EN CATIMINI - Le Château 16, Place de la République, 11200 Ferrals-les-Corbières
Restaurant En Catimini has moved from Lezignan-Corbières to the little village Ferrals-les-Corbières and is now located in a beautifully renovated town-house in the center of the village. Our first visit was the result of an invitation from one of our favorite wine producers – Famille Fabre in Luc-sur-Orbieu.
The chef had prepared a gourmet dinner there the food and wine supported each other perfectly. To remember specially was the quail that was absolutely fantastic and the whole dinner was of very high gourmet quality.
We studied the standard menus for the restaurant and found a basically traditional kitchen for the region, but with quite a few innovative varieties that we have not seen before. It seems to be the best of the local combined with a lot of innovation and new thinking.
We were sitting in the little garden there they also grow some of the products they use in the kitchen. They have an impressive wine list with local wines to very reasonable prizes. The service is friendly and professional and we will certainly come back to this restaurant.
Revisited in May 2013: It is mostly something that is not
so good when you eat at a restaurant. We could not find anything the second
time we visited En Catimini in Ferrals de Corbières. We decided to try one of
the little more expensive menus for 40 euros as we had a simple but very good wine-testing
menu the first time. We were sitting in
the beautiful garden there it was sheltered despite the little windy weather.
The chef
takes her inspiration from traditional French cuisine but shows a great deal of
innovation and creativity. This is a very good concept as it suits both
traditionalist, who likes more generous food and the modern gourmand that love
the new way of playing with texture, tastes and aesthetics. All dishes we got
fulfilled both these preferences. Exceptional was the starter Sushi Catalane,
based on smoked duck. We both had file of duck as main course. It was perfectly
grilled and tender and juicy inside, accompanied with perfectly cooked
vegetables. The cheese was a pure (potkäse) of blue cheese flavored with
Calvados and served with strings of apple, peppery rocket salad and endive leaves.
My cafe gourmand was overwhelming – a little of everything as it is. My wife
got 40 cm of lovely chocolate mousse.
Besides having
a good lunch we learned about a few new wines both with the food and afterwards
when the owner and I discussed the virtue of different AOP Corbières Boutenac
wines. It is possible to buy most high quality wines from the area here at the
same price as at the producer’s. Served at the table the prize is double, which
is a moderate profit compared to Sweden where 300% ad on would not be unusual
in a gourmet restaurant.
We are so
happy to have another great restaurant within 15 minutes from our home.
Revisited June 2013: We decided
to eat Sunday lunch with some American friends They had never visited the restaurant
and loved to go here as we had talked about how good it is. This time we had
their least expensive menu. The starters were as always superb, but unfortunately
the mains did not live up to our expectations. The “tête de veau” that two of was not made in a way we liked. The
mixed grill of fish was, as the leg of duck, dry. For dessert three of us had “ile flottante”
and the vanilla sauce was very nice with a taste of orange flowers, but the egg
white was a bit tough and not soft as I should be. We were not satisfied something that
we could have accepted if we had not taken friends to the restaurant.
Revisited April 2014: If last time was a kind of mishap, this time was absolutely perfect. We had a birthday lunch for a friend and were five in the party. Gain three of us had the sushi catalane and it was delicious and even more elaborated, both aesthetically and taste wise since the first time we had it. The giant shrimps were also very good according to the rest of the party. Our friend who loves traditional food had veal kidney, which according to them was an absolute dream. Our piece of pork was tasty, tender and very elaborated.
The quality continued all through the lunch and they made a great effort to customize the dishes to my wife that have to follow certain restrictions.
The service is very professional and friendly and we enjoyed the meal very much all of us. For the first time we were sitting inside in the nicely renovated dining-room.
Revisited July 2014: The lunch of the day with our friends Anne and Janne. We were sitting in the fabulous garden in the shade. The temperature out in the street was 35 but here it was lovely. The food was excellent as usual an we all had frog legs in tarragon sauce for starters and three of us settled for rabbit and one for fish. Service could not be better. One of us have special preferences of medical reasons, which was met in every detail.
Revisited July 2017: We have not
visited the restaurant for a while – there are so many good places to go in the
area, but En Catimini is always on our favorite list. We went there with our
grand-children and their parents. It was perfect to sit in the garden with the
boys. As always, the food was excellent and specially the children liked the
special children’s menu. They have really managed to prepare food that attract
both the eye and the pallet of children. The boys said they were not hungry,
but soon the plate was empty.
Revisited May 2018 (Piece-day WW2): As always a fantastic reception and the food was as good as it always is. We bought a case of a very nice dry Gewurztraminer from a local producer. It is nice to have such a good restaurant just 10 minutes from home. It will be even better in the summer when we can sit in the beautiful garden.
