Posts filed under 'Amanda's Red Guide'
Amanda’s Red Guide : 09/20/2006
Disclaimer: Amanda's Red Guide is based on Amanda's taste only. Occasionally she takes input from her travel companions, but more often than not, her opinion dominates her reviews.Unfortunately, she didn't write down the exact names of her dishes due to various constraints.
Lunch :
La Petite Borie
4, Rye Tourny
24200 Sarlat
05 53 31 23 69As usual, we just randomly picked a lunch place that looked promising instead of consulting Michelin Le Guide Rouge. We went to this restaurant near the south end of the Old Town. It was pretty good for what it was; nothing fancy, but solid local food. Loïc and I ordered their daily special, a collection of local cuisine. I loved its traditional style of Confit de Conard, salty but tasty, and its fat saturated fried potatos. Its fois gras was not as silky nor refined as what we had at Augerge La Plume d’Oie, but that was expected. The goat cheese wasn’t bad, but I had no space for it. The salade was fine. For 12 Euros, it was a pretty decent meal. On the other hand, David’s fixed menu dish was pretty lame: A small salad with some duck inners as the main course and ice cream as dessert for 15 Euros.
Conclusion: Recommended for their daily special.
Dinner :
Hôtel Belle Étoile
24250 La Roque-Gageac
05 53 29 51 44Every guide book we carried recommends this hotel/restaurant, so we went there for dinner. We ordered its 24-Euro menu, the least expensive one. Because last night’s dinner still lingered in my mind, tonight’s was a disappointment. Not a fair comparison, I know; I should’ve compared one 45-Euro menu against the other. On the other hand, things could’ve been better executed and the waiters could’ve tidied the place after we left. My fois gras terrine was a bit too hard to spread on the cold toast. The main course was OK but not exciting; its sauce tasted like my can chicken soup. My banana dessert would be better to use Angelico instead of Rum. I felt that we were rushed out of the restaurant, even though we were the last clients in this salon. As we walked out and passed by another (smoking) salon, we saw that they still got a full house of diners. So why the rush? Overall it was good value, but I didn’t enjoy my dining experience.
Conclusion: Depends.
Hôtel :
Auberge La Plume d’Oie
24250 La Roque-Gageac
05 53 29 57 05See 9/19/2006.
Add comment September 20, 2006
Amanda’s Red Guide : 09/19/2006
Disclaimer: Amanda's Red Guide is based on Amanda's taste only. Occasionally she takes input from her travel companions, but more often than not, her opinion dominates her reviews.Unfortunately, she didn't write down the exact names of her dishes due to various constraints.
Lunch :
D’un Terroir À L’autre
51, Rue Ste Caterine
24100 Bergerac
05 53 27 16 37Our duck was overcooked, but edible. My dessert, poire au vin Bergerac, at first tasted like mouth wash, but after we figured out what spice it used, it was OK.
Conclusion: Not Recommended.
Dinner :
Auberge La Plume d’Oie
24250 La Roque-Gageac
05 53 29 57 05We had dinner at our hôtel tonight, because otherwise Hiddy Walker wouldn’t book rooms for us. And I’m surely glad that she did! Marc Walker is a great cook, and he made my best entrée and main dish of this entire trip.
My fois gras entrée was silky and refined; he spread some sea salt to enhance its flavor, a technique that I applied for the rest of my fois gras exploration. My main dish, scorpion fish, was perfect! The caper sauce with a touch of lemon, the juicy fish with crispy skin and some sea salt, a little green mountain made of mixture of peas and patato and decorated with broccoli… Yummy! The cheese course was OK; some of the cheese seemed a little too old, and some needed to warm up a little more. My apricot dessert looked pretty but was incredibly sour! Yes, sour! Marc must be fond of sourness; he decorated my entrée with 3 little balls of Granny Smith apple. I’m not a big fan of sour flavor, and I just can’t understand a sour dessert.
Conclusion: Highly Recommended.
Hôtel :
Auberge La Plume d’Oie
24250 La Roque-Gageac
05 53 29 57 05Rick Steves recommended La Belle Étoile; we called but it was full. So we called the next on the Red Guide list, Auberge La Plume d’Oie, and was told that we had to dine in their restaurant at least one night. It’s a little pricy, considering that there was a shower curtain rather than a shower door and we could hear our loud New Zealand neighbors all too well. 4 rooms total; 2 rooms facing the Dordogne river have the view and the traffic noise. Marc Walker prepared breakfast as well, and his egg dish was yummy!
Conclusion: Depends on what kind of neighbors you get.
3 comments September 19, 2006
Amanda’s Red Guide : 09/18/2006
Disclaimer: Amanda's Red Guide is based on Amanda's taste only. Occasionally she takes input from her travel companions, but more often than not, her opinion dominates her reviews.Unfortunately, she didn't write down the exact names of her dishes due to various constraints.
Lunch :
TGV ham sandwich. You can easily beat it by packing your own.
Conclusion: Not Recommended.
Dinner:
Le Clos du Roy
12, rue de la Petite Fontaine, 33330 Saint-Émilion
05 57 74 41 55The best meal so far of this trip! Fois gras now officially became my daily dietary. My entrée (“appetizer” in the States) was pigeon, which tasted and looked like duck and went well with the wine. My main dish was fine, but I was a little burned of by the dish, because it initially smelled like chicken liver and I’m not a big fan of that (I know, I know, but to my little head, chicken liver has nothing to do with foie gras). Thank goodness that it tasted fine. My dessert (pear, vanilla ice cream & others) was tasty!
1995 Château de Ferrand — beautiful nose, light on palette, almost mature enough to be drunk by itself.
Conclusion: Highly Recommended.
Chambre d’Hôte (B&B):
Château de l’Escarderie
2, rue Goffre – 33240 St. Germain-la-Rivière
05 57 84 46 28This petit château is surrounded by forest and vineyard (belonging to their neighbor). There are 4 rooms total. The cozy Fransac room we stayed at was a corner room with plenty of lights. It has a little terrace connected to the next room and a good size shower room. Both host and hostess were friendly, although we seemed to see only one at a time (host in the afternoon, and hostess in the morning). The standard continental breakfast is included.
Conclusion: Recommended.
Add comment September 18, 2006
Amanda’s Red Guide : 09/17/2006
Disclaimer: Amanda's Red Guide is based on Amanda's taste only. Occasionally she takes input from her travel companions, but more often than not, her opinion dominates her reviews.Unfortunately, she didn't write down the exact names of her dishes due to various constraints.
Lunch :
Food court in the Musée du Louvre
We always had lunch at the crêpe station, and it employees always seemed to hate their jobs. Not because we liked to be abused, but we just felt like to have crêpes whenever we were at Louvre. And even though they hated their jobs, they didn’t hate crêpes. It was just too bad that I got so full that I didn’t have room for my favorite dessert crêpe!
Conclusion: Recommended.
Dinner:
Pizza Pino
27 Blvd. Des Italiens 75002 Paris
01 42 66 09 57This is a chain, although we didn’t know it until the next day. It had the look of a fast food restaurant, and the service was sporadic and ocassionally confusing. My thin crust Chef Pizza (spicy sausage, egg, mozzarella, tomato sauce) was quite tasty and not heavy. For someone who normally didn’t eat pizza in the States, I ended finished most of my 10″ pizza. The profiteroles were yummy!
Conclusion: Recommended.
Hotel:
Hotel Saint Pétersbourg
33-35 rue Caumartin 75009 PARIS
01 42 66 60 38Good: Great location, friendly staff, good included breakfast.
Bad: Out-of-date rooms.Conclusion: Depending on your needs.
[typed on 10/06/2006]
Add comment September 17, 2006
Amanda’s Red Guide : 09/16/2006
Disclaimer: Amanda's Red Guide is based on Amanda's taste only. Occasionally she takes input from her travel companions, but more often than not, her opinion dominates her reviews.Unfortunately, she didn't write down the exact names of her dishes due to various constraints.
Lunch :
Au Pied de Cochon
6, rue Coquilliere 75001 Paris
01 40 13 77 00We always come back to this restaurant whenever we are at Paris, because David has to have his French Onion soup here. Normally it was too salty for me, but this time it felt just right although it could be a little more crispy on top. My skate terrine was pretty but had some fishy smell when it first showed up. My pork leg dish’s skin was too tough to cut, even though it looked tender and tempting. The meat was soft in the middle and a little rough on the outside. They had the cutest candy to go with espresso — a pink piggy!
This big restaurant gets tourists from all over the world, so some of the waiters can be kinda cold as you can expect.
Conclusion: Recommended.
Dinner :
Le Roi du Pot au Feu
34, rue Vignon 75009 ParisFriendly staff, simple but unpretentious food, “simple” house wine according to David (“undrinkable” according to me). They surely knew how to stew meat; each piece was tender and the vegetable was tasty, but the portion was too generous for me. It really puzzled me that its house wine (red) was so big and unbalanced, because it totally didn’t go with the mildly flavored stew meat.
Also, this place was so comfy that we saw quite a few single diners that night.
Conclusion: Recommended.
Hotel :
Hotel Saint Pétersbourg
33-35 rue Caumartin 75009 PARIS
01 42 66 60 38Because of the AC problem, we got moved to a different non-smoking room. David liked the courtyard-facing room more, because of its bigger bathroom and the more expensive look. I, however, didn’t like the layout, its tight bedroom, and its high ceiling. (I normally like high ceiling room, but when a room was this cramp, it felt very unsettling.) This time, the AC did work, but the bathroom had various problems: The faucet wouldn’t stop dripping, the hot water was never hot enough, and the tub was unusable for a bath.
My feeling about this hotel? Great software, but its hardware seriously needs an upgrade.
Conclusion: Depending on your needs.
[typed on 10/05/2006]
Add comment September 16, 2006
Amanda’s Red Guide : 09/15/2006
Disclaimer: Amanda's Red Guide is based on Amanda's taste only. Occasionally she takes input from her travel companions, but more often than not, her opinion dominates her reviews. Unfortunately, she didn't write down the exact names of her dishes due to various constraints.
Lunch :
Nai - Cuisine Libanaise
220, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008 Paris
01 40 68 90 70Johan took us to this friendly Libanaise restaurant not far from Champs Élysées for lunch. It was very generous in terms of proportion; I was only able to finish half of my beef dish. My dish was tasty but the beef was somewhat overcooked and therefore a little chewy. When we finished our meal and other diners started heading back to work, the waiter volunteered moving us from the basement to the 1st floor window seats, to enjoy our coffee with a better view. He really didn’t have to do that, since tips were already included in the meal (unlike the States) and he only created more work for himself.
Conclusion: Recommended.
Dinner :
I didn’t write down the name of the restaurant or remember the taste of my dish, because I accidentally spilled a glass red wine on my neighbor’s silk top. David took care of the disaster by paying for their dinner, but, boy, was I panicked!
Hotel :
Hotel Saint Pétersbourg
33-35 rue Caumartin 75009 PARIS
01 42 66 60 38We stayed at this 3-star hotel for 3 nights at 2 different rooms.
The staff was the most friendly one that I had ever encountered, the included breakfast bar was the best of my hotel breakfast experience, and its great location made Paris sightseeing easy. The hotel itself, however, could definitely use some updates to compete with its rivals on the same street; the rooms felt that its latest remodeling was back in late 70s or early 80s. I liked the layout of the first room and loved the fact that the whole floor was non-smoking, but the AC was broken and we had to open the window to let air in. Unfortunately, the room faced rue Caumartin and the bar noise was late into the night and the garbage truck woke us up in the morning.
Conclusion: Depending on your needs.
[typed on 10/05/2006]
Add comment September 15, 2006
