Le Roc du Boeuf

Le Roc du Boeuf
Rochechouart
Phone: 05 55 03 61 75

Saturday, 14-May-16

Dinner here for Cath's birthday. The menu hasn't changed from our last visit. I had the vegetarian menu, which always looks promising and was. The starter was essentially the pannacotta de chevre without the dried pork "petals". The main was a tart, with a base of something, puréed beans and nuts perhaps, filled with an assortment of roast veggies. With a dab of sweet potato and another of kasha and barley on the side. Good stuff all. The Cath and Doug managed the duos of lamb, while Ed had the pork with udon (except they were rice noodles, but I won't tell). All dessert good too. Maridan for the wine again.

Saturday, 23-April-16

We ate here last May with Brette, but I see I neglected to record it. It was nice, but that's all I remember.

This time we ate here with Bill in the evening after going to the Phoenix book sale. Such a nice meal, lovely setting, good service, excellent food. Bill chose a really nice wine, Maridan 2011. For starters we had between us a balade d'escargots, a mille feuille de deux saumons et pomme, and a pannacotta de chevre. All beautiful and tasty. For mains we had two duos of lamb and a pork tenderloin. Then desserts. Then homeward.

Tuesday, 13-May-14

Lunch menus (€19 with a glass of wine) for three today with Barbara Douma. We started with a pork terrine (a coarse pâté) topped with a confit of onions and decoration of spirals of shaved beets and a dab of balsamic sauce. The main was galettes of ground chicken breast and chopped hazelnut, three little patties each. Very moist and tasty. Some fried potato chunks and a bit of salad on the side. Dessert was a trio of rice pudding, apple tart, and a dab of mocha with a swirl of dark chocolate. All yummy.

Tuesday, 16-Jul-13

Well, been a while since we've been here. No occasion tonight, just a late haircut in the area. I started with the vin du chataigne, which is nice every once in a while. We each had the €29 menu (dinner), three courses, with three selections for each course. Ed had an aspic-y terrine of beef tongue with ravigote sauce on the side and a roquette salad. I had a mousseline of salmon, with wedges of artichoke and some mussels. For the main, Ed had a brochette with the dark-meat breast of some kind of bird (quail? pigeon?) wrapped in bacon (like Canadian bacon), skewered with prunes and cherry tomatoes. I had a pastilla d'agneau, which was ground lamb, spiced and herbed with mint, topped with potato slices, wrapped in brik, a phyllo-like pastry. A little sauce of hazelnuts and mint on the side. We had a half bottle of Chinon to go-with. I'll try to find recipes for the pastilla and the tongue. For dessert, Ed had a trois drôles de dames with layers of pistachio, blackberries, and lavender. I had some chocolate and raspberries, can't be beat. All very good. Ate outside along the river.

Monday, 15-Nov-10

Ed's birthday lunch. This was the severalth time we've been here, and it's one of our favorites. We had a hard time finding something open on Monday, so opted for this. The meals are always interesting.

We started with an aperitif of vin du chataigne, which I like a lot and Ed not so much. We both had the menu du jour. The starter was a "cake" with a filling of smoked salmon, with a small green salad on the side. The main was a confit de porc with lemon and ginger, served around a disk of mashed potatoes. The menu included a glass of wine, Arrogant Frog (really!) , a red from the Languedoc. Dessert was a custard with a raspberry coulis. The topping includes a couple of gumdrops which was pretty but seemed a bit of out place. All presented very prettily.

Afterwards Ed had a café au lait chaud and I had a tisane, which was served a-brewing in a pretty glass teapot. Our cups were handleless, a glass cup inside another (like a glass ball that had been pushed in on itself). The insulating airspace meant the cups could easily be picked up.

Friday, 2-Jun-10

Another lunch, with no notes. Good, though.

Friday, 19-Feb-10

Lunched here for our first visit. Enjoyed it very much, but no other notes.

Le Lavalette

Le Lavalette
Villebois-Lavalette
Phone: 05 45 61 71 37

Friday, 21-August-15

Another lovely lunch, this time with Sam and Pat, following the same tour we did in the afternoon the last time we visited. Brochettes with duck for the main. (Several days later, have already forgotten the starter and desserts, but they were good.)

Monday, 1-September-14

A lovely lunch with Geo and Gea, Shirley and Terry, and Barbara. €15.50 for three courses. The starter was a terrine of scallops (again!), a bit of salad, and melon. The main was perfectly roasted chicken legs with potatoes and mushrooms. An apple tart with a dab of very chocolate ice cream for dessert. Then a tour of the city and chateau.

Tuesday, 15-October-13

Another lovely meal. The starter was a terrine of scallops, a bit of salad, and tabouli with fruits de mer. The main was a pig shank (whatever we call them in English) on a bed of mashed potatoes with some zucchini. The dessert with a Basque gateau with a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream and some fruit. All good, and reasonably priced.

Sunday, 2-June-13

Pleased again with the new management. Had a super lunch under the market. We had the 3-course Menu Dégustation. The entrée was local, a bit of foie gras, some smoked duck slices, with a bit of salad. For the plat, there was a duck leg confit; not sure of the sauce, but it made a lovely glaze on the bird. This was served with some veg and potatoes. For after there was a choice of cheese or dessert-of-the-day (apple tart), and we both choose cheese, a bit of St Ambert (I think; a blue), a bit of local goat cheese, and a St Nectaire, served with a bit of salad and the thinnest possible wedge of a walnut tart. All yum! It was lovely sitting outside under the old market.

Thursday, 14-February-13

The restaurant is under new management (review). Marie Granet was very nice and very busy. She even spoke a bit of English but changed back to French when we persisted.

There was a 3-course or 2-course menu (€15.50 or €12.50). The starter was langue de boeuf et sa salade de pomme de terre, sauce Grébiche (which seemed to be a little vinaigrette with hard-boiled egg, cornichons, capers, etc. very nice with the tongue. There was a bit of salad and a slice of pâté on the plate. The main was jarreton de porc accompangé de son risotto au vin rouge at carottes glacées, sauce pineau. That's a ham hock (?) or shank (Do we say ham hock and lamb shank? Pig shank?) and was very nice. The risotto was a bit overdone and wanted salt. There was some yummy bread on the table. Dessert was tarte citron meringuée, that's lemon meringue pie for the rest of us. Served with a small scoop of lime sorbet.

All in all, a very nice meal, with very nice service. The old market is being worked on; looks like it will be open again when the weather improves.

Tuesday, 10-August-10

Lunched here on the way to Aubeterre. Ate outside under the old market. Very nice food.

Saturday, 5-June-10

Lunched on our way to a concert at Chalais. Ate outside under the old market. Very nice food.

Le St Jean

Le St Jean
Nanteuil en Vallée
Phone: 05 45 89 11 79

Monday, 15-Sep-14

We had reserved lunch here for Easter Sunday on our way back from a Bach à Pâcques festival a couple of years ago. This was when I had my salivary gland stone and we had to cancel.

This was my birthday lunch. The food was disappointing, perhaps because it was Monday. There was a nice starter with a salmon pâté. We both had pork scallops with sauce and lots of frites. Frites? For lunch at a nice restaurant? From what we could see, it looked like all the mains came with a stack of frites. We had a nice plum tart for dessert. It came with a scoop of pineapple (?) ice cream that didn't seem at all related, though. No aperitif. Meals were €15 each including wine and coffee. Might try this one more time, not on a Monday.

Thursday, 26-Aug-10

Blundered into this looking for lunch after visiting the nearby L'Abregement gardens with Sally. A good find. Nice food, value for money, glass of wine included in the menu. Opposite the church.

La Toscane

La Toscane
3 Rue Limoges
Montbron
Phone: 05 45 70 83 31

We've eaten here quite a few time, unrecorded. Pizzas have been better of late.

Tuesday, 2-Apr-12

Pizzas for dinner. Disappointing. Tomato sauce was tasteless; crust is thinner than crackers.

Wednesday, 21-Sep-11

Pizzas for dinner. Not bad.

Wednesday, 8-Jun-11

Pizzas for dinner. We ordered two pizzas, half of each without tomatoes. They came with a string of dough down the center to separate the parts. Nice touch.

Friday, 20-Aug-10

Italian in Montbron, had been recommended. We had two different pastas for dinner. Ho-hum. Pizzas looked good though.

Bistrot du Boucher

Bistrot du Boucher
16 rue Raymond Poincaré
Angoulême
Phone: 05 45 95 00 51

Thursday, 26-May-11

Had a quick dinner before going to a movie. I had the salad Bistrot, while Ed had one with shrimp and chicken. Red and white house wines good. And desserts.

Sunday, 27-Feb-11

Lunched before going to a movie down the road. No menu du jour on Sundays. I had scallops, five, each served on a dollop of smashed potatoes and topped with a garlicky crumb mixture. Yum. Ed had a duck breast wrapped in phyllo or brique. Barbara and David each had steaks. House wines pretty good also.

Tuesday, 28-Dec-10

This is a chain, but the food is good, realsonably priced, and the service is friendly and fast. Usually we have a menu from the chalkboard. Today neither of us were very hungry, so we each had the starter house salad, with gésiers and a tiny piece of foie gras. Just the right size.

Friday, 22-Oct-10

Lunched here after picking up Jeannie and Jack from the train station. Nice meal.

This isn't the first time we've eaten here. There's good parking for shopping nearby, so it's a good place to eat when you're in town for the day.

Ancien Hôtel Baudy

Ancien Hôtel Baudy
Giverny
Phone: 02 32 21 10 03

Sunday, 19-Sep-10

We lunched here with Mike, Tosca, and Sydney after visiting Monet's gardens. It was an unexpectedly nice meal, perhaps a bit pricey, but lovely location. Many interesting choices on the menu.

Domaine de la Bonnieure

Restaurant la Bonnieure
106 avenue de la République
Chasseneuil sur Bonnieure
Phone: 05 45 39 67 66

Wednesday, 15-Sep-10

Kaye's birthday lunch. Lovely terrrace behind the restaurant; restaurant attractive. We both had the menu du jour and found it so-so, not bad, not especially good. Would go back for the setting or the convenience, but not especially for the food.

La Vieille Auberge

La Vieille Auberge
1 Route de Vitrac
La Rochefoucauld
Phone: 05 45 62 02 72

Monday, 6-Sep-10

One of the worst restaurant meals we've had here. We lunched with Bill and each of us had a different selection from the day menu. None of the meals was even mediocre. Never again. And too bad, because the location is handy.

La Fermette de Beaumont

La Fermette de Beaumont
Beaumont
Yvrac et Malleyrand
Phone: 05 45 62 37 70

Thursday, 2-Sep-10

Lunched here with Bill. Food is good, but expensive. Lunch menu is 5 courses, too much. A convenient place to eat on the way to the train station. Too bad.

We've eaten here several times before, lunch and dinner. Enjoyed food, but it's gotten too pricey.