RISTORANTE TOSCANO IL BUCO

RISTORANTE TOSCANO IL BUCO – Via S. Ignazio, Roma

This photo of Il Buco dal 1901 is  published 

with kind permision by TripAdvisor.

As I have admitted I have a special relation to Italian food. Il Buco however was a really good experience. We were recommended this restaurant by our Norwegian friends, that was a double edged thing. The first visit was at lunch together with our Norwegian friends. We were received like royalties and were placed in the Norwegian room with a glass of spumante while they fixed a table in the already full restaurant. We heard that the restaurant is a place where the Norwegian expats in Rome goes – especially those with resources and taste for good food.

The habit among them were to let the restaurant choose what to eat. It was a good choice when it came to taste. We got salad on fresh mushrooms that was delicious which was followed by three small pasta dishes generously sprinkled with white truffles. The wine was a well matured local Lazio wine. As it was a late lunch we settled for these to dishes and promised to come back for dinner.

The bill was however a small surprise. They had served us the most expensive of everything and I must say 60 euros for two small dishes and wine for lunch is a little too much for us. Now I understood why they were talking so much about how rich Norwegian people are.

At dinner we – Englishmen and us from Sweden - decided to choose from the menu and the Norwegians followed our example. The bill was much more reasonable and the food as good as at lunch. We also made it absolutely clear to the patron – an absolutely charming man – that some of us were ”poor people” from England and Sweden and not stinking rich people from Norway.

Round the table we had sea-bass, rabbit, Ginny foul, veal and a few other things – all delicious. The wine, for a reasonable prize was even better than the one from lunch.

A funny thing was that the waiter looked like a twin to Sylvester Stallone and he had even put his voice and accent exactly like Rocky’s.

Web: http://www.ilbuco.it/
Latest visit: 2013
Number of visits: 2

Those who read Swedish can go to Några dagar i Rom and read about our visit to Rome

LA TAVERNA DEI FORI IMPERIALI

LA TAVERNA DEI FORI IMPERIALI – Via della Madonna dei Monti 9, Roma

This picture of La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali is used
with kind permission by TripAdvisor

It does not take long to go to Rome from Languedoc. I must admit I am not the greatest fan of Italian food. My main complaint is that you are supposed to fill you up with a enormous plate with pasta from start so you can not enjoy the more subtle delicatessen of Italian food. The second problem I have is the habit of cooking good meat until it is grey and totally dry. So – admitted that you must understand that the restaurants I recommend are really good – according to my taste.

The restaurant La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali is located on a little parallel street to Via Cavour, just a few steps from Forum Romanum. It is very typical Italian. We were seven people of three nationalities and we were all very satisfied with the food. We actually went there two times and both times I had very good pasta for starter, which I surprisingly finished as it was not enormous. My main course was something extra the first visit. It was wild bore with a sauce with blueberries and juniper – delicious. Next time I had the chef's special meat-loaf that was really good. I heard from my wife that the chocolate desert was lovely and my Baba Rum was very good as the pear-desert I had the second time.

The environment is very genuine and the service friendly and professional. The second time we were attended by the chef himself, which was very nice.

Web: http://www.latavernadeiforiimperiali.com
Latest visit: 2013
Number of visits: 2

Those who read Swedish can go to "Några dagar i Rom" and read about our visit to Rome

LE BLEU

LE BLEU - 19 ave de la Mediterranée, 11370 Leucate - La Franqui

There are a number of restaurants at La Franqui Plage and we tried the largest one last time we were there. It was not good - the food was of not so good quality and the service unpleasant. This time we went a few steps down the street and found the little restaurant Le Bleu, which has a few tables in the shadow under some palm trees and looked quite nice. It is not a gourmet restaurant, but a very pleasant beach restaurant. The service was very friendly and the food was of good quality and well made.

My wife had a whole grilled dorade that was big and perfectly cooked. I had an entrecöte, that was not an entrecôte, but more a sirloin. It was however tasty and perfectly cooked to my liking. The home made deep-fried potatoes were delicious.

The restaurant had also a good selection of desserts, drinks and other small thing and, most important for a beach restaurant, they were open all day.

It is only one little thing we did not like. 19 euros for an entrecôtes that is something else and 23 euros for a grilled fish, even if it was large and well cooked is a bit too much. Compared too the other place we have tried along the avenue it is however to recommend.

WEB: http://www.bar-lebleu.com
Latest visit: 2013
Number of visits: 1

CAFE BRASSERIE LA PROMENADE

CAFE BRASSERIE LA PROMENADE - 8 Bvd de la Promenade, 11220 Lagrasse

Cette photo de Café Brasserie la Promenade
est fournie gracieusement par TripAdvisor 

There are quite a few restaurants in Lagrasse and several along La Promenade. One of the least remarkable on the outside might be Café Brasserie la Promenade. It is basically a bar, but also a café and brasserie and the combination makes it quite noisy inside during lunch,

Do not hesitate to try it. The food is excellent and the service nice and quick. We were there the other day with some friends and had their 19 euro set menu. The entrécôte was tender and perfectly cooked and my confit de canard was very tasty. The salad and plate of charcuterie we had for starters were rich and very good and the desserts were good as well.

Revisited September 2014: This is one of the places we always get good traditional food. They are open only for lunch, but every day of the week.

WEB: www.cafebrasserielapromenade.com

LATEST VISIT: 2014
NUMBER OF VISITS: 4

LE VITALIANO (Closed)

LE VITALIANO - Cours Mirabeau 9, Narbonne

The large open area around Canal de la Robine in Narbonne is now finished and has come out quite nice. A number of new and existing restaurants have appeared from the cement-dust and machinery noice. One of these that has suffered seriously from having a big hole in front of their entrance for months is restaurant Le Vitaliano.

We visited the restaurant the other day and was very satisfied. They served two excellent pieces of meat – an entrecote for me and a piece of lamb to the ladies. Both were tasty, perfectly cooked and tender. The service was nice and professional. We will certainly return to this place again.

WEB:
LATEST VISIT: 2013
NUMBER OF VISITS: 1

RESTAURANT PIERRE

RESTAURANT PIERRE - 7 - 9 rue Dufour, 71000 MACON 

We found a very good gourmet-restaurant in Macon. The name is Pierre and is owned by Christian and Isabelle Gaulin. The restaurant is well designed and the service professional and nice. We had their least expensive set menu and it was really good. I would not be surprised if they get a star in Guide Michelin soon, but they might not want that. At the moment they are awarded two knives and forks.

The little teasers we got to warm up was excellent and the starter based on bresaola was as well. The main dish was lamb cooked slowly at low temperature accompanied by perfectly cooked vegetables. It was very good. My wife, as usual, asked if she could change the dessert to cheese. Normally cheese was an add-on to the set menu. It was no problem and no extra charge. My dessert was copious, but I could not resist anything. My wife could have a free choice from the cheese trolley. As if that was not enough they came with a big selection of goodies to have with the coffee. 

There was just one problem that the restaurant could not help. During starter a party of four American couples entered the restaurant and made it impossible to eat, talk or relax. They were yelling, laughing and made such noise that the rest of the guests could not stay. The staff was apologizing, but could not tell them to lower their voices.  They instead evacuated the rest of the guests to an inner room so the Americans were on their own in the main restaurant. Interesting enough they did not seem to notice that all guests were passing by their table with their wine glasses, going somewhere else.

It is important to say that it was not young overexcited people, but middle-aged, well dressed normal couples, there especially the women could not talk without screaming with a high pitch voice and were constantly laughing their heads off. It is not the first time we had had this problem with Americans in restaurants, but of all our numerous American friends we can not imagine they would behave like that. Strange?

WEB: http://www.restaurant-pierre.com/
Latest visit: September 2013
Number of visits: 1

LA COURTINE

LA COURTINE - 4 Place Marcou, 11000 Carcassonne

La Cité in Carcassonne is full of restaurants, but quite a few are not really worth the prize. There are however some who are very good. We found one the other day – La Courtine. It is situated in the corner of Place Marcou, there you find lots of restaurants, most of them not worth a visit.

As we had our grand-children with us we were looking for a restaurant where they served spaghetti- This Italian restaurant did so. Ourselves we had their menu of the day and it was a good choice. The meat was tender and cooked to our liking and the chips and the salad was perfect. The dessert of the day was delicious. My wife however took a cheese-platter and I had café gourmande. The cheese was of very good quality which is not very common on less expensive menus. The restaurant also had pizzas which they had earned a prize for. We might try that next time.

The service was nice and friendly. The bill was however a small chock. They had added 16 euros together for my upgrade of dessert and my wife’s cheese. When we pointed it out they corrected it and gave us 10 euros back. It was probably a mistake this time, but it is too often in the summer that such mistakes happens to tourists. They might not think tourists are observant enough or do not master French enough to complain.

WEB:
LATEST VISIT: 2013
NUMBER OF VISITS: 1

LE PRE ST JEAN ♥

LE PRE ST JEAN - 18 Avenue du Marechal Leclerc, 34120 Pézenas

There are quite a few restaurants in Pézenas' Historic Centre, but the quality is uneven and it is mostly difficult to get a table during summer. A little more than 100 meters from Centre Historique on the main street we found  Restaurant Le Pré St Jean- a gourmet restaurant with reasonable prizes.

It was a very pleasant experience -  the food was excellent and the service friendly and correct. We all had fish dishes that were delicious. The interior of the restaurant is pleasant and has a more formal style than most restaurants in the Historic Centre. This will certainly be a favourite when we go to Pézenas.

Revisited January 2014: This time we had meat. Starter was with quail and main dish was guinea fowl. Both were delicious. This is turning into a real favourite restaurant.

Revisited April 2014: A simple but delicious two-course lunch this time and a glass of wine each. We both had quail for starters and I had rabbit and my wife veal as main course. It was perfect and we feel that we can give this restaurant a hart even if we have been there just three times. The only little mistake was that my wife got a little jar with cold milk with her cafe noisette.

Revisited June 2014: We  visited the restaurant with our friends from Norway. As always the food was lovely and the service perfect. We had a bottle of the fantastic rosé wine from Mas Jullien made by the famous vine-maker Olivier Jullien. The wine comes from north part of Herault and is an AOP Terrasses du Larzac. Very few restaurants serve the wine so we can 't resist it when we have the opportunity.

WEB: www.restaurant-leprestjean.fr
Latest visit: June 2014
Number of visits: 4

LA COLOMBE d’OR

LA COLOMBE d’OR – 06570 Saint-Paul-de-Vence

We were recommended this restaurant by an artist friend.  It is the place for artists in the area and also for the “beautiful people”. The indoor areas are full of the most fantastic painting of famous artist and many of the now living can be seen here. Now, everybody was sitting in the beautiful garden which was absolutely full. 

The service is perfect – they even park the car for you. The food is good, but not as good as it should be for the prize. You visit this restaurant of other reasons – the environment, the beauty of the place and maybe for the chance to get a glimpse of someone rich and famous. Maybe we saw some but we would not recognize them. We however saw some interesting characters – famous or not.

WEB: http://www.la-colombe-dor.com/indexEN.html

LATEST VISIT: 2013
NUMBER OF VISITS: 1

Those who read Swedish can follow our entire trip in Provence on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/resa-i-provence-forsta-etappen.html and on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/provence-andra-etappen.html

LA TREILLE MUSCATE

LA TREILLE MUSCATE – Place de l’Eglise, 04360 Mustiers-Ste-Marie

Den här bilden på Restaurant - Bistrot provencal La Treille Muscate
används med tillstånd av TripAdvisor

We were recommended this restaurant of the owner at our hotel. The location was great with the water-fall as a background. We were sitting outside and were taken care of what we thought was the owner. She had very firm opinions about thing so we felt that we had better following her advice, which was not entirely good.

The food was all right, but not great for the prize. As we always drink local wine when possible, we asked the owner to recommend something on half liter bottle. She said a wine for 30 euros was very good. I hope so I said – for that prize. You asked me what was our best wine and I answer you was the answer. It might be true in five years, but the 2011 wine we got was too young and not at all pleasant to drink. I was about to complaint but my wife said I better not.

WEB: http://www.la-treille-muscate.com/

LATEST VISIT: 2013
NUMBER OF VISITS: 1

Those who read Swedish can follow our entire trip in Provence on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/resa-i-provence-forsta-etappen.html and on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/provence-andra-etappen.html

LE RELAIS

LE RELAIS - 04360, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie

Most restaurants in Moustiers Saint Marie are quite expensive. We usually like to have a light but well-made lunch and put the money on the dinner when we are on vacation. 

After some time we however found the restaurant Le Relais that looked nice. The prizes were reasonable and they had a selection of smaller dishes. My wife had grilled egg plant and myself, I had Carpaccio on beef. Both were very tasty and well prepared. Maybe my Carpaccio was a little small so I had to take a dessert - a crème caramel that was very good.

WEB: http://www.restaurantcotecour.fr/restaurant_en/le_chef.php

LATEST VISIT: 2013
NUMBER OF VISITS: 1

Those who read Swedish can follow our entire trip in Provence on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/resa-i-provence-forsta-etappen.html and on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/provence-andra-etappen.html

LA POTINIERE DU PALAIS

LA POTINIERE DU PALAIS - 13, Square Mérimée, 06400 Cannes

Den här bilden på Potiniere Du Palais, la används med tillstånd av TripAdvisor

So far we had used Guide Michelin to find good restaurants. This time we liked to find something ourselves. The only criterion was that my wife liked to eat deep fried Squash flowers. We found the little restaurant La Potiniere du Palais  just a little off Boulevard la Croissette.

We were not disappointed. The squash-flowers were crispy and delicious. The main course was lamb-chops that were taken off the bone. They were perfect. I have always claimed that French people cannot make mashed potatoes – at least not as good as mine, but I have to change that opinion. For the third day in a row we had really tasty mashed potatoes made with olive oil. Here they had added some pieces of black olives into it – very tasty.

They had a good selection of wine on half liter bottles. The service was friendly and professional and the prize was right for such good food. But, on the other hand, if you are located just across the street from the Festival Palace you cannot serve anything but the best.

WEB: http://www.lapotiniere.fr/ 
LATEST VISIT: 2013
NUMBER OF VISITS: 1

Those who read Swedish can follow our entire trip in Provence on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/resa-i-provence-forsta-etappen.html and on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/provence-andra-etappen.html

RESTAURANT COTE COUR

RESTAURANT COTE COUR -  13100 Aix-en-Provence

First of all - the food is absolutely fantastic. The starter, the main course and the desserts were all of highest quality. The starter we had was soft boiled egg with an emulsion of bacon - fantastic. For main course we had shoulder of lamb that had been cooked for 36 hours. It was perfect. The dessert was apples in thin stripes rolled like a pine cone with ginger marmalade. Also very tasty.

The chef is Ronan Kernen who took part in the 2011 Top Chef in France.

With such a fantastic kitchen and chef it is a pity that the rest had a few things to be wished for. Obviously they were under-staffed as everyone was running which was very stressful. One of the waiters bumped into my wife’s chair three times without noticing. If she had been drinking red wine in that moment her dress would have been ruined. The noise reduction in the restaurant was very poor. I could not talk to my wife and nobody else could talk to anyone, so everyone were talking very loud. It was more like a cheap pub than a top restaurant.

Besides that we were seated near the serving bar and the kitchen, which was just divided from the restaurant with a simple partition. The noise from the kitchen when the staff threw empty bottles into a bin was terrible.

For a restaurant of this quality the wine list was very limited. They only had one wine of red, white and rose on half liter bottles. As they did not have any half liters left of the red we had to buy a whole bottle, which is a bit too much for two. They had the same wine on full bottles so it would have been easy to sell half a liter of that and the rest by the glass.

Another strange thing was that I could not order the wine from the waiter together with the food - I had to talk to the sommelier. After a while a person came and asked what we like to drink - we thought he was the sommelier. He however did not know anything about wine and he filled my wife's glass while I still tasted the wine. The sommelier was someone else, which we could see on the golden grapes she had on her jacket.

It was also a short discussion if my wife, who does not eat sugar of medical reasons, could have cheese instead of a sweet dessert. The waiter had to ask the head waiter who approved of it. We have only been to one restaurant through all the years that have even questioned such a thing.

I am a little sloppy when it comes to checking the bill in restaurants, which my wife is not. At quite a few locations during our trip in Provence we got the bill from other tables, which always were higher than ours. This time however, my wife asked me when we had got back to the hotel, how much it cost and I looked at the bill and told her. That cannot be right she said – it should be at least 30 euros more. I however looked at it as a unintended compensation.

WEB: http://www.restaurantcotecour.fr/

LATEST VISIT: 2013
NUMBER OF VISITS: 1

Those who read Swedish can follow our entire trip in Provence on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/resa-i-provence-forsta-etappen.html and on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/provence-andra-etappen.html

BISTROT DECOUVERTE

BISTROT DECOUVERTE - 19, bv. Victor Hugo, 13210 St Rémy de Provence

We came to St Rémy de Provence on a Sunday so many restaurants were closed. The owner of the hotel however recommended Bistrot Decouverte, which was an excellent suggestion.

It is a family owned restaurant in the old town and the food was really good and the prize was very reasonable. The foie gras we had was perfect and the lamb shank for main course was delicious and very tender.

The selection of wine was really good with a large selection of local wine that one can buy to take home. The service was very nice with a personal and welcoming attitude. We really enjoyed the evening.

WEB: http://www.bistrotdecouverte.com/index.php
LATEST VISIT: 2013
NUMBER OF VISITS: 1

Those who read Swedish can follow our entire trip in Provence on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/resa-i-provence-forsta-etappen.html and on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/provence-andra-etappen.html

HOSTELLERIE DE LA REINE JEANNE

HOSTELLERIE DE LA REINE JEANNE - Grand rue, Vieux Village, 13520 Les Baux-de-Provence

As always on vacation we look for restaurants where we can get a light meal for lunch. Les Baux-de- Provence is full of restaurants so it is not easy to choose. On a chance we tried Hostelliere de la Reine Jeanne. The terrace looked nice and the dishes they carried around to the other guests looked good.

My wife loves egg-plant so she had a small dish with that and I had a very nice tomato salad with at least three different kinds of tomatoes that had the French name “Farandole de Tomate”.

All food they served was really beautiful and the helpings were generous. I am sure it was delicious also - our was. The service was very good and the prize reasonable.

Those who read Swedish can follow our entire trip in Provence on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/resa-i-provence-forsta-etappen.html and on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/06/provence-andra-etappen.html

WEB: http://www.la-reinejeanne.com/table-reine-jeanne-anglais.htm

LATEST VISIT: 2013
NUMBER OF VISITS: 1
 

KIMCH’I

KIMCH’I – 20, ave Wilson, 11200 Lezignan-Corbières

First of all we must say that we have never been to a Korean restaurant before so we have nothing to compare with. The food was however made with a lot of ambition even if it did not entirely please us. Also we had the set lunch menu that might be something totally different to the more expensive alternatives.

For starter we had Korean Ravioli that was beautifully made with beef filling, but we had expected more filling with more tastes and less pastry. My main course was a Korean specialty – Bibimbap - that was nice, especially with some hot sauce.  My wife had pork ribs grilled with a sauce that made them black, which we were explained was not because it was burned – it was the caramelized barbecue-sauce. My desert was classic caramelized bananas, which was good, but my wife’s coffee was very weak and not warm. They however did not charge for the coffee as my wife did not really like her ribs.

My wife had a very good white wine from Chateau Grand Moulin. They poured her a glass and left the bottle so she could drink as much as she wanted. They charged for what she had consumed – a very nice way of serving wine. Myself I had a Korean beer Cass, which was very nice with the food.

The service was nice and the decoration of the restaurant brand new in, what I think is Korean style. You could call it Asian no-nonsense design. The rest-rooms were very proper, modern and stylish. I was especially impressed by the black toilette-paper.

LATEST VISIT: 2013
NUMBER OF VISITS: 1