The last night in Reims brought us to Au Petit Comptoir which was very busy for Saturday evening. While we should have ordered from the menu, we tucked into a “surprise menu.” Lucky for us, we were a course ahead of the table next to us, or it wouldn’t have been a surprise afterall. The steak looked incredible and I wish it would have been part of the surprise, but alas…surprises…

The table started with some salami, a nice change to just bread.

The first surprise course was of all things…cauliflower rice, but with truffles and hazelnuts. The flavor was good, but not something I’d have ordered.

Next up was a small slice of foie gras…

Followed by a piece of fish, nicely seared, one spear of asparagus, and randomly one ravioli. We didn’t understand the pasta and it felt like someone’s pasta was sent back and spread amongst the surprise diners like us.

Next up was a seafood stew which was TERRIBLE. It was grossly overcooked which left the seafood tough and chewy. I barely ate this and didn’t even try to hide it.

Then there was this seemingly palate cleanser. Slightly sweet and fresh, when asked what it was, I was told “it’s a surprise.” Hmm… hopefully, not remnants of the seafood.

The main was a very juicy chicken stuffed with truffles. It was excellent, but the portion was just a bit too big for me.

Dessert was a weak sponge cake topped with a bit of chocolate mousse. It was disappointing both to chocoholics and non-chocoholics at our table. After seeing the cheesecake next door, again we regretted not just ordering off of the menu.

Au Petit Comptoir seemed to have a lot of potential, but it just felt like we did it all wrong. Service was slow and the surprise menu was not ideal or even seemingly highlights of the resto- more whatever they had to get rid of. I’d try the resto again, but order for myself. Oh, and go before 8pm, so we could get out of there before 10:30!