Le Bistro du Port - Bandol

It looked promising, well shaded and spacious for our group of 7. 6 of us ordered the fresh line caught 'bar ' which, by all accounts, when it finally arrived, was indeed fresh and good. However, it took an hour, and the last 2 orders seemed...forever even though the cooked fish had been displayed earlier. They seemed to be rather short staffed. My tuna was tasty enough but rather dense in texture. No veggies to speak of.

The restaurant is perfectly located, facing both the seaside promenade and the lovely market place. We got a table on the large terrace and were served quite quickly. We skipped starters, but the seared tuna and the entrecote we had as our mains were very...good, just as the dessert. Nice wine list, mainly focusing on Bandols. Definitely one of the better places on the promenade.

They'll stay away from the place. eating is a catastrophe (bland, not fresh, overpriced). only plus are the waitress friendly. I don't understand how they can calculate 16 euro for a terrible houmtablette with old brothcrumbs!

Many years ago, Le Bistro du Port was one of my favourite restaurants in Bandol. Wonderfully situated in a prominent corner position on the main square, overlooking the port, my wife and I would go there for lunch most Saturdays and we also spent many...happy evenings there with friends and family. Since then, it has undergone several reincarnations, not always for the best, and I suspect that it has been as much a victim of its location as a beneficiary. During the summer and the main holiday periods, it is assured of a good level of patronage visit on a chilly mid week evening out of season, however, when the tourists are all back home, and you will find it empty, whilst other similarly priced restaurants with better kitchens in the back streets will be full. In this context, it was some two or three years ago when we last visited this restaurant and on that occasion, when I asked to change the accompaniment of chips for some salad or some vegetables, I was told that it was not possible to change any aspect of any of the dishes. Hence one of the reasons for not having visited since and so when my family decided to lunch there yesterday, it was more in a spirit of hope than expectation. When we looked at our menus, my wife was the first to point out that a lesson had somehow been learned and that changes in accompaniment were now allowed BUT AT A COST OF 3 € PER ITEM. Nevertheless, the servers were pleasant and helpful and my wife 's choice of seafood ravioli and my son 's kid 's menu of burger and chips were both adequate, if not exceptional. The problem arose with my order of squid in a persillade with grenaille potatoes in garlic butter. To be fair, the dish was attractively presented and the potatoes were very tasty. The squid, however, was inedible in that it tasted and had the texture as if it had been roasted in a dry oven for a very long time before being half heartedly covered in an undercooked persillade. I managed a few mouthfulls before leaving the rest and mentioned my misgivings to one of the servers. Does it taste like rubber? she asked. No, more like shoe leather, I replied. Oh, I am sorry, came the response, before she walked away. Next server: How did you enjoy the meal? Not at all ..... OK, I 'll let them know in the kitchen. Next server with the bill: Was everything alright? No, not at all. I really don 't think I should be paying for the squid. How about if I give you a free coffee instead? There will always be times when something doesn 't go according to plan in the kitchen but, for goodness sake, how difficult is it to try to put it right? To make sure that the client, who is paying good money that he has worked hard to earn, leaves happy? I have lived in Bandol for 15 years.

We'd popped into Bandol for a look around and then had a wander along the port to find somewhere for lunch. Le Bistro du Port looked good empty as we were early, but the place soon filled. Aervice was very friendly, but speed was...average. Mixed opinions on the food my son enjoyed his steak, and my wife's fish was ok (but nothing special). I ordered Carbonara which unfortunately was not Carbonara (but this is true of most restaurants) a very thin cream sauce. Carbonara is so easy I'm surprised so many fall into the cream sauce trap. Prices were a bit on the steep side, but yu are in a nice location in the port, with nice comfy furnishings and surrounding.