LE GRAND CAP ♥

LE GRAND CAP - Chemin du Phare, 11370 LEUCATE
Michelin 

The restaurant in the same building used to be the one Michelin star restaurant Klim & Ko. Now it has new owners and is totally redecorated. It was good before, but it is far better now. We had a birthday lunch on a Monday with friends and it was fantastic.

The new owners are Pamela and Ewan Houssin. He has worked for Franck Putelat in Carcassonne and at the remarkable Meurice in Paris. Pamela is making all the fantastic sweets and desserts.

We tried the normal lunch of the day which starts with a “pouce bouche” followed by a really delicious starter on sea-food. The main course was very tender pork. We also had some cheese from the trolley, which was extra and after that we were served a pre-desert, followed by one of the most ambitious deserts I ever seen on a lunch menu. We were full, but still there were tons of sweets served – all hand made in the restaurant. All this, except the cheese, for 32 euros per person. Everything was absolutely delicious.

As I mentioned the restaurant is totally redecorated and the new chairs are comfortable. The table setting is really nice in all aspects and every little piece is chosen to remind you of the sea that is dominating the view entirely wherever you sit in the restaurant.

As positive as everything was I have a couple of small complaints: 14 euros for those tiny small pieces of cheese that were served is a theft and it did not get better when a piece of cheese dropped on the serving table was picked up and put on my friend’s plate. Also – the background music is terrible. It is a very irritating loop of new-age spa-music that just got us crazy after a while.

I am sure this will be the next Michelin star restaurant in the area and we will certainly go back many times.

Revisited November 2016: It was really good this time also. The today's lunch was a dream, so I expect the other menus offered to be a real experience for the taste as well as for the eyes. For those with a sweet tooth this place is also like coming to heaven. The desserts are endless also on the set lunch menu.

Revisited April 2017: Fantastic as always and the weather was splendid, which is an extra at this place.

WEB: http://www.restaurant-grand-cap.fr/

LATEST VISIT: Decembre 2018
NUMBER OF VISITS: 7

Reasons for the ♥ :
First of all the food, which is of highest gourmet class, but it does not hurt to look out over the infinite view of the Mediterranean Sea from a very tastefully designed restaurant there every detail is chosen with care. And - the sweets of course.

LE VIEUX COQ

LE VIEUX COQ - 1 rue Albert Paul Allies, 34120, Pezenas

This is a small restaurant located in one corner of the little square Gambetta. The location is very nice and the food is good and at a good price. One of the reasons that we go there is that there are many chances in Pezenas to get really bad food – especially if you go to one of the “restaurants” along Place du 14 Juilliet. Take a few extra steps and go into the old town – it will pay off.

WEB:
Latest visit: September 2016
Number of visits: 2

LA GUINGUETTE

LA GUINGUETTE – Rue de la Fontaine Fraîche, 11200 Argens Minervois

This restaurant on the banks of Canal du Midi is very rustic and charming. It is the first time we visited it, but we have got good recommendations from many friends to go there. We were not disappointed. The food is traditional and well-made and the atmosphere is very pleasant. You sit outside under large parasols. It is nice to see the canal boats passing by while listening to old French chansons in the background. For the first time we had grilled Camembert cheese on toast with tomatoes and garlic. It sounds weird, but is really delicious. Try it for starter or as a small dish – it is quite filling.
They have a good selection of local wines at a good price and in the summer they have concerts in the evening.

WEB: http://www.laguinguette-restaurant.com/
Latest visit: June 2017
Number of visits: 2

LA RÔTISSERIE – Restaurant Médiéval

LA RÔTISSERIE – Château de Villerouge-Terménès, 11330, Villerouge-Terménès

This is a special place. The venue is the old castle and they try to take you back to the 13^th century. They have four set menus and everything is well made and very generous. Aperitif and wine is included and generously served. You eat with a sharp knife, a wooden spoon and your fingers and use a bread-cake as plate. The personnel are dressed in 13^th century outfit and are very pleasant. Yes - it is special made for us tourists, but the price is right, the food is good and it is an adventure to visit the restaurant. Menus start from 35 euros and we were very happy with that.

WEB: http://restaurant-medieval.com/
Latest visit: September 2016
Number of visits: 1

LA MAISON DE PETIT PIERRE

LA MAISONDE PETIT PIERRE - 22, Avenue Pierre Verdier 34500 Béziers

Pierre Augé won the prestigious French Top Chef 2014 and has now won over the winners the following two years. We visited his restaurant in the summer when one can sit in the lovely garden. The food is very creative and delicious. It is an experience to go there, but still not too expensive. The atmosphere is very homey and pleasant and Little Pierre himself moves around among the guests, says a few words, shakes a few hands and is happy to pose on a picture together with the guests.

It is really an experience to visit this restaurant – but you have to reserve a table in advance.


WEB: http://www.lamaisondepetitpierre.fr/index.html
Latest visit: May 2015
Number of visits: 1

RESTAURANTE CASA HIDALGO

RESTAURANTE CASA HIDALGO – Calle san Pablo 12, Sitges, Spain

We found this restaurant through Via Michelin who had recommended it. The interior is fairly simple, but the service is pleasant and the food is really good. We had a three course dinner starting with two different variations of foie-gras. Both were very good. It was so generous that we could have shared one starter. My wife had a nice piece of veal entrecote and I had one of my favourites – a leg of baby goat. Both dishes Were tasty and the meat very tender.

The desserts were however a disappointment. My wife’s manchego cheese was dry, ice cold and had almost no taste and also my traditional crème caramel was quite tasteless. It was a pity to ruin such a fantastic meal with a bad finish. They however did not charge for the cheese even if they argued that it was the best manchego that was to find. Maybe so but we have had this kind of cheese many times in good restaurants and it is a favourite of my wife.

WEB: http://casahidalgo.es/
Latest visit: June 2016
Number of visits: 1

EL BALCÓ de CALELLA

EL BALCÓ de CALELLA – Pl. Atlàntic 2, Calella de Parafugell, Spain

This restaurant belongs to Hotel Sant Roc and one can sit either outside, on the veranda or in the dining-room. The view from either place in fantastic over the sea, the beach and the village. We settled for their gourmet menu which was a tasting menu so everything mentioned was included. Normally these tasting menus have small dishes, but here they were quite large. It was hard for me to reach the finish even if everything was really delicious.

The first starter was a very good Foie Gras and the second one was an oyster soup that was an absolute dream. The first main was a perfectly cooked fish and the second very tender veal. We also got two very tasty desserts, but at this time we were quite full.

Included in the prize 44 euros per person was white and red wine and they served as much as you felt like. Especially the first white wine impressed on me. It was a mixture of Chardonnay, Sauvignan blanc, Picpoul and Macabeau – which gave the wine a nice balance of fruitiness, freshness and body – perfect with both the Foie Gras, the soup and the fish.

The service was absolutely perfect as it was in the whole hotel. This is a place we will return to as it is just a couple of hours from home and the whole setting I almost perfect.


WEB: http://www.santroc.com/en/gastronomy-hotel-calella-costa-brava/#
Latest visit: June 2016
Number of visits: 1

BAR EL GALLO

BAR EL GALLO – Calle Especiers 13, St. Feliu de Guíxols, Spain

We were looking for a place to eat some tappas and sat down in this little place for just a drink. As the guy who served us was very friendly and helpful we asked if they had food as well. We got some very nice tappas – nothing fancy, but just what we were looking for. We were sitting outside in the street and watching people passing. It was a nice experience in a little bar that we normally would just pass.


WEB:
Latest visit: June 2016
Number of visits: 1

TORRE D’ALTA MAR ♥

TORRE D’ALTA MAR - Passeig Joan de Borbo 88 | Torre de Sant Sebastia, 08023 Barcelona, Spanien

This is really a fantastic experience that does not seem to be that well known. From Barcelona to Barcelonnette, there is a cable car. In the station-tower at the sea-side you find this restaurant. It is situated just one floor above the cable-car-station. The only sign of it from the outside is the door to the elevator. The design of the place is very modern and the view from up there is breath-taking of the whole of Barcelona.
The food is fantastic and to a fabulous price. We had the lunch menu that was a three course meal of the best gourmet class including a glass of cava and a glass of wine. If I remember right the price was 30 euros+ per person. The service was really pleasant and we can really recommend this to anybody visiting Barcelona.

WEB: http://www.torredealtamar.com/en/
Latest visit: February 2016
Number of visits: 1

LOS CARACOLES

LOS CARACOLES - Carrer dels Escudellers, 14, Barcelona, España

You must visit this place. Many people say it is a tourist trap, and maybe so. But – if it has been around for 180 years and my wife was here 1958 and it still looks the same it must have its virtues – and it has. You still have to reserve a table to get in. The atmosphere is fantastic and the service friendly but no nonsense. It is not a gourmet-restaurant, but the food is rustic, nice and generous.

The only problem is that you have to be sober to find you way out after your visit. You enter the restaurant through the kitchen which basically is an enormous stove where they prepare the food. They take you through a labyrinth of rooms, up the stairs and around bends and soon you are lost. Enjoy!

WEB: http://www.loscaracoles.es/index.php?lang=en
Latest visit: February 2016
Number of visits: 1

AUBERGE DE ST-MARTIN

AUBERGE DE ST-MARTIN - 11 Avenue du Général de Gaulle, 34210 Beaufort

We have visited this restaurant twice. The first time we were sitting in the garden and had some grilled dishes. We were very satisfied. The second time was on mothers day 2016 and we were not quite that happy. Maybe the quality was not so high because of the occasion and the pressure it puts on staff.
The service is very nice and the venue outside is very nice in the summer.

WEB: http://www.auberge-st-martin.fr/
Latest visit: May 2016
Number of visits: 2

L’Ô à la BOUCHE

L'Ô à la BOUCHE - 4 Allée de Cyprés, 11 120 Le Somail

Once it was a pizzeria, which we have visited, but with the new owner it is upgraded to quite a pleasant restaurant. The style of the place is really much more interesting than before and the first thing I notices entering the restaurant was the fantastic selection of very classy malt whiskeys.

Another first impression is the owner who is styled like a homeless teenager that have been sleeping under a bridge for a couple of weeks. All right for young people perhaps, but when you are over 50 and run a restaurant it is something else in my opinion, but I am sure some people think it is just right. Anyhow – the food is good at its best but the quality is a little uneven and overpriced compared to what you can get in the area. Possibly because of the location on the banks of Canal du Midi with all foreign tourists that have to stay close to their boat.

Our entrecôte was really good and tender and my wife’s turbot was good as well, but mine that was slightly smaller was over-cooked. So was the lobster one of our friends eat. The service was very nice and we got four glasses of sparkling for free because we had an anniversary. We will certainly return to this place as Le Somail is a great place and the owner is a pleasant guy despite his “modern” looks.

WEB: http://www.loalabouche.fr/
Latest visit: January 2016
Number of visits: 1