Cafe Provencal

Located oddly at the end of a residential neighborhood on a vineyard. It’s not easy to find, but well worth a visit. If you can get over the somewhat pretentious service, you will have a great evening of good food and wine. We took our 11 and 12 years old not knowing that this is a romantic and mainly couples only restaurant. But our kids were well behave and very much enjoyed a nice evening of fine dining. Our waitress was nice but at time tried too hard making a few occasions slightly intrusive. She didn’t know the wine list very well but there was a «wine expert» on hand to recommend wine pairing with your meal. The menu changes regularly but everything we ordered that night was tasty. Overall we had a wonderful time.

The food here is absolutely top notch. Will’s duck confee was amazing, with crispy skin and tender meat. The staff at Café Provincial always take excellent care of us. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone. Although it is not cheap, you absolutely get what you pay for.

Absolutely wonderful meal. We were staying right there at the Wedmore Place, and our meal was included in the Romance package, so the expectation bar was pretty low. We preceded our meal with an extended tour and tasting at the Williamsburg Winery, which is co-​located on the property, so we were primed and ready for a nice meal.
Our package included a bottle of one of the WW selections, and we went with the Viognier, then hunkered down to peruse the menu. Our waiter Craig came back, answered a few questions, and when asked what he recommended, offered his opinion with enthusiasm and a twinkle in his eye. We went with all of them, which ended up being a wise decision.
I like to mentally deconstruct recipes in order to replicate them later. The Calamari appetizer is way out of my league. Just an amazing mix of marinated calamari, roasted eggplant, wheatberries, fried okra and goat yogurt in a pomegranate reduction. I would order a larger portion as an entrée all day long.
The Hanger steak was perfection at medium rare topped with a carbanzola and hazelnut butter. The roasted cauliflower could have used another spritz of olive oil under the broiler.
The halibut was incredibly tender and moist, with a wonderful lemon basil and peppercorn flavor, and the Israeli couscous and flash fried asparagus were perfect compliments.
This is a small venue, so get your reservation in advance. So well worth it.

This place is simply wonderful. You can tell great care is put into every aspect of your dinner — the servers are very knowledgable regarding the menu and the food is just exceptional. Go for a special occasion and expect to spend a little more, but you won’t regret it. You’re guaranteed to have a memorable dining experience. I would suggest visiting the winery before dinner and trying some of their wines and experiencing the tour. I admit I’m not the biggest fan of their wines and I do wish they had different options at the restaurant, but I understand their choices based on the menu and location at the winery.

A outstanding food experience, they have very talented chef that features a menu of all local ingredients. Loved the pan seared duck and the scallops were amazing. Highly recommend this place for a quiet romantic dinner. Go Chef Ika! He is really on to something special.

The trip from Washington was so worth it to eat here. This restaurant is divine! It’s tucked away as part of the hotel and winery and it’s: absolutely charmingly European without being gauche, cozy, beautiful, delicious, excellent décor, and comes with excellent service. John and Joshua were our servers and extremely hospitable, courteous and delivered 5-​star service without being stuffy. We sampled several wines before deciding, and they were patient and quirky fun in helping me make my selections. The food was all delicious from the complimentary pre-​appetizer to the appetizer, a shared salad and our mains. I chose the duck with a balsamic reduction on a bed of string beans and tri-​colored carrots — omg! John suggested a vinho verde to pair with my duck– interesting and «off the beaten path,» he said, and sure enough, it was but it worked well. We skipped dessert but I was on a food high for hours after. The menu changes seasonally, I believe, and for sure I’ll be returning.

We stayed at the Wedmore for our honeymoon and on our last night we decided to try the in-​house restaurant – I’m so glad we did, as it was the best meal we had in Williamsburg. The service was absolutely top-​notch – our server was incredibly adept and professional, and he really made us feel special. Everything we ate was delicious, from the complimentary amuse-​bouche to our main courses (I had a fish special, and my husband had the wild boar). The atmosphere is very intimate and comfortable. The wine selection is also quite good. For an intimate, romantic dinner, I think this place is about as good as it gets.

OMG this restaurant is amazing. It feels like I am in Europe all over again. The food is delicious. The wine is excellent. The service is really attentive and spectacular. The menu changes but I have had the grilled lettuce, scallops, oxtail and venison to name a few. The food is very French country. Delicious. Go now!

A HIDDEN GEM! Not exactly front and center from the street and once you enter, still not sure where you have arrived. But, have you arrived. The service is exemplary, the food enticing, and in a very pleasant setting. Be sure and google your destination and I assure you you will enjoy your dining adventure.

We went here for an anniversary dinner. Easily one of the best meals I’ve ever had.
The duck was phenomenal, not greasy, lovely flavor. My husband had a rib-​eye special which had a wonderful seasoning and flavor. He also had the mushroom soup as an appetizer which he practically inhaled. It was out of this world.
The staff is highly attentive and pleasant, lovely décor. It’s all worth the price for a classy evening out.

The food here is incredible! I ordered the salmon with asparagus and mushroom risotto and ended up eating it the next day (cold) and it was just as good! BF got the oxtails over mashed potatoes and it was so tender and flavorful. For appetizers I ordered the crab ravioli which was literally 1 giant ravioli, and BF got the foie gras which was cooked perfectly.
Great service and a nice romantic spot.
I agree with the other reviews that point out how difficult it is to find. There is one tiny sign that says Café Provencal is down this turn, but once you get to the building, there is NO signage. We walked in asking the guy at the desk if we were in the right place (no signs inside building or out). He also asked where we parked and seemed concerned when we told him right outside the building in the lot. Absurd. Upon taking the elevators downstairs, we checked in with hostess, went to restrooms, and prior to being seated was told that the guy from the lobby had called down insisting that we move our car. Uhhh… to where? There were plenty of spots out there and there was again, no signs telling us anything re: parking. We didn’t park in a restricted area, so what was the big deal? Needless to say, we didn’t move our car and it was still there when we were done. Super odd.
The staff there seemed to find the front desk/​winery/​hotel (?) a bit annoying as well, mentioning that they have asked for more/​better signs; I could tell there was no love lost between the 2 establishments. I would’ve taken away a star for the difficulty finding the place, but it wasn’t really Café Provencal’s fault, more so the winery. The food was great!
One thing to note that I found interesting. The host asked what kind of wine we prefer and then offered us the red wine that was on special which was $ 35/​bottle. I noticed in the wine menu the same wine was priced at $ 30. Never looked on the bill to see which price we were charged, but found the inconsistency a bit of a turn-​off.

An excellent restaurant on a winery. What’s not to like? Dining is relatively upscale, but not stuffy. Our waiter, David, was outstanding! We had the three course special. Entrees were salmon and lamb and both were perfect and came with soup or salad, sides and desert. Wine by the bottle was very reasonable too. I recommend reservations for sure. The restaurant was full, but they did seat us earlier than our reservation, which was very nice and accommodating. All and all just about as perfect of a meal as you can have.

We spent the day with the throngs of other tourists enjoying the sights and sounds of Colonial Williamsburg, from Fifes & Drums, to horse drawn carriages to costumed staff and colonial-​themed restaurants. But now for something completely different!
The restaurant is on the somewhat secluded, beautiful grounds of the Williamsburg Winery. There seem to be two dinning rooms, one off the bar area, the other on the porch. Both look very inviting.
Once seated, the Sommelier brought us both the menu and the substantial wine list. Wine prices ran from the very reasonable to the very expensive. In addition to this list there were 4 somewhat rare special wines by the glass. Two of these were Brunello’s, which we had heard of but had never tried. We asked for a single glass of the 2007, to be shared among the 3 of us. When brought to the table, he poured a sample in individual glasses for us to try. It was amazing. He then surprised us by pouring a small sample of the 2004, again amazing!
After picking our appetizers and entrees, we put our wine selection in his hands, only telling him our price range. He picked a wonderful old vine Zinfandel that perfectly complimented our selections.
The tomato gazpacho amuse bouche was delicious. For appetizers we had the house made Gnocchi with Shrimp and the Burratta Salad — both were exceptional. It was difficult to pick the «winning entrée» of the night with the perfectly cooked Rib Eye and the Salmon with Risotto at the top of the list. The Asian-​accented Duck Breast was also delicious. For dessert we shared a wonderful Crème Brulee.
So if you want a very special night out, away from the tour buses and hordes of other tourists, this is the place to go. With tip, the bill came to around $ 85 per person.

We really wanted to give this restaurant more stars, unfortunately the night we went, the food just wasn’t up to the ratings it had received. Here’s the scoop:
Fois gras — 5 stars
Ox tail main course — 4 stars
Duck main course — 2 stars (very salty, undercooked)
Tarte tatin — burned and unedible
Service — 4 stars
We found out after we had ordered wine that there was a person who had just completed the first level of sommelier that could have recommended a wine. It would have been helpful for the server to suggest we talk to that person when we asked her about wine. Otherwise our server was great and didn’t hesitate to comp us for the burned tarte tatin.
Probably worth trying another night: based on previous reviews, I think we may have just caught them on an off night.

My husband and I came to check out Café Provencal for dinner while we were in town. We made prior reservations, and I was really excited to try this restaurant. I loved how it was nestled in the Williamsburg Winery, in the Wedmore Place (a country hotel). When we walked in, I loved the medieval décor with the full armor and such. They pride themselves in offering locally-​sourced fish, vegetables from the on-​premise garden, and also local wines. I loved the wrought iron chandeliers, the terra cotta-​tiled pool terrace, the stone fountain, as well as the country French upholstered chairs and the cute country French dishes wall décor. Our server was Ms. Carol, and she had a great sense of humor and was very fun! We started off by the Chef’s complimentary bite, a steak tartare on a grilled crostini — it was absolutely delicious! For our appetizers, we had the Pan Seared Scallops (with Meyer lemon and walnut butter, crispy leeks, and sliced beets), the Sauteed Foie Gras (with organic seedless grapes, sliced almonds, date-​infused syrup, and a brioche croûton), and the House Made Herb Gnocchi (with fresh North Carolina shrimp and a local cherry tomato butter sauce). The scallops were okay, but I loved the other two dishes — the foie gras had a nice crunchy top, cooked beautifully, and delicious with the date-​infused syrup. The gnocchi? Very pillowy (not sure if it was ever-​so-​slightly overcooked?), but melted in your mouth — the tomato butter sauce was absolutely luscious! For our main courses, I had the evening’s special, which was the Ribeye with the Blackberry Crème Fraiche; my husband had the Braised Oxtails au jus (with black truffle mashed potatoes, caramelized pearl onions, and fresh seasonal vegetables (spinach)). The steak was definitely cooked to my liking, and I liked how it came out thin (butterflied), rather than just a big slab of steak. I thought the blackberries was an interesting touch and made it a unique dish, adding a nice subtle flavor to it. My husband’s oxtails were so delicious — very tender, flavorful, seasoned perfectly (not too salty), and lovely with the mashed potatoes. Yum! Ms. Carol also got us some pâte à choux (French cream puffs), that were made by a pastry chef intern from France. For dessert, I had the Pineapple Carpaccio (thinly-​sliced pineapple macerated in an herb– and spice-​infused syrup, served with a quinelle of vanilla ice cream), and my husband had the Crème Brulee. The pineapple was delicious, and I loved the fact that it was not overly sweet and it had lovely cinnamon and anise flavors throughout. My husband’s crème brûlée was creamy with the hard sugar top. Our dining experience here was quite nice, fun, and the food was lovely. I would love to come back and stay at their inn as well as try out their ever-​changing menu. Yum! :D
+make reservations! :D
+Sauteed Foi Gras
+House Made Herb Gnocchi
+Braised Oxtails au jus
+Pineapple Carpaccio

Too much money for blah food. Duck was fatty and fish too salty. They have a pretty building and are trying to be classy but their food does not measure up.

Quite simply, the best restaurant we know in Williamsburg (and we’ve tried just about all of the top spots), and one of the best in Virginia. Café Provençal out Fats the Canary, out Foods the Thought, out Seconds the Street, out Arts the Café, and certainly out Opuses the 9 (yes, even the steaks are superior).
This place is small, so get a reservation. The menu is limited to the chef’s top selections each evening, but if you like great French cuisine, you’ll have no problem selecting a wonderful dish from the eight or so offered. When it arrives, it will be perfectly prepared with excellent complimentary sides. The wine list is outstanding, as well.
We are from Metro DC and love New York, etc., so most (not all) restaurants in Williamsburg seem reasonably priced to us, but Provençal is especially reasonable for its exceptional quality. We just dined at Café Provençal Tuesday night, 2/​18, and enjoyed one of the best meals we’ve ever had! For phenomenal French fare and remarkably attentive service, very highly recommended!

We are local, and Café Provencal has recently become a favorite. New chef in the kitchen in the last month or so and the food is still wonderful. We LOVE Henry, who oversees the dining room and is involved in creating the wine list– and serves as well… thank goodness because he is a super professional who always makes the evening very enjoyable. Have tried both the filet mignon and rack of lamb — both were excellent… new item we tried most recently is the braised oxtail, which was fabulous. Just a bit sad that they no longer have the Crispy Berkshire Pork appetizer… but it’s nice to have an amuse bouche to start dinner, and desserts are always good.
Do yourself a favor and stop by here– and make sure to ask for Henry!

Wow, we had a great meal here! The Unilocal reviews convinced us we should try Café Provencal for our anniversary, and we are very glad we did.
We arrived early in the evening and had a super personable and professional server waiting on us. She took time to explain the menu and specials, offered suggestions and let me sample a couple of different wines, and never missed a beat when it came time to bring out the next course.
Our food was excellent. We ordered the grilled shrimp and foie gras appetizers, munched on delicious mixed green salads, and my husband enjoyed his pork tenderloin while I savored every bite of my seared duck breast. For dessert, we had the apple tart with cinnamon ice cream and the French chocolate brownie with pistachio ice cream. We cleaned off every plate.
The whole evening’s mood was quiet and perfect for conversation. It wasn’t especially busy the day we went, which was just fine by us. I agree, the restaurant was a little pricey, but no more so than other fine restaurants and we thought it was justified by the quality of the food and service.
The only con (and reason for one less star): The physical path to the restaurant was underwhelming and didn’t speak to the quality of the evening we were about to experience. First, it was a little difficult finding the entrance because there were very few signs pointing the way. From the parking lot, we walked through a small latched gate, down some narrow stairs overlooking the large A/​C units, and into an unmarked door by the winery hotel swimming pool. Perhaps a nicer path would have been to walk through the hotel. Next time…

One word: exquisite! This place’s food was amazing! Their soup du jour, French mushroom soup, was phenomenal. I had the following from their menu and was not disappointed:
Baby spinach salad, apples, toasted pecans, house made bacon, goat cheese, honey and cider vinaigrette
Pan seared duck breast, reduced port sauce with oranges and cherries, fingerling potatoes a la Sarladaise, grilled asparagus
They service was excellent. The ambiance was great. The salad was different from the norm for me but it was an excellent blend of sweet and bitter. The duck dish was tender and full of flavor. Everything on the plate was excellent. The pork confit appetizer was insane! I’m surprised I didn’t lick the plates… lol ;).