Domaine de Rombeau - Rivesaltes

The French love their meat and it was cooked to perfection here. We sat outside on the sheltered terrace which had a great atmosphere. Friendly and helpful staff.

We got married here four years ago. There was approx 60 guests from Ireland at the weddingFour years later , people here in Ireland still bring it up in conversationExcellent food , service and ambiance. to have an equivalent wedding in Ireland like we did in Rivesaltes would cost a fortuneThe terrace outside with the peacocks, the meat cooked over wood, fantastic wine, the sense of history in the building..

I have been to this restaurant about 20 times over a 20 year period, they have never let me down. This year I was in the area with some friends, 8 of us, so I booked on the Internet and got a prompt reply. Efficient and excellent, everyone was happy with their meal and the ambience.

We only found this place by recommendation from another (the other?) top-class restaurant/wine cellar in Rivesaltes, which was full. It is very much larger than Cazes' establishment and could easily find us a table, although it filled up later. (For warmer weather, there is also a great shaded terrace.)Indoors, the restaurant is in an impressive former wine vault, with stained glass windows at the ends.The ambience is quite jolly, with attentive staff. Our waitress was quite keen to try out her English skills, although not necessary in our case.We took the €35 menu and enjoyed it immensely. They didn't provide any amuse-bouche but instead the menu included a glass of 'apéro' wine. (Muscat, in a choice of dry or sweet. We love the dry Muscat, so the decision was easy.) Our starters were the gratinéed mussels and the (cold) marinated grilled veg. served with delicate anchovy fillets The mussels are served in the half-shells with a super garlic sauce on each one. For mains, I had the (enormous) 'Pig Chop' with a 'Rancio' sauce. (Rancio is an old-fashioned wine style typical of the region, and found on both sides of the Pyrenees.) My wife had the 'Grillade de Rombeau', essentially a mixed grill. Neither of us is a small eater, but we both struggled a bit as the portions were so large, but beautifully cooked. It was all we could do to toy with the 'Vacherin Catalan' which is the Catalan flag stripes made in sorbets with genuinely iced cream.A massive plus for this place is that the wines in the restaurant are priced at list. At €14.50, the Cuvée Elise is a fantastic bargain. As other commentators have said, you can also buy their wines at a 15% discount to take away, and we didn't hold back on this one! The Cuvée Elise really has to be experienced and we're looking forward to tasting ours in the months to come.

We ate at this restaurant in a group of 30. We had a set lunch at €35 a head including wine and coffee. I felt that value for money was not there. The starter was fine, mixed meat and fish and salad. The main was lamb which was not good, the vegetable were overcooked and sloshy. The pudding was fine. I felt that we were being hurried, the main arrived almost as the starter was being taken away and the plates were being removed before all of the guests had finished. Wines were fine. A disappointing meal at this price.