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RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere

Details

PRICE RANGE
£24 - £64
CUISINES
French, European, Healthy, Gastropub
Meals
Lunch, Dinner, After-hours
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features, about

MICHELIN Guide's Point of View

A family-run business that pays tribute to women must be a good sign! A “matelote” is the fisherman’s wife, whose talent cannot be equalled when it com...
Read more on MICHELIN Guide
Reviews (1,090)
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8
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Traveller rating
72
36
31
23
8
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Reviewed 3 weeks ago via mobile

We went thunking we would have an exceptional culinary experience, given that the place had a michelin star. We were disappointed with the unrefined cuisine we were served. The amuses and bread were not very tasty. The first course was too big, and quite bland....The ‘aile de raie’ was huge, too buttery and the winter vegetables did not match well with the dish. Desert again unrefined. All in all a disappointing experience.More

Date of visit: February 2024
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 12 December 2023

a great spot near the sea, parking nearby, delicious meal . hotel looks very good. great service , lovely menu. lots of fish .great desserts

Date of visit: December 2023
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 25 November 2023

An excellent fish restaurant with a hotel attached. Impeccable service, good wine list, and oysters and sole to die for. Hotel ok but nothing special. It’s a conversion of two adjacent houses and so has some curious changes of level. But there is a garage.

Date of visit: November 2023
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 18 November 2023 via mobile

We love coming to Le Matelote. Yes, it is a quirky hotel but we love the little touches, and we love the bar/ lounge where we have an aperitif before dining. The hotel room was much larger than a normal Brit hotel room. The people...in reception do talk to you if you take the trouble to try to speak to them. The room is always cleaned to a very high standard. The spa pool is small but once you get used to the cold feel it’s exhilarating. The restaurant is super. We love eating here, yes the waiters don’t speak very good English but we try to speak French in their country- as we are not in the uk . We have not had a bad meal here, yet. I do grant you that the language barrier, makes it tricky. So ver all we live it. Breakfasts are great too. So to finalise we will be coming back to this lovely quirky hotel with a superb French restaurant ! Pam Strong/ Ian VogwellMore

Date of visit: November 2023
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 23 September 2023 via mobile

Was staying in Boulogne on way home from holiday and found this gem! Amazing food and Service, I had langoustines and sole which was so fresh, perfectly cooked. My wife had the steak which again was amazing! What can I say about the deserts WOW...people will just have to try them for themselves!! I had read some reports beforehand about staff not being very pleasant, this was NOT our experience the staff were amazing and after picking up my very poor French done everything to communicate in English! Excellent all round experience with service and quality of foodMore

Date of visit: September 2023
Helpful?2  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 9 September 2023 via mobile

Each course, from amuse bouche to dessert, was excellent. Wines are a little overpriced- but a good variety of choice. The service was perfectly timed for us and professional. The dining room was set away from the road - so no road noise. We would...return..More

Date of visit: September 2023
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Reviewed 18 July 2023

Supposed to be brilliant but its not. The range of food is good and generally cooked to a high standard. My issue - my other half had a steak and it was the most overdone thing she has seen (she has lived in France in...the past). She asked for medium cooked as generally in France every steak comes out rare - this one was extreme, probably should have sent back. I had Dover sole - it looked great but halfway through I realized I was pulling off the bone - its supposed to be delicately cooked which should fall off the bone. So two main courses that were really average at best.More

Date of visit: July 2023
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 12 June 2023

The Matelote used to be one of my favorite places when in northern France. The food was very good. But to my surprise the quality of dishes this time was not at all good. Asparagus served watery with an uncooked egg. Not appetizing. Entrée of...tuna, thinly sliced on blinis that all tasted like cardboard. A main plate of veal with a teeny weeny piece of veal. I paid 72 euros for my 4 courses. When I was here last septembre I paid 29 euros and had much better food and much better portions. A rude and curt Waitress as well. What a shame. I used to really like this place.More

Date of visit: June 2023
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 5 June 2023

Excellent food and wine. One should rarely count the cost but rather value for money and enjoyment. This resto scores on both. We both had skate wings, quite a rare dish these days and were more than satisfied. Service was attentive without being in any...way obtrusive. There was no wine list, the wine being chosen by the chef - a good idea and an excellent choice.More

Date of visit: May 2023
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Reviewed 7 May 2023 via mobile

Stayed at the hotel and enjoyed two dinners. First night we had the 6 course prix fix which was very pleasing. Each course unique and tasty. Worthwhile. The second dinner was a la carte. My French is spotty but passable.... I thought. I ordered a...veal entree but missed the word liver. Now, I really enjoy liver and onions but this was not my mothers recipe. The liver was rather bland and tasted off. Perhaps boiled first. My wife's catch of the day, a whitefish was excellent, with an exquisite sauce. I highly recommend la Matelote, just avoid the veal liver.More

Date of visit: April 2023
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Reviewed 1 March 2023 via mobile

We have eaten here 6 or 7 times over the years, generally on day trips to France to buy wine. It has always been reliably very good, classically French and excellent value. We had the fixed price lunch there today, sitting in blazing sunshine in...the conservatory, and we had a wonderful time. The restaurant was nearly full, not bad for a Wednesday lunchtime. The staff were friendly but “correct”. If you enjoy good French food and a lovely atmosphere, I can highly recommend. It is also by far the best restaurant in the areaMore

Date of visit: March 2023
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Reviewed 28 November 2022

Classical French, rather traditional, but very good food. We had the six-course menu which is advertised as a tasting, menu, but is in fact a traditional starter, fish, main course, cheese, desert type affair. Food was generally good, maybe not up to its Michelin rosetter...aspirations, but not disappointing. Some snafus in the service, some things forgotten, wrong wine brought and, bizarrely, cutlery placed the wrong way round, but generally OK (certainly better than we've been trained to accept in the UK.More

Date of visit: November 2022
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Reviewed 28 October 2022

We came here for lunch without a reservation, expecting to be turned away if they were full or if we were too late. I had looked at the restaurant's website online before leaving Canada. We walked over from the aquarium which is very near the...restaurant. (1) The gentleman asked if we'd reviewed the menu outside, I assume he thought we couldn't afford to eat here. (2) They seated us but seemed to turn their noses up at us (our casual attire I assume). I heard the same gentleman tell other diners that we had turned up without a reservation. This in a fairly large dining patio with only 10 other diners having lunch. We ordered the 3 course lunch menu and the food was very good, we felt it was good value price wise. Too bad about the attitude.More

Date of visit: October 2022
Helpful?2  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
La Matelote R, Propriétaire at Restaurant La Matelote, responded to this reviewResponded 30 October 2022

Good evening, happy you enjoyed our food! Sorry about the attitude, it's definetly not the way we use to do...

Reviewed 22 April 2022 via mobile

A complete gem of a find, perfect entre for our French road trip. Every element of detail was sublime and the service was warm and friendly. The maitre D was so accommodating. Great value too! Highly recommend this restaurant.

Date of visit: April 2022
Helpful?
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 14 February 2022

I used to work and live in Boulogne and ate here regularly. This place is definitely not worth your time or money. We came on Valentines night, the place stank of bleach and off fish, not a good start. We had one waiter who spoke...English and was very helpful and kind. The other staff are rude and arrogant. The amuse bouche was edible but not amazing. Our children had chicken and cod respectively with pasta. The chicken was very bland , the cod smelt off and tasted bland and past its best. Then my wife and I had scallops to start which were of mediocre quality. Then the mains arrived. I had the Brill in place of Turbot, because the Turbot had sold out. It smelt strongly of off fish and was like eating wet cotton wool. Now I am a fisherman… I have caught literally hundreds of Turbot and Brill and it should flake in your mouth with delicious sweet flavour. If you imagine wet loo paper smelling like old fish this is what you will receive. Then came the worst bit. Rather than to cause a fuss inside the restaurant with other valentines guests enjoying their meal, I decided to discreetly take the waiter to one side and explain that the food was not of good quality and I would prefer not to pay for that dish. Yes I would pay for the rest of the meal, but not that dish. I was then taken into the kitchen by the “boss” if you can call him that. He wanted to show me his fresh fish. I was met by around 20 staff all staring at me and mentioning “Les Anglias”, “Brexit”, “this is French fish”, trying to provoke the age old UK France fish war story, you don’t know what fish this I s, and a barrage of insults along those lines. I have NEVER seen anything so unprofessional. YOU DO NOT TAKE YOUR CUSTOMERS INTO YOUR KITCHEN TO INSULT THEM WHEN THEY ARE PAYING YOUR BILLS. Message to anyone reading this avoid it like the plague, they are arrogant, rude, unprofessional, expensive and to top it all the food is revolting.More

Date of visit: February 2022
Helpful?10  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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RESTAURANT LA MATELOTE, Boulogne-sur-Mer - Updated 2024 Restaurant Reviews, Menu & Prices - Tripadvisor

Frequently Asked Questions about Restaurant La Matelote

Yes, Restaurant La Matelote is taking precautions against COVID-19. A full list is available within the "safety precautions" section of this page.

Restaurant La Matelote is rated accordingly in the following categories by Tripadvisor travellers:
  • Food: 4
  • Service: 4
  • Value: 3.5
  • Atmosphere: 3.5