L'Echo de Rabelais - Chinon

Near entrance to Chinon Castle. Food was very good. My husband had a huge bucket of mussels in garlic and wine sauce and I had a large steak with a salad . cost 40 euros with a large beer and 2 Chinon 50 cl wines. Excellent 5 star service even if there was no one who spoke English.

The L'Echo de Rabelais is located very close to the ticket office and the entrance to the Chateau de Chinon. It sits on a steep hill just north of downtown Chinon. There is an elevator near the top of the hill that provides a shortcut from the central part of Chinon (so it is not a long walk from the town center). You can also drive up to the Chateau and park in the nearby parking lot. The restaurant has tables inside and also has several tables on the outside courtyard. Since we were a little warm we opted to sit inside. There are views of the Fortress from the courtyard and nice views of the vineyard across the street in the other direction. I went with my wife for lunch on Halloween and generally enjoyed dining here. Since it was located so close to the Fortress entrance I thought it would have been a tourist trap but the food was pretty good and the prices were fair. Both my wife and I had salads, bread and a soda and thought everything was pretty good. The salads were 12 Euros each and the sodas were 1.50 which I thought were pretty reasonable. We arrived for a late lunch and the service was average. I was expecting better since the place was almost empty (we may have been the only customers at one point). If you are hungry after visiting the Fortress and do not want to walk down into the old town I recommend that you check this place out. The location is very convenient if you are visiting the Fortress as you have to walk right by it to get back to the Fortress parking lot.

Very well patronised restaurant close by the chateau de Chinon . It doesn't look much from the outside but the number of local people using it gives the clue that it is actually very good . Pleasant staff serving good freshly cooked Local food . Good wine reasonably priced . Very convenient for a visit to the chateau

Stopped here for lunch. Pretty terrace overlooking the fortress of Chinon. Nice, quiet location out of the town center. Good value. Especially liked the children's menu for €6. Good selection of wines and local specialities. Our waitress was extremely pleasant and made us feel very welcome.

Lots of options here, buffets of seafood, salads, burgers etc. All the food was fresh and inviting. Prices as expected and service with a smile.