Hotel du Rempart - Sancerre

You have to put this hotel into context to really appreciate it. It is a 2 star family run hotel in an old building in a historic town. It has a lively bar and terrace with stunning views across the vineyards. It is a short walk from the town centre. Areas of the hotel have been tastefully decorated whilst retaining the french style however it is getting welll worn so is genuinely shabby chic. Our room was clean and comfortable with a great view, no air conditioning but a fan is provided. The food is excellent quality, cooked to order, don't rush, this is France, have another drink and soak up the atmosphere! The food portions were far too large for us but perhaps the French expect that now. You can't help but think that serving slightly smaller portions might sell more deserts! We really enjoyed it, we had a few problems but a quick mention to the staff had everything sorted out.

Let's not confuse a place which offers a good view with a place that offers good food. The latter part of my statement reflects the experience I had of my food. I had the eggs meurette as a starter: terrible. The eggs are meant to be poached, the white if the eggs was still clear on my plate and stack to the toast. No substance or taste in the sauce. I had the saumon a la chavignolaise: worse than terrible - a plate full of fresh cream in which tagliatelle was swimming. The seasoning is irrelevant in these circumstances, in fact, for completeness, non existent. In fairness very ample quantity of food: 3 eggs, a lot of salmon, a lot of pasta. Sadly, in my view, no taste. The chef did not think I needed to go on diet - I had to go on a diet. The loos need a tad more attention.

The view in the late afternoon at this tone of the year is the only thing worth going to this place for. The food is not great and the service a little lack luster. My burger was almost inedible and the fries with it were soft, unsalted and over cooked. Generally the place could also do with a good clean up.

We were made very welcome and our dog was allowed in the restaurant, a bonus for us and her! The dining room would I am sure looked the same 30 years ago but none the worse for that. We ate the three course menu of the day at 12.65 euros. The starter is an open cold buffet with so much choice it could be a full meal. Meat, fish, twenty different salads, eggs, melon it just went on and on! We had chicken with a mushroom sauce but you could have had steak or pork. My chicken was a little dry and I wasn't keen on the powerful sauce but it was ok. The ubiquitous creme Caramel, ice cream, plum tart and the most delicious chocolate mouse I have eaten for years was the third course choices, you could also have cheese instead or as well as a dessert.. We left feeling very full!! The staff were pleasant and Sancerre a small hillside town with hundreds of vineyards. We bought both red and wine Sancerre wine, the red is not usually found in England but it it absolutely delicious.

Almost too much food to eat at a very reasonable price. A very pretty view. However, the toilets in the hotel need deep-cleaning and updating, - just a 'rag' to dry your hands on.

We ate here the second night of our stay in Sancerre and were not that impressed. The salad was good and big enough to share but the main meals were not that impressive. I had the duck which was a little tough and my husband had the coq au vin which was also lacking in taste. We ate outside overlooking the road and valley and were accosted by flies and wasps. We decided not to stay for dessert.

This is one of the most popular places to eat in Sancerre. Perched high on top of the village of Sancerre the outdoor seating at Du Rempart offers breathtaking views of the valley below. Menus start from around 12 Euros and the food is plentiful and good. The restaurant is a favourite watering hole for motor cyclists. The downside to this restaurant is that the service is extremely slow especially at the weekend. Having sat waiting to be served for nearly an hour it seemed to me that the establishment is over stretching itself and cannot accommodate all of the people who sit at its tables. Even at the bar, customers are ignored by 'rushed of their feet' waiters and the bar is unmanned most of the time. We ended up looking for somewhere else to eat.

We ate here on a wet bank holiday evening in August. Sancerre was sleepy and not everywhere was open so we dived in here. The most remarkable thing about the restaurant is the massive buffet that you can have either as a starter or a meal itself. The rest of the meal was hearty and nowhere on our trip did we encounter such an amazing spread as the buffet.