L'Illustre sur Troyes

A warm welcome, attentive service, and a truly friendly waiter who kept us laughing throughout the meal… A little shout-out to Saint-Étienne, he'll know who he is 😉. As for the food, nothing to complain about: we thoroughly enjoyed it. I chose the Troyes andouillette sausage, perfectly cooked and very flavorful. It's lovely to find a place where you feel so welcome, as that's sadly becoming increasingly rare. A great place that I happily recommend. We'll be back!

A wonderful discovery, everything is great, from the setting to the staff and of course the food.

The staff is very welcoming and the food is tasty and of good quality. The neighborhood is charming and pleasant.

Very good meal (main course, dessert and local champagne), the service was pleasant and the value for money was fair.

Good location but very touristy, waiter somewhat superficial, food was rather average. I would choose a different restaurant next time.

We had dinner at L'Illustré and ordered the €35 set menu. Unfortunately, my starter (leeks vinaigrette) still contained sand or dirt. It was crunchy and I could barely eat it. When I pointed this out, the waiter, who was otherwise very friendly and pleasant, said he would speak to the kitchen. However, no one got back to me, and I wasn't offered a replacement starter or any other compensation. It's a shame, because while accidents can happen, it's the way they're handled that makes all the difference. I hope this will be taken into account for future customers.

The waiter and owner were fantastic! Highly recommended! Lunch on the terrace was perfect!

Excellent restaurant! I went there with my fiancé and my mother-in-law, who is from abroad and loves discovering the atmosphere of French restaurants. What a great find we made by choosing this place! Excellent food (the best vegetarian burger I've ever had!) The waiter was pleasant, patient, and smiling. The ambiance and decor are a blend of traditional bistro and pleasant modernity. Right in the heart of Troyes, perfect for locals and tourists alike!

A very good dinner on the terrace in the heart of Troyes, just steps from the town hall. We had calf's liver and a beef burger; we don't like andouillette sausage... The service was impeccable. The portions were good and generous. The fries were excellent, which is rare enough to be worth mentioning.

There is a particular foolishness that overtakes the Englishman in the Champagne region: he sits down and concludes that to drink anything but champagne would be a betrayal of the Republic itself. I succumbed within ninety seconds at L'Illustré, in Troyes — a town the French have sportingly kept to themselves, all medieval timber and no coach parties, and long may it stay that way. From the outside the place looks like an average brasserie, the sort of frontage you stride past without breaking step. Do not. Inside is the best menu selection I have ever seen in a brasserie, and I have seen a great many. At one end, a burger priced for a man who has counted his euros twice; at the other, dishes of real ambition. I ate a vegetable terrine to start, excellent and properly structured, then filet de bar cooked perfectly — that narrow window between raw and ruined that lesser kitchens treat as a rumour — with a glass of Chablis, because anything else would be a criminal act. And then the champagne gourmand, on the grounds that one should commit to a theme. The service was attentive, smartly turned out and polite, doing the job well rather than performing passion at you. Troyes is a secret beauty, and L'Illustré is a secret hiding inside it — an average frontage concealing a serious kitchen, in a town that can't quite believe its luck. Two little gems, both keeping quiet. Go before everyone else does.