Fleeced

Posted by Rosie 

fleeced

 flēsd/

verb

past tense of fleece

informal - obtain a great deal of money from (someone), typically by overcharging or swindling them.


Those of you who saw my post earlier in the week about our week-end trip to Paris will see that we had a great time.   There was however one rather large fly in the ointment that did put a bit of a damper on our trip, namely that we were totally fleeced by the restaurant where we ate on Saturday evening.

To be avoided :(

It was a small family run place just across the roundabout from our flat.  It looked lovely and when Ben and I walked past it having dropped Simon and Tom at the rugby the night before the food smells coming from it smelt delicious.  It was pricey but we accepted that Paris prices are more than Normandy and it had the advantage of being really close so there was no need to drive to it.  

Unfortunately it turned out to be a very bad choice.

Initially it was fine - the ambiance was good and we perused the menu salivating ever so slightly at the thought of the French culinary delights we were about to eat.  So 18€ for a piece of salmon is expensive and 25€ for some John Dory VERY expensive but this was for our 20th wedding anniversary so we were happy to push the boat out a bit.  Hang on though - those prices EXCLUDED extras such as veg or salad which were 4€ each.  Hmmmmm.  Not good.

We ordered and then we waited.  In fairness it wasn't too long in coming but then they weren't exactly heaving with customers.  When it did arrive there were bits were missing - a portion of chips and only afterwards did we realise that Simon's fish from the Specials Board was supposed to come with spinach and it hadn't.  My salmon came with what the waiter called purée, in other words mashed potato but I can say that what I got was NOT purée.  It was a small bowl of almost liquid potato with some odd green bits in it.  How I was meant to eat this with a fork was beyond me.  My salmon was was well cooked but Simon said his John Dory was overcooked.  Ben's steak hâché (burger) was OK but in France you are always asked how you want your burger cooked (well done, rare etc) and he wasn't, although luckily it came out how he liked it.  Tom's mussels were small and the sauce very odd.  All this came to 63€.  Add in a bottle of wine at 28€ (nice but probably about 6€ wholesale) plus 2 soft drinks and the bill came to 107€.  We didn't stop for dessert and went to leave still feeling hungry and definitely feeling fleeced.  On the way out we spoke to a waiter and aired our complaints but he simply shrugged his shoulders and said that was Paris prices, no mention of the poor food.  He was neither surprised or concerned,

Later we had a bit of a search online and all too quickly on TripAdviser and a French restaurant review site we found that Le Parc, Rue de Château, Boulogne-Billancourt has some very poor reviews.  It would appear they rely on passing tourist trade not expecting diners to return and fleece them for what-ever they can.  

We wrote our negative reviews on both sites as we filled up with cake I had brought with us.  When writing a review for our apartment we said what a bad meal we had had at Le Parc and suggested to the owner that he warn other guests from going.  Anyone can have a one off bad meal or something they don't particularly like - but this was not a one off - it was deliberate over-pricing of poorly prepared food.  It wasn't what we had hoped to have for this special meal.