Eat Like Ushi

There was a lot of time spent and wasted trying to figure out where to eat dinner the first night in Ploumanac'h. The hotel restaurant La Table de Mon Pere was the obvious choice and best rated restaurant in the whole of Perros-Guirec, but it seemed fitting to leave that to another night.

On a Monday it seemed many places were closed - Le Cabestan, Le Ker Louis, Le Bistrot du Port - and the remainder were expensive places and/or hotel restaurants - Des Rochers, La Cotriade.

Against my better judgement, we ended up in Le Mao. A place that wasn't that highly rated and had a displayed menu in 4 languages. How wrong my judgement was on this occasion though.

- Soupe de poissons maison (croutons et fromage rape) €5.9 - this started my endearment for Breton fish soup. It reminds me of the incredible bouillabaisse soups I had in Marseille back in 2009. This was one of the best I've had, rich and thick and full of incredible fish flavour. The cheese melted and swirled through and the croutons gave it a bit of extra bite. Exceptional;
- Plateau de Fruits De Mer €28.9 for 1 person - this platter for 1 could easily feed 2 on its own. It comprised of a full large spider crab, 3 oysters, 3 whelks, 3 prawns, 3 langoustines, and lots of mussels and sea snails. The food was fresh, well cooked and very flavoursome. My favourite would have to be the whelks with their strong ocean salinity;
- Galette, champignons et fromage €5.5 - a nicely cooked galette with a crisp buttery outside and the savoury wheat flavour.

This was my favourite meal in Ploumanac'h and Perros Guirec.

There was a wedding to attend in the French countryside in a chateau. It doesn't get too much more exciting for an Australian location wedding than that. Close to the small town of Fougeres, Chateau du Bois Guy is a beautifully set venue with a vast expanse of grass, animals (including a very very large rooster), a cadillac, and some art pieces adorning the front lawn.

The food is set menu and it seemed appropriate to have some nice meals there rather than drive away each time.

There was minimal explanation of the food by wait staff sadly.

The first dinner (€35) comprised of a fish tartare (cod I think) with mayonnaise and crisp grains, a delicious tender roasted chicken leg with vegetables, and a excessive all white chocolate and pastry extravaganza. The highlight for me was probably the stick fingers of beautifully crisp, soft, seasoned fried bread that was served warm.

The dinner served during the wedding did up the ante slightly with lovely raw salmon, a main of beef filet (unfortunately mine was one of the end pieces so smaller and much more medium than the rare I like; although a thought for the person who received the well done part) with some exceptional cherry tomatoes and crunchy peas, and a chocolate crispy dessert with more white chocolate.

Breakfast (€15) was a wide selection of multiple cereals (including muesli and granola), yoghurts, croissants, lots of conserves, and baguettes with cheese and cured meat and soft boiled eggs.

Whilst staying at Chateau Bois-Guy, the close little town of Fougeres had their Saturday market. It was a convenient place to get some brunch/lunch prior to the afternoon wedding.

I had feared it may be only produce and wares but this was allayed by the first smells and sights of the market. After driving around for 20 mins to find parking, the classic sausage sizzle could not be passed by. I had heard that sausages wrapped in galette was a local thing and sure enough it was available here. It did seem a little strange but I suppose it's just a bread replacement. The sausage and mustard were good too.

The only other food to eat I liked was a large rotisserie place that served a delicious large roasted duck leg, rotisserie chicken (that I didn't try) and hot potatoes that sat under the chickens as they turned and dripped their juices. They were served burning hot and coated in fat drippings.

Some French cheese (Brittany isn't known for cheese), local dried and cured sausages, and bread was taken away for lunch. There was also lots of mussels and fruit/vegetables.

There isn't many food review sites online (perhaps just not in English) for many of the little towns in Brittany. That means Tripadvisor really comes into prominence in the region. I was surprised to see #1 in Rochefort-en-Terre was a gaufre (or waffle) place.

In the morning after a walk around and purchasing some local Breton cider for the road, the wait was successful until 12pm when Voyage Gaufre opened. The building and exterior is absolutely cute and gorgeous and so typical of what made Rochefort-en-Terre the best voted village in France for 2016.

The menu has savoury and sweet gaufres. How could I go past La Bretonne (noix de St. Jacques cuisinees, fondue de poireaux) €12 whilst in Brittany? Beautifully plump scallops sauteed in butter came on top of leeks cooked in butter and served on a waffle with crisp outside and soft and very buttery inside. It was butter in extremes and delicious as a result. The watercress on the side also had melted butter drizzled on it just to be compatible.

For the less buttery, there are also sweet gaufres and some reasonable sounding salads too.

I can see why this is #1. I didn't have another gaufre but I'm happy I had it once here.

After flying into Rennes and hiring a car to leave straight for Rochefort-en-Terre, this return stopover enroute to Parigne was the closest I would come to visiting Rennes. It wasn't that I was against it, just that it seemed there were many other smaller and more boutique towns and villages to go to instead.

This bakery was coincidental as we stopped mainly for a Carrefour, of which the carpark also had a free public toilet (with no light switch).

Kouign Amman was less sweet and buttery than the first one in Rochefort-en-Terre but still tasty nonetheless. The various breads with sausage and cheese or cheeses and herbs baked in were great savoury lunches and reinforced the quality of bread in France.

Surprisingly on a Thursday night in early summer, many of the town restaurants and cafes were closed in the evening. It seemed a bit strange. Given this and the only place I had marked was a creperie Cafe Breton that was also closed, the options came down to what was open at the east entrance to town - Les Adoisieres or L'Ancolie. L'Ancolie was a bit more expensive and Les Adoisieres seemed busier so the decision was easy in the end.

I had some difficulty reading the menu even with the help of my phone translator. The wait staff did speak some English but I didn't want to burden them.

- Choucrete de la mer €14 - a wonderfully cooked fillets of white fish, medium sized but very strong flavoured (especially the heads) prawns, potatoes in a buttery creamy sauce;
- Surprise de bouef, sauce poivre, frites et salade €14 - a medium-rare (I ordered rare but it's ok) steak which had reasonable tenderness and flavour, buttery pepper sauce and served with some nice crisp fries.

The staff are friendly and stepping back out into the sunset lighting above the venue is a wonderful time.

Next time I would order the choucrete again and probably try the jarret de porc braise (I think this is the meat casserole dish I saw another person eating that I actually wanted). The beef is decent but not a local specialty and I can get that anywhere.

The quintessential pastry of France may be the croissant, but in Brittany the local specialty is Kouign Amann (still unclear how to pronounce that properly).

The smells wafting from this small bakery in the corner of the plaza in Rochefort-en-Terre leant itself to being the first thing I ate in Brittany. And wow was it special - a honey coated exterior turned crisp housing a layered chewy buttery and sweet pastry centre. There's only so many of these you could eat (before sugar overload or diabetes or heart disease) but it is to be savoured.

The also served Far Breton which is more of a custard tart/flan that was nice too.