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Published: October 15th 2007
Still More Dordogne Food Reports
Le Relais des Cinq Chateaux
24220 Vézac en Périgord
Tel : 33-553-303-072
Fax : 33-553-303-008
e-mail : 5chateaux@perigord.com
This was another revisit for us from our previous trip. Cinq Chateaux is a favourite of ours but never seems to get a lot of respect. I suspect it is partly because of the location in a modern motel/hotel place although some have reported terrible meals before Eric Vasseur took it over a couple of years ago.
We arrived at 1:30 on a weekday and they were already frantic with a large group of French tourists who, we found out later, were from Paris. They were having a fun time and the wine seemed to be flowing.
We relaxed and had a Kir Royale while we studied the menu. The menu is a bit complicated but none of the items were familiar from our last visit. The appetizers were those puff pastry things and a small bowl of peanuts. I have a theory that peanuts are served at authentic French restaurants, but the puff pastry is looking familiar - they even showed up at Meynardie.
It was lunch but we decided that it
would be our main meal and chose an entré, plat principal and dessert. Sandra’s starter of carpaccio with pine nuts, tomato, chives, shaved Parmiagano, orange slice and berry garnish was classic and delicious. Lightly sprinkled with a walnut oil dressing it was perfect.
I had a warm salad with coconut shrimp and a light curry sauce. The use of coconut and pineapple completed the theme. We have appreciated his use of fresh herbs which he grows beside the restaurant and this entré was adorned with chives, rosemary and parsley. The shrimp were cooked perfectly - still barely translucent.
Sandra’s main of scallops were served on a morel mushroom sauce. They were on, not in, the sauce and this is the way it should be allowing you to add as much of the condiment as you want - again, done perfectly.
My dorade (sea bream) was grilled and placed on a tomato based reduction. A phylo sac of cepes and a sushi roll of autumn vegetables accompanied each plate. This was both tasty and attractive.
Sandra’s fraise du Perigord was served with a walnut ice cream in a phylo basket. I decided on his signature dessert of
an iced walnut soufflé with noix liqueur. Wonderful.
A lovely Chablis went well.
The delices of homemade nut cookies and truffles disappeared with coffee.
The twelve French diners crowded around us for about five minutes after their meal apologizing for their exuberance at lunch and quite curious as to where we had been in France and how we liked their country. The owner/chef came out and joined the discussion perhaps wary that we were all planning to storm the kitchen.
Price for the three course meal was €27 per person plus the usual for aperitifs, bottled water, wine and coffee. This will remain one of our favourites both for his use of regional foods and fresh and different presentation.
Cooking at “Home”
One of the wonderful thing about renting a gite is having the ability to cook (eat) at “home”. One of the facts is that you can’t eat out every meal, every day - well you can, but it becomes tiresome and expensive and unhealthy. In reviewing gites it would be wise to check on cooking facilities. These vary greatly.
What did our gite in Carlux
Cooking at "Home"
Magret with foie gras farciehave that makes eating at home easier and more fun? ... a large fridge with a decent freezer, a stove with 4 elements (3 gas and 1 electric), a dishwasher with tablets provided, lots of pots and pans of various sizes, 2 French press coffee makers and an electric coffee maker and coffee grinder, a huge variety of cooking utensils, sieves, spatulas, etc., decent flatware and dishes and wine glasses and flutes, cheese trays, toaster, electric kettle, food processor, microwave, oven, basic spices, oil and vinegars, lots of bowls, storage containers, plastic and foil wrap, decanters and pitchers and I am sure I have missed other things. Having these things provided may make that bargain gite not so much of a bargain after all.
Le Bistro de L’Octroi (revisit)
111, Avenue Selves,
24200 Sarlat
Tel : 05 53 30 83 40
This was a second visit for us to this Bistro. We were meeting friends in Sarlat and this place seemed to fit the bill. As well we had neglected to have the Ile Flottant on our previous visit and Marilyn, and Toronto Fodorite and
L'Octroi
Egg poached in tomato friend had praised it to the hilt.
All four of us chose from the €18 menu which included an entré, plat and dessert.
Sandra’s starter was an egg poached in a tomato sauce, much like salsa. It was served in a cocktail glass with two breadsticks posing as straws. They got it right with a runny yolk. Mine was a huge plate of slices of pressed duck with balsamic vinaigrette and a petite salade. The sauce was put around the meat this time rather than all over it as was my complaint last time. Perhaps it had been the regular guy’s day off.
Sandra’s small steak with béarnaise sauce was cooked the way she likes it. Asking for “rose” seems to get a result between the blue of French rare, and the dreaded medium. “Medium rare” we would call it. I enjoyed a half pigeon with a vegetable reduction sauce. Both meals were served with a tiny cep soufflé, aligot potatoes, a mini cassoulet and fava bean pods - all very French and somewhat regional.
Dessert was the ile flottant for all three of us. Marilyn was right! How can a place make such a basic dessert better?
L'Octroi
Ile Flottant - best in the world? I don’t know but if in Dordogne, go to Bistro L’Octroi and try it.
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