La Bellone

La Bellone
St. Adjutory
Phone: 05 45 62 33 88

This is our closest French restaurant, not too fancy and a very good value for money (review).

Tuesday, 26-April-16

Lunch with Bill today. We all the the menu du jour, with a delicious parmentier of pig's cheeks. Yummy and good value as always.

Tuesday, 29-September-15

La Bellone was closed for a bit during the summer for a bit of remodelling. The interior has been repainted (and it still smells of fresh paint).

We had a lovely lunch with Terry and Shirley. We all had the menu du jour for €13.50. Starter was melon and ham with strips of pâté de canard. For the main, three bits of fish (cod, salmon, and something else) on a stick, topped with bit of chorizo, and some veggies including a slice of zucchini topped with the flower buds from a broccoli (it looked like moss growing on the slices). Then some cheese and salad. Then a delicious fig tart with vanilla ice cream. Still good value for money.

Monday, 18-May-15

Dinner here with Bill after his arrival in the afternoon. Ed and I had the cheapest menu; Bill had the next one up in price. Good value.

Thursday, 23-October-14

Lunch here with Bill and Yvonne. Bill had a fancy menu, while the rest of us had the menu du jour. Price unchanged. Very nice.

Wednesday 31-July-14

Lunch with Barbara, Shirley, and Terry before the walking tour of La Rochefoucauld. A starter of seafood, beef chunks around rice for a main, followed by salad and cheese, then fresh strawberries and ice cream. Still a good value.

Monday, 12-May-14

Lunch with Barbara Douma today. Traditional seasonal starter of melon and dried ham. The main was a breaded, fried chicken breast, with gruyèred potato slices, and some other veggies. Then cheese with salad. Then crème brulée. Not too bad at all.

Thursday, 6-February-14

Lunch out with line dancing friends before class; Ed stayed home in bed. Very good meal. The plat du jour is  now €13.50 for four courses. We had a nice starter of red cabbage in vinaigrette with mousse de canard and radishes. Then a leg of chicken with sauce suprême, a reduced cream sauce, and veggies. Then two bits of cheese with salad. Then apple compote in crèpes.

Wednesday, 1-January-14

A start-of-the-year meal with just the two of us. Very good, again, very like last year's meal. The portions tend to be just a bit big, the ball of sorbet for the amuse bouche too big, too much (very tasty) beef for the main course. It is nice to patronize our local restaurant, but maybe we should try another of our favorites next year.

Friday, 4-October-13

Lunch out seemed like a good thing today, so we ate here. Friday is fish day. We had moules marinées for a starter, some merlu (hake) with veggies (a trifle overcooked) for the main, two cheeses and a bit of salad, and finally some fromage blanc with strawberries. Still a good value for money.

Friday, 22-March-13

Took ourselves to dinner after wearing ourselves out gardening. Two menus for €23 each. Cream of mushroom soup and a tartine gésiers for starters, both with beef cheeks for main, cheese, crème brulée and clafoutis de poire for dessert. Yum.

Tuesday, 1-January-13

Another start-the-year meal, this time with just the two of us, since unpleasant in-fighting has broken up last year's fun group. The meal was a bit too much like last year's perhaps, so maybe we'll skip a year before going again.

Thursday, 18-October-12

Bill took us to dinner tonight. I had the lovely mousse ("cake" on the menu) of chicken livers for a started. And pig cheeks. And crême brulée for dessert.

Thursday, 20-September-12

Took ourselves to dinner to celebrate 30 years in Europe and the installation of the new kitchen water heater. We were the only people there. :-( Ed had a delicious starter, a very light mousse of chicken livers, with strips of dried duck breast. Kaye has mouclade, mussels in a creamy curry sauce. We both had pig cheeks for the main and crême brulée for dessert.

Thursday, 12-July-12

Dinner with Bill and Panos. Very nice dinners. Three of us had the €27 menu; one had the €23 one.

Monday, 14-May-12

Lunch before flying off to US on Tuesday. Very nice idea to have a good meal while packing and not need to prepare something in the evening.

Tuesday, 14-February-12

Because it looked like the roads would still be in bad condition, we had our Valentine's lunch here. The plat du jour was a lovely lunch: nice salad with shrimp and avocado for a starter; parmentier with duck and zucchini "flan" for a main; some plain salad with the cheese; and crème brulée for dessert.

The plat du jour is now €12 per person for the four courses.

Sunday, 1-January-12

Another big new year's day meal with friends, Barbara and David, Shirley and Terry, Lesley and Toby. Didn't take notes, but it was a lovely big meal.

Friday, 29-July-11

Lunch with Lesley and Toby, prior to playing some petanque. Nice weather for sitting outside. We all had the plat du jour, which was a nice chunk of fish for the main.

Monday, 25-July-11

Dinner with Patrice and Wim. Same menu, I think. Three of us had the rabbit terrine entrée and the fish with lemon confit for main. Good as always. Glad to see it was quite full when we arrived.

Saturday, 18-Jun-11

We picked up Sam and Pat in Bordeaux today and went here for dinner. Sam had a very nice fishy thing that I will try next time if it's still on the menu. Everything was good, as it always is.

Friday, 29-April-11

Dinner with Bill. Very nice as always.

Friday, 8-April-11

A group from Ed's choir frequently eats here after the choir sings at a Friday night service. This was our second dinner with the group. (The first time was shortly after the 1st of the year.) We both had the cheaper menu, and very good it was.

Saturday, 1-January-11

We had a super multi-course new year's lunch with Barbara and David. The restaurant was very full and they had brought in another woman to help with the service. We started with an apertif, peach-flavored wine, maybe home made, the glass rimmed with pink sugar. Then a plate of fresh veggies with some real mayo. Then some foie gras with salad. Then a little soup of crevettes (some kind of shrimp or crawfish). Then a piece of dorade coated with sesame seeds. Then a bit of grilled beef. Then a cheese plate. Then dessert. Seems like a lot, but the portions were small enough that you could eat it all and feel full but not overstuff. Very pleasant indeed.

Saturday, 23-October-10

Ate here with Jack and Jeannie.

Friday, 29-January-10

We had lunch here, but not further 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.