Le Bout du Lac Restaurant Review

In the distance you can see the sleeping giant shape of the Roc d’Enfer poking up on the horizon casting a shadow on the little villages of the Cote d’Arbroz and Essert Romand. It most certainly is the place to go to if you’re looking for lunch with a view.

The restaurant itself always seems busy, especially on a Sunday with locals frequenting it for Sunday lunch and a few afternoon drinks. It’s a great place to go to for both food and a coffee whilst you enjoy a walk around the lake. I’ve tried its hot chocolate in the past and can say from experience that even that is pretty good. It’s served in a tiny terracotta jug if I remember correctly. It’s also good on those really hot days because it serves a wide selection of ice creams. The little ones will love stopping off as you do a lap of the lake for a sugar boost as you pass the restaurant.

We chose to try The Bout du Lac for lunch as we’ve heard good things about its food. We spent an hour or so walking the dog around the lake to build up an appetite before settling down to take a look at the menu. It was a drizzly day so some of the chairs on the terrace were wet but the lovely waitress was quick to bring out a towel and dry them for us so we could still enjoy sitting outside. She was really attentive the whole way through our meal despite having quite a few tables to serve. We ordered some aperitifs to enjoy while we looked at the menu which is traditionally very Savoyard. It contains salads, mixed meat platters, omelettes and plenty of meat and fish dishes. It also has a children’s menu which isn’t always the case at the very traditional restaurants.

We chose a couple of omelettes, two of the children’s meal and the mountain meat platter. We promised ourselves we’d leave space to try the café gourmand (which we’d eyed up as it was delivered to a nearby table). The food arrived surprisingly quickly but with three hungry children in tow, this was nothing to complain about! Their portions of food were pretty substantial but after a morning of fresh air and lake fun a good feed was needed. Their omelette was well cooked and had a generous portion of chips to accompany it. Our meat platter was filled with delicious treats including a meat terrine, wide choice of cured meat and olives. It was served with lovely fresh bread and butter. The adult’s omelettes were also pretty good. They were slightly underdone which is often the French way but nevertheless they were polished off. The mushroom one was fresh and tasty and the meat one filling and well- seasoned. The silence as we tucked into our dinners said it all really!

We didn’t overdo it and didn’t eat too much on the first course which meant our plan to order pudding could go ahead. We decided to share two café gourmands and order some extra coffees. It was a good idea because it may have been a bit of a case of us having eyes bigger than our stomachs. The plate of sweet delights arrived and we weren’t disappointed. There was a selection of small deserts including ice cream, a crème brulee, a chocolate pudding, a delicious profiterole and some tiny fruit tarts. The children quickly took the ice cream off our hands but left us to enjoy the rest of our gluttonous treat. The coffee was great too, enough to make sure we didn’t fall asleep after our huge feed.

The good thing about eating at Bout du Lac is that you may have to walk back to your car afterwards which is quite useful in helping with the digestion. We paid the bill which came to around 100 euros. Bearing in mind that there was 4 adults and 2 children in our party and we had puddings, drinks and a meal, we didn’t think this was bad at all. The day we were there was a little bit rainy but when you’re enjoying views like the ones we had, that doesn’t really matter. You pop up one of the many umbrellas, zip up your coat and look at the mountains. I’ll definitely be going back to Bout du Lac, but next time I don’t think I’ll be quite so quick to share my pudding..