Moulin de la Tardoire

Moulin de la Tardoire
La Forge, Montbron
Phone: 05 45 66 41 46

Tuesday, 14-February-17

Valentine's day lunch today. We didn't have the fancy Valentine's menu, but the regular menu du jour. We both started with a tartare of beets and hazelnuts, with some salad and a bit of toasted goat cheese on the side. And we both had a ballotine de volaille, wrapped around something tasty, including the dark meat. I had a frangipane for dessert, Ed had some big profiterole-ish things. All delicious.

Maybe because of the crowd, they had moved the entrance door to the end, meaning you really have to walk all the way around the building. That actually makes sense once you're inside.

Tuesday, 21-June-16

Lunch with Cath and Doug. Ed and Doug had a very nice starter with shredded rabbit; Cath and I had shrimp and avocado with a bit too much of a Thousand Island-like sauce. Our choices for the main were a bavette with frites or a slice of ham wrapped around Cantal, all breaded and fried. We all chose the ham, and found it quite good. (I found the bavette a strange choice for their menu.) Desserts were a chocolate thing topped with raspberry sherbert or a banana-Nutella thing that looked interesting as it passed by. And a bottle of Perchament.

Wednesday, 25-May-16

Lovely lunch with friends. We all had the lunch menu, now up to €19, but still worth the money. We shared a bottle of Madiran, the third time we've had this wine now.

Friday, 1-January-15

The new year's day menu was a bit lighter and cheaper than the one for new year's eve. Still, a bit pricey, but delicious and lovely service. Neither of were crazy about the champagne-Pimm's thing, but the rest of the meal was excellent.

Monday, 3-August-15

Broiling hot day. Lunch with Peg and Jim and Patrice and Wim. We all had the menu du jour, now €19. All delicious.

Sunday, 19-July-15

Lunch with Tosca and Mike. Such a nice meal. We all had the cheaper menu (€32 vs €34, I think), with dorade on risotto for the main. Ed and I each had a soft-boiled egg over tiny asparagus for a starter. Nice fruity desserts for all. The wine was a Chardonnay from a St Sornin vineyard, pretty good.

Thursday, 1-January-15

A lovely new year's meal, if a bit expensive, but very good quality. The wines chosen for each course we very nice. Both of us over-indulged on the cheese plate, so had a bit of trouble with the dessert.

Tuesday, 9-September-14

Lunch with Victor and John, a very nice menu de jour. Three of us had a lovely magret de canard while Ed had a giant chicken leg. Nice starters and desserts, but I've forgotten what they were.

Thursday, 22-May-14

Lunch will Bill this time; all with the €17 menu du jour. Ed and I had paneered goat cheese with salad for a starter; Bill had the melon and ham. Ed and I had a little baby pork thing for the main and Bill had what was a Weiner schnitzel. I had a half-cooked chocolate thing sitting in a little pool of crème anglaise, while Ed and Bill had a millefeuille. All good. They recognized us from last week.

Friday, 16-May-14

Lunch with Barbara from Amsterdam. We each had the €17 menu du jour. We all had the starter with shrimp and shellfish. Ed had fish, nicely cooked, while Barbara and I had magret de canard on sticks. Chocolate eclairs and an apple tart between us. All good. A trifle expensive but value for money and in beautiful setting.

Sunday, 15-September-13

My birthday lunch. We had the €32 dinner menu, less choice this time, only three each for starters and mains. Ed had roast maigre (a fish) as his main, and it was very good. Last time we went someone had the cromesqui, a croquette of pig's feet, that look very good. I substituted this as my main. This wasn't as good, has less of the meat and more of the fatty, cartilaginous bits.

Wednesday, 24-July-13

The old mill, Chabrot, has been transformed into a really good restaurant. Unfortunately it looks like a lot of the mill work, the bread oven, and the sifter have been removed. But the food is good and the location is lovely. (Reviews: Charente Libre, Sud Ouest)

The lunch menu is €16.50; we had the dinner menu for €32. Three courses with a choice of six dishes for each course. All we tasted were very good. Definitely worth a return.

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.