We visited Le Vieux Pont restaurant during the Easter weekend. I do need to stipulate that this review is exclusively for the restaurant since we did not use the hotel facilities. This review is based on our 5th visit to Le Vieux Pont. We consider ourselves as reasonable patrons with normal standards and expectations when it comes to restaurant/food experiences.

On a positive note, the biggest advantage for Le Vieux Pont is location. The covered patio does offer a nice, warm atmosphere with a great view on the quaint little city center of Durbuy.

As stated before, we have visited Le Vieux Pont several times before in the past and can't help but to notice the severely deteriorating standards that are applied in food preparations, service, cleanliness and safety.

Food preparations:

- Child Menu (french fries and sausage) is priced at 11 euro and does not even include a drink or a dessert. We thought that was an excessive amount for a dried out sausage and about 12-15 fries. Our son likes some mayo with his fries and for this we were charged 2 euro.

- Appetizers from the 25 euro menu (scampi) were drowned in an extremely salty concoction. We had scampi lovers in our group that were completely disgusted with the overall taste of the dish.

- Appetizer "scampi salad" priced at 14 euro was a complete disaster and should be named "swamp salad". The 4 scampi, together with the accompanying salad were completely inundated with a brownish vinaigrette. Very messy, very little value and taste.

- Main courses from the 25 euro menu (ex skewer) were properly prepared but again the value/price ratio is very disappointing. Don't select this dish if you're a meat lover or a person with a more then average appetite.

- Dessert from the 25 euro menu (ice cream) was completely uninspired. Picture scooping ice cream from the grocery store into a bowl and putting it on the table. Interesting note, they did not even offer a "complimentary" ice cream to our son even though the entire table had desserts as part of the menu.

Service:

- Overall poor experience. Staff is friendly but very inexperienced and can't cope with customer crowds. Staff needs to be reminded multiple times of service needs (missing fries, missing drinks, ...).

Cleanliness:

- Our server had a large body piercing on the right hand (used to serve the dishes on the table) that was completely infected. Not very good for the appetite I must say.

Safety:

- 3 out of the 6 main course plates were chipped and showed cracks.

- 2 out of the 2 wine decanters were severely chipped at the top. Be sure to have them swapped out since they pose a serious risk of glass pieces making it into your wine glass.

Value:

Very low. We paid 225 euro (no tip) for 5 adults and 1 child and left the restaurant (it was a special occasion) very disappointed. This equates roughly to 40-45 euro per adult and we are of the opinion that we could have gotten much more value at other restaurants (e.g. Le Saint Amour) for comparable prices.

Overall conclusion:

Although Le Vieux Pont has potential (especially with the location and attractive patio) they fail on all aforementioned aspects of a restaurant experience. It feels as if they have enough transient visitors so that poor standards become less visible and less important. Le Vieux Pont will not get our business again.