Les Grands Buffet is a one-of-a-kind buffet in Narbonne, France. A quick search on Google will show you photos of a lobster fountain, among its many eye-catching food arrangements. You can find the best French dishes from foie gras to cassoulet to lobsters. If you love good food, you simply must include Les Grands Buffet in your bucket list.
Les Grands Buffet opened its doors for the first time in 1989 and to this day, remains committed to preserving the tradition of “French Serving”, just like how French aristocracy once hosted great banquets. Visionary Louis Privat wanted to establish a restaurant that revives this practice and at the same time serve as window into the world of French cuisine. The eye-catching buffet lets guests choose whatever they like from over 300 items including 70 kinds of wine.
Louis Privat set out to offer guests quality products working hand in hand with producers all over the country. Thirty years later, this restaurant is viewed as the Charlie’s Chocolate Factory of French gastronomy, the best place to enjoy French cuisine without spending a fortune.
Les Grands Buffets has set a new Guinness record in December 2018 for the world’s largest cheese platter in a restaurant. It features more than 100 types of French cheese carefully set on a humongous stainless steel platter.
An all-you-can-eat buffet isn’t usually a fancy place but Les Grands Buffets has broken this preconceived notion of what it should be. Expect an array of complex, decadent dishes in an environment that reminds you of luxurious French chateaus.
Between the silver candlesticks, gilded chandeliers, and the centuries-old tapestries the ambience is like a 17th century Versailles hall.
Les Grands Buffets also holds the title of biggest restaurant in France, and can seat over 600 guests. And mind you, this place is always full.
For the fixed price of €42.90, you will feel like you’ve been invited to feast among royalty. Your senses will go on hyper-drive with the vast choices of roasts and stews and seafood and ham and cheeses. When you arrive, staff will warmly greet you and escort you to your table in one of 5 great dining areas.
The buffet is displayed in 4 major stations beginning with the starters, cheeses, rotisserie and desserts. There’s the Hors-d’Oeuvres station, filled with antipasti, crabs, oysters and lobsters, along with fois gras and an extensive and diverse charcuterie.
Each chafing dish houses a mouth-watering creation from ratatouille to breaded frogs’ legs to cuttlefish. The pièce de résistance of Les Grands Buffets is none other than the rotisserie. You can ask the chefs below this tower whatever you like and they will prepare the dishes to order, from lobster thermidor to lièvre à la royale.
And let’s not forget the desserts. The pastry chefs are kept busy preparing over 100 different desserts including tarts Paris-Brest, éclairs and macarons. There is also an ice-cream parlor where you can find many different flavors.
This buffet is definitely a must try for anyone who wants the finer things in life.
Check out this video of Les Grands Buffet: