La Salamandre - Angoulême

Excellent quality food, real fine dining. Complimentary amuse bouche. Menu has very few dishes on it but changes regularly so check their internet site that you look what is on offer at the time.Very good service, we were a young group of friends and we were treated just as well as the older couples - this was very much appreciated as this is rarely the case in France.Menu is not expensive for the quality of the dishes Wine is pricey

This was our second time at La Salamandre , we still like it a lot but came out a bit less enthusiastic than the first time . We were there for dinner on a Friday , the restaurant had few visitors , about 10 people , still service was a bit slow .The new waiter is well trained and efficient but not as acquainted with the region , the local wines proposed as the previous one . Food is very good , well presented but portions are a bit short if you only go with entree, main course , desert ; they are probably right if you go with the 5 courses tasting menu . The dining room is still the same plain room with a few pictures on the walls . We understand they have put up the restaurant for sale , to move to a more attractive location . For Angouleme Area prices are rather on the high side so you expect a bit more than good for every item . From our point of view the best value for money is the tasting menu we had the first time.

We stopped by since the car rental place where we were to pick up our car was not open for an hour. Had drinks. Very friendly host. Even volunteered the wifi code. Nice place!

La Salamandre is located in front of Angouleme railway station , just across a big avenue ; the surroundings have no specific interest and the view is towards the station , so ...the dining room upstairs is relatively small ( might fit around 20 people) and has no specific atractiveness , plain painted walls, minimalist decoration ( by the way they are looking for a new place ) So you can focus on your plate and your glass , and that is worth it .The special menu with its wine tasting session is especially good value for money , the food is regined but still simple , and it gives you the opportunity to discover an excellent Chardonnay from Charente , made by Henri Jammet (+++) .Don' t go there if you are in a hurry , this restaurant is managed by two people only , the chef and a maitre/ waiter , even if they work like four , it still takes some time to be attended .We higly recomend the place , but don't forget to book in advance otherwise you might not be able to dine .We understand they also have a nice menu for lunch but did not try it yet

Our evening started a bit uncomfortable. To start with, there was no wine list or drink list, because apparently these had been stolen. So the waiter gave us different options for drinks. Yet when we ordered our apero's, some of our choices weren't available. (I can understand that a certain champagne isn't available but no coca cola, serious?) The atmosphere changed however as soon as the food was served.We ordered the tasting menu which was really nice and the accompanying wines were good. The waiter was very kind and really tried to make us feel comfortable.