Eating out in French restaurants
It almost goes without saying that one of the attractions of coming on holiday to France is the food. In particular, eating out in a restaurant or brasserie is one of the great pleasures of French life. So you will be relieved to read that the Poitou-Charentes is no exception when it comes to good restaurants. It’s a large region in which you can find just about all kinds of eating-place, from the most simple rustic auberge to Michelin-starred restaurants.
Some of the best Poitou-Charentes restaurants can be found in the larger towns which also boast a wide range of cuisines. Take La Rochelle where in addition to French cooking you will also find a more international dishes – for example a number of Asian restaurants near the harbour offer a blend of Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai cooking. You will also find Indian and Chinese restaurants in such towns as Angoulême, Cognac and Poitiers. You should be aware, however, that in general the French don’t go for hot, spicy food, so diners used to Madras or Thai chilli heat may be disappointed!
Good restaurants in Poitou-Charentes are not, however, restricted to the bigger towns only. All small towns and many villages will have their own restaurant, many of them unsung centres of cooking excellence. You’ll also find some top class restaurants in the countryside attached to châteaux or country hotels. Meanwhile in restaurants along the Poitou-Charentes coast – in towns such as Royan and La Rochelle - you’ll find many excellent seafood dishes. Oysters, lobster, shrimp, crayfish, fish, mussels – the French just love their seafood.
TIME TO EAT
A key thing for newcomers to be aware of is that when eating out in French restaurants, the hour at which you sit down to a meal is everything. Lunchtime is still a big thing in the French workplace, even though it’s practically vanished from the Anglo-Saxon world. As a result expect to find lots of places packed at lunchtime between midday and up to 2pm. This is the time when you’ll find some excellent value for money menus, called the menu du jour. This can cost as little as €3.50 for a three-course meal in a simple café, rising to €12-€15 in more expensive restaurants. It may even include some wine.
Bear in mind, too, that many, if not most, restaurants close for the afternoon – so if you leave it too late for lunch, you may be pushed to find somewhere open. In the evenings, dining is likely to be a lengthier and more expensive affair, as the simple menu du jour isn’t always available then. This applies just as much to Poitou-Charentes restaurants as elsewhere.
CHOCOLATE PROFITEROLES ANYONE?
You will also need to get use to some of the idiosyncrasies of eating out in French restaurants. Often you’ll be surprised halfway through a meal by the arrival, all on its own, of a plate of lettuce – or salade as the French prefer to call it. A French friend tells me that the only purpose of this solitary dish is either to ruin the taste of the wine or to get salad dressing all over your clothes….but I assume he’s joking!
Another custom is that the cheese dish comes before the pudding – and not at the end as is the tradition in some other countries. But then, that’s one of the pleasures of travel isn’t it – to experience new things?
Finally a word about the service. You may be used to waiters in Paris who don’t exactly have the best reputation in the world when it comes to politeness. But the provinces are different, and in Poitou-Charentes restaurants you will generally find a friendly and efficient service, and many younger waiting staff in particular will speak English. You’ll also often likely to find menus in English to help you decipher some of the more unusual dishes. This is very useful if there are certain things you want to avoid - for example a kind of sausage packed with tripe and known as an andouillette is very popular here…
Bon appetit!
Search for restaurants in the Poitou-Charentes
Words: Michael STREETER
Pictures: Elena Elisseeva - Fotolia.com & Money Business Images - Shutterstock