Eat Like Ushi

My Airbnb in Dinan was cancelled a few days beforehand. Apparently there was a fire across the road and so they weren't allowed to stay due to dangers. I therefore re-researched and decided to make a stopover in Dinan but still in St. Malo instead. It was only a short afternoon therefore in the fiery 30-35C heat of Dinan in June and walking down to the port then up the steep but beautifully historic and decorated street Rue du Jerzual and Rue du Petit Fort was hectic enough to only want to do it once per trip.

In terms of food, I couldn't believe how many places were closed. Even all the highly recommended creperies were closed (some for the day, some because lunch had just finished). La Fleur de Sel was the only one I had marked for a nice meal but it was late and a long lunch wasn't one I was looking forward to.

Le The Gourmand was a funky looking place, relaxed and colourful and the menu was limited but healthy. The serve lots of tea, including bubble tea. I didn't try it but the sweet, dry, cooling fruit de la passion ice tea would had made an excellent base for it.

- Le Croque campagne (emmental, jambon blanc, creme fraiche fermiere, pain de campagne) €8.9 - for some reason I translated this as likely to be one of the savoury tart slices that was sitting on the bench. I was wrong and this was a sandwich with melted cheese on top. Fine but expensive for what it was;
- Salade La Bretonne (salade verte, pommes de terres tiedes, coquille Saint-Jacques, fondue d'oignon, andouille de Guemene, creme ciboulette) €13.9 - a lovely salad made filling with potatoes, soft delicious small scallops, salad and the strange swirls of andouille. I was interested (to unexpectedly) try this smoked meat but I had to admit I didn't enjoy the flavour too much. It had a strange taste similar to mild fuel, although obviously not that unpalatable. I ate it more out of interest but I wouldn't order it again.

Overall good healthier food, a change from the usual crepes and things, and some nice tea.

It was difficult choosing dinner this evening. We didn't want to bother driving anywhere, we'd eaten a lot of crepes and many of the other open places were on the expensive side. Le Mao was also closed (I wonder if the restaurants cycle between who closes when just to balance things out).

After an unexpectedly excellent experience at Le Mao (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/le-mao-ploumanach-06-2017) I wondered if Au Rest'a Terre might do the same. The ratings online are quite average but the bar area looked nice. Instead we were seated in the more dining side (which is fine) where the sunset glared directly into my eyes. All that can be forgiven, but the service errors can't.

We ordered Moules Marinieres and the Pasta with prawns and salmon. I was excited when the food came out and it went to the table next to us. We were amused they ordered the exact same dish. After a few minutes the diner next to us got up and a waiter came and took it back to the kitchen. Then it came back out and was given to me. If it hadn't been touched/eaten I wouldn't mind - but it clearly had displayed prawns and a squeezed lemon discarded on the plate. I complained at being served used food and it was taken away by an unfriendly waiter (the bill he brought at the end said "director" so maybe he's the boss) without any explanation or apology. As soon as I complained he took it away - he knew exactly what was going on and upset he got caught.

We considered walking out but there wasn't much else open that day. And the mussels had arrived and looked fine.

Whilst waiting, two other waiters came and asked where the food was. Clearly they had no idea what happened. One even made a joke we didn't know where the plate was. They were overall nice unlike the other guy, so I didn't mind.

A new dish came out and the unfriendly director put it on the edge of the table next to me, not in front of my partner who ordered it. He stared at me with no words. Then after a stare-off he left without saying anything.

The pasta was housemade (good thing) but the pasta itself with the sauce had no flavour. I had to add mussel sauce to flavour it. The salmon was ok and the prawns tiny.

The mussels I got were obviously from the other table's order as it had cream in it. But not worth complaining about. The mussels were bigger than I ate in Perros Guirec and tasted ok to be fair. I had to ask multiple times to get bread, where the table next to me got several serves. Funnily enough it wasn't until that table had their meals cleared (including their bread basket) did we receive bread...

Go somewhere else with better food (eg. Le Mao is equally priced and much better). The "director" is an idiot and needs to learn customer service and food hygiene standards. He was also the one who served our dishes to the other table so noone else to blame.

After the long walk along the beautiful Sentier des Douaniers from Ploumanac'h to Perros-Guirec along the pink granite coast, hunger had crept in. It was planned to end the walk along the beach side of Perros-Guirec although in hindsight going further (given the time and energy) to the port side would have been better for food options.

Alot of the restaurants along the beach look very similar with probably none particularly outstanding in menus or review.

Le Ker Bleu had a lot of people sitting outside and enjoying the sun, so why not?

- Soupe de poisson, croutons et rouille (€8 I think) - a slightly expensive but lovely fish soup with cheese to mix and melt through. Reinforced my view of the similarities between these soups and bouillabaisse in the south by serving it with a creamy mildly garlicky rouille to smear on the bread. The soup wasn't as good as Le Mao but still very solid;
- Moules de Bouchot a la Bretonne (andouille de Bretagne et creme) €11.5 - I was lured in by the Bretonne promise and instead should have opted for mussels the simpler way I like it, just with garlic and white wine. This was a heavy creamy version topped with pork meat that had an unusual taste to it. Later I discovered that is the taste of the andouille sausage - hard to describe but with an almost kind of mild fuel flavour. I could still eat it but didn't like it that much. Additionally the mussels themselves were very small. I think they should have been left to grow longer;
- Petit frites €3.5.

I'd try a different place next time. Nothing wrong with Le Ker Bleu but I'd been interested in trying the fish soup and other dishes elsewhere. Alternatively it does state pizzeria and some of those options sounded good too (such as the frutti di mare with St-Jacques, langoustines, moules, crevettes, cocktails de fruits de mer, olives, origan, mozzarella, crème).

All good seaside towns need to have a gelato place. In Ploumanac'h this is the one. It is advertised as artisanal which is reassuring considering its the only one in town. Other restaurants do serve gelato also but a dedicated place is always better.

The pistachio here was extremely mild and tasted more like vanilla with a little sweetness than pistachio. It was quite disappointing for a strong flavour person like me. The kouing-amann was also selected considering it would be the regional specialty flavour. It was very sweet like caramel, with pieces of the pastry chewy through it.

It wasn't the best flavourwise but the texture was fine with no ice crystals either. I'd happily go again, albeit partially also because there aren't any others in the area.

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.