Auberge de l'Ill

This would get my vote as the prettiest setting for any restaurant. Nestling on a bank of the river Ill, just by a bridge and overlooking some of the lovely old buildings of this picturesque village.  Guests sit out in the open for drinks and coffee under the weeping willows, which is a truly enchanting experience. There are now rooms here also, which are fine if costly. Sadly the Auberge has hit that all too common decline that afflicts a lot of three star places after a time. We had a distinct sense of being processed, and our most recent meal (June 2002) was a sad decline from our previous visit six years earlier. Here are notes on the most recent meal.

The first warning sign was when they were completely unable to deal with my request for a glass of dessert wine with my foie gras starter (hardly a bizarre idea in France). I ordered a half bottle at the start of the meal but only the main white wine arrived. When I pointed this out the waitress went off to confer and eventually turned up with the wine, then offered some to my wife (who was having a different starter) and then forgot to pour my wife's wine altogether.  In general they seemed slightly understaffed and a little harried throughout. Bread was a simple white roll or a similar one with poppy seeds; this was under-salted and really not that good (14/20). Amuse-bouche consisted of a little quiche Lorraine with light pastry (19/20) a tuile with pistachio (15/20) and a sliver of toast with herring and onion (15/20), so overall maybe 17/20 for the amuse-bouches.

My starter was one of the specialities of the place, a goose foie gras terrine with truffle. This took simplicity in presentation to a new level, with just three slabs of roughly served pate and a slice of brioche. The terrine was fine with a rough texture and certainly had some truffles, but this was really only 16/20. My wife had red mullet with three nicely cooked langoustines each resting on a slice of artichoke. The mullet was timed well but was a pale imitation of the fine mullet we had just eaten in Germany, and was topped with a spoonful of artichoke puree with pepper. There was also a simple side salad with French dressing, topped with artichoke crisps (17/20).

The main course was shared, and had wild turbot filleted at the table and presented in a pool of remarkably dull, watery red pepper sauce, plus a half pepper hollowed out and filled with chewy squid and some finely chopped Mediterranean vegetables, garnished with a sprig of Rosemary. I would mark the sauce as about 11/20, the fish as perhaps 16/20, correctly cooked but having no great flavour. The vegetables were the best element of the dish, which was overall again very weak for food at these prices.

Cheese was also below par, by no means all in perfect condition; they even made the unforgivable error of putting out an unripe Munster, here in the heart of Alsace, with the village of Munster just a few miles down the road. The only element of the meal that was above 1 star level was an old classic here, the crepes with griottes. At this time of year the cherries in France are stunning, and here they were cooked in a crepe filled with crème vanille, which is flambéed in Cherry brandy at the table (a bit of a cliché but it works here) and served with some additional cherries.  This was cooked perfectly and had great cherries (20/20). Coffee then reverted to the barely 1 star level that was the feature of this meal, with a few modest petit fours. Overall, a sad reflection of former glories, which we experienced in 1996 (they used to have a pet stork but even that is no more – maybe it has gone in search of better food).

Further reviews: 14th Jun 2018 | 23rd Oct 2015 | 23rd Jun 1996