Some of the things you could eat in other restaurants around the Vieux Port are on these signs. Oysters are "farmed" all along France's Atlantic coast, from Cap Breton in the far southwest all the way up to the Cotentin peninsula in Normandy. Muscadet wine, a dry white which many people think is the best "oyster wine" in France, is made just north of La Rochelle in the Vendée and up to Nantes on the Loire river. The oysters advertised here come from the Île de Ré, which is just a short drive over a bridge from La Rochelle.
Here's a blackboard menu from another restaurant, showing the day's specials. Customers have a choice of three formules — three courses for 26 euros, two for 21 euros (main course with either starter or dessert), or just a main course for 16 euros. There's a lot of seafood on the menu, including squid (fricassée d'encornets), tuna (tartare de thon), sea bass (filet de bar), cod (pavée de cabillaud), and haddock.
It was a Monday, which in France is usually a very quiet day, but in La Rochelle there were a lot of people out and about. It was because of the great sunny weather, I'm sure. By the end of October, people expect the weather to turn chilly and gray very soon. They take advantage of the last sunny days of the year by taking walks through town and sitting down for some food in a sidewalk café.
Looks beautiful and so French!
ReplyDelete: ^ )
DeleteI'm lost on a few of those restaurant items: for the filet de bar, what do they mean by poitrine, snackée jus corsé?
ReplyDeleteAlso, is that Piéce de Bouchee? What is that?
Snacker means "to sear" from what I've gathered. Corsé means "full-bodied" and is usually applied to wine. So here it's a strong-flavored jus or sauce. Pièce du boucher refers to a beefsteak of some kind.
DeleteThanks, Ken!
Deletethe town looks much larger than I'd envisioned
ReplyDeleteThe population of La Rochelle proper is about 75,000, and with its urban area it's more than 200,000.
DeleteSeafood is my favorite and there was plenty to be had in La Rochelle. Menus are always a challenge to read, I have a small glossary of terms that I take on trips to France.
ReplyDeleteIt's especially difficult to decipher French menus because they are often witten in a fancy or even poetic style.
DeleteIf I lived in La Rochelle, I think I would have oysters every day!
ReplyDeleteMe too. Walt and I bought oysters at the central market in La Rochelle and ate them the next day at the gîte. They were much less expensive than at restaurant prices, but of course we had to open them.
DeleteSo "haddock" is the same word in French and English... Thanks for the comment above about "snacker." The menu looks good. I understand the desserts much better than the main courses. I guess there's a message in that.
ReplyDeleteInteresting you should mention that. The fish we call a haddock is, in French, un aiglefin (or églefin). It's only after it the fish has been smoked that it's called haddock [ah-duhk] in French. On the restaurant menu, I get the impression that the smoked haddock is used sort of like smoked pork lardons, as a flavor counterpoint, with the risotto and leeks (poireaux).
Delete