- Socca €
- Pates pistou €7
Although it wasn't Marseille, I really wanted bouillabaisse. It is apparently quite difficult to find outside Marseille, let alone a good one. Well it's lucky Le Brulot has one on the menu, and my Airbnb host recommended it. The online menu says €55 and 24h notice. Unfortunately they are closed on a Sunday and so pre-ordering for Monday night wasn't possible, as hard as I tried by an online booking (which was successful then rejected on Monday) and calling to ask. However when I arrived and saw the restaurant menu, it was now €65. Per person. €130 for 2 people. What the hell? Good thing I couldn't get it.
Drifting into the restaurant from the heavy wind and rain, it seemed to be the busiest restaurant that Monday. Everyone around was French and nearly all the tables filled up. It must be testament.
One waitress served the entire underground area with rock walls and netting and some fake plants. It was quite nice (although a little dank) under there. She worked hard and smiled.
The set menus are wonderful value, as long as you are hungry enough to get through it. The Menu Cigale €28.9 is enough food for any 1 person certainly, or you can do like the table next to us and overorder then get takeaway. The Menu Gastronomique is only if a dish you really really want features there alone €44.9.
- Cassolette d'escargots (Burgundy snails in parsley butter) x12 - delicious little beasts in parsley butter. Could have used a touch more salt;
- Soup de poissons, maison (homemade fish soup) - this is what I dreamt of. Thick bouillabaisse soup base, just without the €100 of fish. It was beautiful and warm and filling with melty cheese to stir through and a strong garlic rouille on sliced croutons. Simply magnificent. The complimentary bread served with the meal wasn't the best, but once soaked in soup became a delight;
- Granite de poire au Calvados (pear granita with Calvados) - refreshing granita with strong alcohol at the base;
- Filet de boeuf (filet of beef grilled in wood fire with Vigneron sauce) - ordered medium-rare but served rare (the way I like it). Simply seasoned and very tender. The wine sauce didn't add much in my opinion. The vegetables were stewed almost like a ratatouille. The potatoes were thin and crisp but strangely they had inflated and were like balloons and empty inside. Still good!;
- Cotes d'agneau aux herbes de Provence (lamb ribs grilled in wood fire) - lamb ribs were in fact a cutlet and a chop, magnificently soft, pink and tender and flavoured with herbs. The accompaniments were the same as the beef;
- Mesclun au chevre chaud (green salad with warm goat cheese) - by this time I was very full. The moderately strong cheese came on a slightly unnecessary piece of bread (well necessary to balance the flavour but unnecessary extra carbohydrates/food);
- Tarte aux pommes (apple pie cooked in wood fire) - sadly the wood fire dessert was a disappointment. It was cold (ie. wood fired long ago) with ok apples, but terrible base that was hard, firm and thick. Really bad;
- Chocolate cake with orange - on the other hand this one was ok, but very sweet.
Overall the meal was excellent, with only the dessert being a disappointment. Next time I would order the Cigale menu again with the soup de poissons, lamb or the excellent smelling (from the greedy next table) gratinated lasagna, and try the wood fire creme caramel.
There are a surprising number of artisanal icecreameries in the Nice old town. Unfortunately I only could try one in the short afternoon in Nice. I wanted Azzurro but who knows why they were closed on a Monday. Fenocchio was the other choice and very closeby there too.
There's an extraordinary number of flavours to match the large number of people waiting despite cold, wind and some rain.
Avocado isn't a flavour I see often and so I tried it. Unfortunately the pale colour should have informed me that it would be akin to underripe avocado, and indeed it was without a strong flavour. The pistachio underneath was better although much less potent than at Gusto in Antibes. I asked if I could sample the glowing green Tourte de Blettes (which the waiter told me was vegetarian and spinach based) but he refused and said no it wasn't possible. Really?
We also tried the a simple crepe which was texturally excellent. How do they do it...
Macarons - €1.5 each or 20 for €32. 17 different flavours but they also have icecream ones (which I didn't try).
Good texture, sweet flavours, people who know macarons better than I do have approved them.
For the one small town daytrip from Antibes, I couldn't decide where. I would have liked to go to Verdon Gorge, but the weather and distance meant that it didn't seem worth the journey. Instead we ended up in Gourdon, up some very windy roads, through some strong rain and a bit of wind, and wondering why. I wanted to eat at Au Vieux Four, but for some reason on this Sunday it was closed. Damn. In fact much of the town was closed. Hmmm.
Nonetheless wandering through we came across a decent looking menu at La Taverne Provencale. Everyone else there was French and enjoy the weekend away. I didn't get the chance to photo the inside but it was very cute and cosy with some paintings, a large vase and very colourful furniture.
- House-farmed trout with almonds, meuniere, steamed potatoes €17 - panfried fish nicely cooked and very simply seasoned with a tiny bit of salt and some butter;
- Coq au vin "Specialiste Maison" €26 - this badboy was served in a crockery pot and dished steaming onto a plate. The chicken had lived in the thick red wine sauce for a while and both were full of flavour. The chicken itself was reasonably tender although a bit overcooked and dried in parts. However adding sauce onto the flesh fixed it. It was served with some outstanding bread that crackled as you picked it up;
- Fig tart - served at room temperature with fig bits and pastry. Adequate without being great.
I'd happily eat here again. Although if open I'd definitely want to try AVF...
I read about pissaladiere being famous from Nice and Veziano serving the best in the region. It has olives and anchovies - it sounds like a pizza dream almost. I couldn't wait.
Sadly I don't understand the hype. Veziano serve a round full version or smaller square slices, but ultimately both looked the same in terms of ingredients. I had the round one for €5.6 and it was served to me cold (they didn't offer to heat it for me). But I put it in the oven at home anyway to simulate how I imagine it is supposed to be eaten fresh.
It is an average thickness pizza or thin focacia type base, topped with a lot of caramelised onions (not bad) and some olives containing seeds (really??). No anchovies either.
Is this really the best one? South France I'm disappointed. You need to find a signature pastry closer to the Kouign Amann.
Despite the windy cool breeze, 19C and some patches of sun meant that an early afternoon gelato was needed. Gusto was well reputed, although the nearby Del Porto (closed when I walked past) has better Google reviews.
Gusto was a really excellent gelato. The mango and pistachio were both incredibly creamy and had a certain smooth thickness. Unfortunately the pistachio did have two large ice crystals in it, but I'll have to forgive them because the texture and flavour was otherwise so good.
The market was a little smaller than expected but not tiny. Actually I expected there to be more fresh seafood on offer given the coastal location, but other than oysters, there was a limited amount of shellfish and fish available.
The largest queue in the market is for socca bread, make from chickpea flour, olive oil and salt. Indeed it is a soft savoury and very tasty flexible bread that is excellent on its own, or would be even better if combined into some kind of wrap... ideas for fusion.
After failing to have a crepe earlier in the day (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/les-filles-du-micocoulier-antibes-11-2018), it was unfortunate to discover it closes at 1800 and so not useful for an evening dessert crepe. Luckily a 20min walk away to JLP to an appropriately named La Creperie was the alternative.
- Nutella crepe €6.5 - a simple crepe with Nutella. Tasted as expected;
- Suzette (homemade orange sauce & Grand-Marnier) €8.5 - unfortunately they didn't have the caramelised apple I wanted, and so I settled for orange. I was hoping there would be some nice orange pieces but it was simply a sauce. The lighting of the alcohol provided a little theatre. Not too bad overall.
The crepe quality was great with a good gelatinous and springy texture. The fillings were were ok, although I have to admit I'm sure they could do a better jam for the orange.
One of the beauties of Brittany was the galettes. I'm less a fan of crepes, but galettes are great and so difficult to make at home (not that I've tried, but Serious Eats have). I suppose if I was French, I'd probably be a cider and galette Breton.
This creperie in Antibes has an excellent location with outdoor seating on this cool but sunny late autumn day, overlooking the queue for socca in the market and the general slow bustle of central Antibes.
The galettes themselves had a good flavour and crispness, although I have to admit not as crisp/burnt nuttiness as I had in Brittany, but they exceeded their counterparts in terms of ingredients and generosity.
- Braque (smoked duck breast, mushrooms, emmental cheese, fresh cream) €13 - this work of art was excellent. The edges were crisp and browned, there was excess cheese nearly all the way to the edges, the amount of duck and mushrooms was generous, and it served a full meal. The flavour as mentioned above could have used a bit extra buckwheat burnt nuttiness, but I can't complain too much. I wonder if adding egg to the batter made it more neutral in flavour?;
- Smoked salmon, egg, chives, cream, salmon eggs mico-roll €11 - I haven't seen the roll version in France before, but only in the new(ish) London restaurant (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/lami-malo-london-01-2018). This flat rolled up version was ok. I couldn't detect any salmon roe particularly. It paled in comparison to the classic style.
I'd stick with the classic styles and any of them. Didn't have the stomach space to try a crepe.