péniche across the canal, where we were welcomed with a smile, despite a very busy restaurant. I do not think we will make her life more difficult by visiting her restaurant in the future.
Revisited September 2014: Invited by English friends that assured us that the angry co-owner was not around any more we gave it a new chance. The food is quite good and the service friendly nowadays. If you are looking for a restaurant there you do not risk to meet any French people and everybody speak English, this is the place.
Trying to revisit in September 2013: The outside restaurant had more than 12 free seats and it was totally empty inside so we decided to eat here. We were ingnored when we came 15 minutes past 1 on a Thursday. Finally we stopped the owner and asked her if we could get something to eat. "20 minutes waiting", she snapped - no welcome, no smile, just a very stressed body-language and an angry face. "Waiting for what?", we asked. "To order", she said, "we have many customers". We were not in a hurry so we could have sat down with a drink and talked for a while, but it was so obvious she did not want any more customers that day. We did not want to disturb her so we left for Restaurant La Péniche across the canal, where we were welcomed with a smile, despite a very busy restaurant. I do not think we will make her life more difficult by visiting her restaurant in the future.
Revisited September 2014: Invited by English friends that assured us that the angry co-owner was not around any more we gave it a new chance. The food is quite good and the service friendly nowadays. If you are looking for a restaurant there you do not risk to meet any French people and everybody speak English, this is the place.
We had a similar experience a few months ago. After tepid service throughout the meal (we had all chosen the menu and found our entrees very nice, the plats were uninspired but tasty, the dessert was not bad) we asked for the bill. After 20 minutes I decided to go and pay at the bar, which seemed to annoy the woman behind it a great deal. I paid with a credit card, which required a signature. She complained rudely that the signatures looked very different. I offerred to pay with a different card in that case or to sign again (let's remember the tiny and glossy areas provided for signatures on credit cards), she huffed substantially and said she would accept it but cautioned me that "no one would think that is the same signature". We haven't been back to this restaurant and take our frequent meals in Homps at La Peniche or the nice pizza restaurant near the bridge.
ReplyDeleteIt is strange that people who does not like customers start restaurants!
ReplyDelete