I have a soft spot for the Loire Valley. It’s probably the first place where I tasted wine – on a family camping holiday in my childhood. With limited funds, my parents made the brave and, at the time unusual, decision that we would camp rather than stay in a hotel in order to have more cash to spend on food and going out. My father never quite came to terms with the compromise, though my mother seemed to have a masochistic delight in the canvas tent which was our home for a couple of weeks each summer. We’d drive to Harwich, take the ferry across to Ostend or Le Havre and spend the night in a hotel before driving to whatever destination they’d picked for us that year. The Loire Valley was particularly memorable, not just because of the fairytale châteaux and fabulous food, but because as we drove into Angers the car was stopped and we were all handed small plastic cups of what I suspect was Crémant de Loire.
"We can't define anything precisely. If we attempt to, we get into that paralysis of thought that comes to philosophers... One saying to the other; you don't know what you are talking about! The second one says: what do you mean by talking? What do you mean by you? What do you mean by know?". - Richard Feynman
Just delicious. Fabulous food and service, beautiful room - favourite meal of the year so far, despite my high expectations.
Interesting menu with too many delicious-sounding dishes to choose from - nothing too wacky but not just the usual choices either. Good bread (no cover charge) served with a generous dollop of tapenade.
Mainly provencal/corsican wine list - took a bottle on recommendation that proved perfect for the meal, and from the cheap end of the list too.
Service was charming and helpful without being over-bearing, and despite the empty tables, the ambience did not suffer. I'd class this as something like a Central London Chez Bruce - very high standards without pretensions. Will happily return - soon, hopefully!
An error has occurred! Please try again in a few minutes