18 August 2015

What we ate at Sur le Pont

This post is just a sample of the food we enjoyed at the Sur le Pont restaurant in Saint-Aignan on Sunday. I didn't take pictures of everything. Mostly I quickly snapped photos of what I was served — and this one of the terrace down by the river where we were sitting.


Here was my first course; Nick had the same thing. It was a nice salad with luscious smoked salmon, cubes of fresh avocado, and a slow-roasted tomate confite "petal" as an accent.


As their main course, both Jean and Nick had a daily special that was a filet mignon de porc (roasted tenderloin) served with green asparagus and (I think) some purée de pommes de terre ("mashed potatoes" doesn't sound so elegant).


I can't say I regret it — well, almost — but I passed up the filet mignon de porc because I couldn't resist trying Sur le Pont's hamburger! Walt had it too. It was a French gourmet riff on the American standard. There were pommes frites (French-fried potatoes), there was a little pile of dressed salad greens, and then there was a very thick mound of rare lean ground beef on a bun with caramelized oignons confits underneath, a lot of melted cheese, and a couple of pieces of roasted red pepper on top. That's a swipe of ketchup on the plate.


This was obviously a burger that you had to eat with a knife and fork, not with your bare hands. (The price of the 'burger ordered à la carte was 15.50 euros. The three course menu was 28 euros, and there was also a 23 euro menu that consisted of just two courses — either starter + main course or main course + dessert — for those with smaller appetites.)


For dessert, Jean, Nick, and I all had what the restaurant calls their café gourmand. It's a little glass of espresso coffee with four small sweets. On Sunday, those included a wedge of strawberry cream tart, a glass of cubed kiwi fruit and melon (cantaloupe), a scoop of grapefruit sorbet, and a glass of sweet fromage frais (cream cheese) with a raspberry coulis (purée) on top.

For his dessert, Walt ordered un millefeuille aux framboises. It wasn't really a millefeuille, which in America we call a "napoleon" and which is a cake made with flaky pâte feuilletée (puff pastry). It was a millefeuille revisité — a glass filled with layers of sweet custard and other layers of crispy pastry and raspberries (I think).

Serving food in glasses — the food preparation then is called a verrine (a verre being a drinking glass), a name resembling  the older word terrine — is very trendy in upscale French restaurants these days. Different verrines, savory or sweet, can be served as starters or as desserts.

As you can see, we were very pleased with the menu at Sur le Pont. We'll go back.

10 comments:

  1. I forgot you wrote that today you would be showing what you ate...
    now I have a very severe attack of the "rumbletums"!!

    A pause there while I had a bite to eat!

    That food both looks tasty and looks beatifully presented...
    Your burger looks like a work of art on that hunk of slate...
    you'd not see that at a MacDoh's...
    except perhaps in the photo on the menu board...
    and the layers in Walt's verrine are very nicely balanced...
    I can just imagine mining my way down...
    oh, no... done it again...

    Paused for another nibble of toast there....
    I can see very clearly why you'll be going back...
    especially at those prices!!
    T

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  2. I want that cafe gourmand for breakfast, right now ... merci ! :)

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  3. The meal looks luscious, as does the setting. I've never ordered a burger in France, since I make grilled burgers so frequently, but this one looks wonderful. I'll have to try something similar at home; instead of the usual slice of raw onion I'll make oignons confits, and also add some roasted red peppers now that it's getting near red pepper season here in Maine.

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  4. so the first and main course look fantastic and yummy

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  5. I would go back too, if I lived anywhere near this restaurant!
    We've been making delicious lecso here (a stew of onion, tomato and green peppers) and putting that on burgers. It's fabulous.
    This time of year is so wonderful with all the garden produce and flowers.

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  6. Oh, heavens! Everything looked so scrumptious!

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  7. that tray of little bites! just terrific! i found a couple small glasses like that and i love them for fancy drinks or just a couple bites of ice cream. and i LOVE that you showed the coffee! more coffee "shots" please!
    :-)

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  8. That is the most artistic swipe of ketchup I've ever seen. Is Dali working in the back?

    The food looks wonderful.

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  9. All looks yummy. Dessert in glasses very trendy in Australia right now also. Sue

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  10. Just now seeing your yummy eats! IWould have ordered that dessert for sure.

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