Suggestions for Normandy

[alexurzopia]

re where to eat, i think the most famous restaurant there is la mere poulard (sp??) which is famous for it's GIGANTIC omelettes. frankly, i would go just to watch them make the omelettes (I was there awhile ago and it was great.)

[reachej]

It's not cheap, but an unforgettable experience would be to stay and eat at Olivier Roellinger, Maisons de Bricourt, and do the drive to Mont St. Michel. It's in Cancale. I would recommend staying in the Chateau.

[Laidback]

It's not cheap, but an unforgettable experience would be to stay and eat at Olivier Roellinger, Maisons de Bricourt, and do the drive to Mont St. Michel.  It's in Cancale.  I would recommend staying in the Chateau.

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The Maison de Bricourt is one of the great restaurants of the world; high on our all-time favorites. For another excellent choice, see my post below on Hotel Ecrin/restaurant Jean-Pierre Crouzil. It is about a 20 min drive from Cancale and about a century removed from the heavy duty tourism of MSM,Cancale, St. Malo.

Edited October 11, 2006 by Laidback (log)

[John Talbott]

Another bunch of recommendations, these from the British France Magazine:

Colomb'Auge Creperie

Au P'tit Normand

Le Pave d'Auge

[Margaret Pilgrim]

.... We were particularly lucky in the Pont Audemer area because we stayed at a farmhouse called Le Manoir de L’Aufragere and ate there every evening.  Unfortunately, this is not a restaurant, but a table d’hote for people staying at the house....We found them, just by chance,  in the Alastair Sawday Special Places to Stay guide, but there’s also an interesting piece on them here in the Telegraph.

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The website indicates that this place is for sale therefore no longer operating as a chambre d'hote. A pity but understandable.

[Dave Hatfield]

Place marked this thread on the interactive map near Caen.

Also see the post I have added up in the map thread concerning Google maps.

[crsm]

Anyone got any up-to-date recommendations for restaurants in or around Honfleur?

Cheers!

Richard

[PhilD]

Anyone got any up-to-date recommendations for restaurants in or around Honfleur?

Cheers!

Richard

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Sa. Qua. Na. would be my choice. We didn't eat there on our last visit as we had booked elsewhere and it had recently opened so it was an unknown. It has subsequenty got good press and a star. It looks pared back and very modern.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Sa. Qua. Na. would be my choice. We didn't eat there on our last visit as we had booked elsewhere and it had recently opened so it was an unknown. It has subsequenty got good press and a star. It looks pared back and very modern.

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SQN is definitely today's address. However, I would suggest that you read every review you can before deciding if it is your kind of food experience or not.

[Ptipois]

At the very least I would not recommend Sa.qua.na if you're after a Norman experience. This place could be anywhere else and I even wonder why it isn't in Paris, so that it could make way for another chef who'd be more respectful of the region. They even go so far into de-localization as serving Breton butter on the table. This really made my Norman hair stand on my Norman head.

One of my ideas of a Norman restaurant experience would be a big tureen of moules à la crème at Les Vapeurs in Trouville, with a Paillette beer on the side (brewed in Le Havre). Or just about any moules à la crème at any seaside café between Dieppe and Cherbourg. Or Le Bistrot du Pollet in Dieppe. Or L'Espiguette in Rouen. Or a canard à la rouennaise at the Hotel de Dieppe in Rouen, or in Duclair. Just take a stroll through the weekly markets that take place in every village and you'll understand why it is so important, in Normandy, to stick to "local".

In Honfleur, I hear a lot of good about L'Endroit.

Edited May 9, 2009 by Ptipois (log)

[robert brown]

I went last summer to Sa Qua Na where I had two very interesting meals. The chef was in charge of Michel Bras' restaurant on Hokaido and served time in Laguiole as well. It's stupid not to go there since you're not going to find him anywhere else. By all means you should go. While I am not a partisan of forced feeding, I found both his large and small fixed menus captivating. Also an intrepid international eater just came back from France raving about the place. The large menu is now 80 euros.

On the same trip, a re-visit to Les Vapeurs in Trouville was depressing. It had been years before that we had the moules a la creme of our lives. This time ( last June) the place was sad and empty. So be prepared and hope otherwise. Still, maybe it was a fluke this last time. Who am I to tell you not to give it a whirl? It's a classic situation regardless. And it's just one meal.

[Ptipois]

Last time I was at Les Vapeurs, the moules à la crème were as perfect as they come. And there are plenty of moules à la crème on the Northwestern French coast, many of them remarkable, but these were tops. Fries that came on the side were just okay. The atmosphere of the place was also great and the waiters adorable.

But it was February 2009 — who knows, they may have gone downhill since then...

Besides I never said Sa.qua.na was not good (though I am increasingly tired of those restaurants that could be planted anywhere in the world), just that if someone is expecting to find a taste of the region there, even remote, deconstructed and interpreted, this is definitely not the place. I was assuming that someone asking for recommendations in Honfleur would have expected a place that fit into the larger picture.

[crsm]

Last time I was at Les Vapeurs, the moules à la crème were as perfect as they come. And there are plenty of moules à la crème on the Northwestern French coast, many of them remarkable, but these were tops. Fries that came on the side were just okay. The atmosphere of the place was also great and the waiters adorable.

But it was February 2009 — who knows, they may have gone downhill since then...

Besides I never said Sa.qua.na was not good (though I am increasingly tired of those restaurants that could be planted anywhere in the world), just that if someone is expecting to find a taste of the region there, even remote, deconstructed and interpreted, this is definitely not the place. I was assuming that someone asking for recommendations in Honfleur would have expected a place that fit into the larger picture.

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Thanks for the advice. I probably should have said that I was mainly interested in hearing about non *'d places, because places with *'s are generally easy enough to get reviews of. Sa.qua.na does sound interesting though!

My wife went to Normandy a few years ago and thought the moules were fantastic - she's Belgian so she knows her moules! I'm sure she'd like to repeat the experience. She also raved about the fresh foie gras and calvados...... Trouble is she can't remember where she ate and of course things have probably changed in the intervening years.

Cheers!

Richard

[robert brown]

Let's figure it this way then: If Richard can return to Normandy in the not-too-distant future (and since he apprently lives in Belgium, he can easily do so), then he can take it or leave it now as far as Sa Qua Na is concerned. However, if such is not his situation and his trips to Normandhy will be few and far between, I can't see why he would want, given the vagaries of life, to pass over a chance to visit a young chef considered by the cognoscenti to be a genuine future great. I don't know or can't tell which posters have been to Sa Qua Na, but I have had two meals there that made me glad I did, and I would recommend it to anyone. And I'm glad to hear that Ptipois enjoyed Les Vapeurs recently.

[pirate]

Let's figure it this way then: If Richard can return to Normandy in the not-too-distant future (and since he apprently lives in Belgium, he can easily do so), then he can take it or leave it now as far as Sa Qua Na is concerned. However, if such is not his situation and his trips to Normandhy will be few and far between, I can't see why he would want, given the vagaries of life, to pass over a chance to visit a young chef considered by the cognoscenti to be a genuine future great. I don't know or can't tell which posters have been to Sa Qua Na, but I have had two meals there that made me glad I did, and I would recommend it to anyone. And I'm glad to hear that Ptipois enjoyed Les Vapeurs recently.

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Trust Robert Brown. Sage advice.

Edited May 10, 2009 by pirate (log)