julies

We recently returned from a 2 week trip to Brittany and the Loire valley. In Brittany we spent 5 nights in a gite and did most of our own cooking, but ate all meals out in the Loire region. Coming home we had the same thoughts we'd had the last time we visited France (Brittany and Normandy). French cooking doesn't do much for us. Maybe if we were spending $50 to $75 a head for a meal we'd feel differently. But, for the casual, budget traveller the food just doesn't seem that great. Many times we would order the menu rather than a la carte because it seems like a better deal. But, we really don't need a 1st course, main, cheese course and dessert all the time. Many entrees didn't really call to us even though we have wide-ranging tastes and eat nearly everything. Moules frites or gallettes are fine some of the time for meals, but that gets old too. We even resorted to pizza some times because nothing else seemed interesting. We took restaurant recommendations from hosts at our b & b's, guidebooks and sometimes just stopped in places that looked interesting. In smaller rural towns (which is where we were) other than a few meals, we just weren't impressed. Perhaps the problem is that at home we tend to choose a wide range of ethnic cuisines. Perhaps these small town French restaurants are the locally owned equivalent of a US Denny's or Country Kitchen (places I would never eat at home). Frankly, we've enjoyed the meals more in other countries that aren't exactly reknown for their cuisine. Is there anyone else out there who can admit that Franch cooking isn't all that great?

ira

Hi julies,

I have had mediocre, even poor, meals in France, but they have been the exception.

In general, I have found the food in France to be just as good as in Italy.

sheila

I could admit it if I tought it was true.


Britanny IMHO is a bit limited if you don't like seafood- but they can make an omelette seem like necatr in tiniest pub. Frankly, I think you have some misconceptions but I can't quite put my finger on what they are.

elaine

Your experiences have not been mine, though I haven't traveled in the specific areas you mention.

I love Italian food, but I also love French food. A simple roasted chicken, a perfectly grilled piece of fish, with or without sauces, can be just heavenly.
I would not equate small restaurants in Europe with American chains like Denny's because I think too many American chains offer quantity over quality, and they fill their foods with too much salt and unnecessary fats. I'm no health-food person, but genuine food is what I'm after both at home and abroad, and I've been lucky enough to find it almost all of the time. The worst meal I ever had in Paris was in a pizza chain place off the Champs, just before I raced to the airport once; never again, I'd rather have bread and cheese.

That said, there are bad restaurants,privately-owned or chains, in every country, I've just been able to avoid most of them. And I don't necessarily spend a lot of money.

ira

PS

We eat in 15-25 E pp restaurants.

julies

To clarify--we love seafood so that isn't the issue. I think a prime example of our disillusionment is the time my husband (in a recommended restaurant that was nicer than restaurants we normally eat in) ordered a plate of 4 different fish dishes thinking it would be a nice contrast of tastes. It turned out to be 4 hunks of fish of slightly varying types with 4 sauces that varied slightly. I can read and speak French tolerably and have a menu interpreter so that isn't the issue either. Now that I am thinking of it, when we spent time along the Mediterranean in France we didn't feel this way about the food. Perhaps it is the food more typical of these other regions. By the way on this last trip we generally tried to find meals that were about 15E a head or less without wine. We did have an absolutely fantastic meal for 25E a person (including wine) at a rural B&B we stayed at. That meal was the highlight of our trip and if anyone is looking for a recommendation for a place in the Loire valley to stay and eat I couldn't recommend this place more highly--les Basses Fontaines outside of Doue la Fontaine.

elberko

We find we can eat much better, even at budget prices, in France than we can in the US.

ira

Hi Julies,

What a great way to get in an advert for les Basses Fontaines.

TopMan

The only thing you have to worry about is that you may have been taken in by that global thinking which says that ALL French cuisine is fabulous. Obviously, it isn't. Just because a lot of people here rave about French, or any other, food doesn't mean you are some sort of moron or less than discriminating because you don't agree.

mamc

We haven't been to Brittany but found the food in Normandy and the Loire to be supurb. However, because food is important to us, I do a lot of research for our trips. It is true that there are legions of unremarkable restaurants in France as there are everywhere. It isn't heresy to report on unremarkable food - we've all experienced that or worse. But if food is a big part of why you travel, it is good to do some research so you will experience the wonderful food that is available.

julies

Even though we enjoy good food, we eat to live and don't live to eat. Also, I am a very good cook who tries lots of different things so my standards, but not my budget, are high. We have been able to take lots of European trips because we don't spend a lot of money on lodging or meals.

m_kingdom2

You get what you pay for on the whole. In spain and Italy you can go to little restaurants in the middle of nowhere and enjoy wondeful homecooked produce for no money. However, if you are in cities/towns it is rare for such places to exist, if you eat cheaply you won't find anything wonderful on offer.

"Many times we would order the menu rather than a la carte because it seems like a better deal" You mean set menu rather than a la carte? The whole point is that it is cheaper, regardless of the restaurant.

How you can dine out and not have at least a few courses in beyond me, perhaps you don't really know good food if it finds you?

Gretchen

We eat on a budget of 15-30E meals and have had MEMorable ones all over France. I am also a pretty good cook and we stay in 2* hotels. We search for wonderful cassoulets--have found some and some that my husband says mine surpasses.
I am with the poster who said she did a lot of research on where to eat--and what to eat. But, of course, there will be disappointments. And there is little doubt we can eat better in France than the US for the same amount of money. Food is one of the high points of our trips for the cultural experience of it also.

StCirq

Finding memorable inexpensive food in Brittany is, IMO, a bit more challenging than in other parts of France. One gallette per trip is enough for me. But in Normandy and the Loire - and elsewhere in France - we normally eat far better, for $15-$25 a meal - than we ever do in the USA.Of course, not every single meal is wonderful, and there is the occasional one that's really bad.

I don't think there's any comparison to US chain restaurants, either. We usually seek out small, family-run cafés and bistros and are rarely disappointed. The impressive quality of the fresh ingredients is usually what makes a French meal superior to one for the same price in the USA. Every time I come home from France and go to the local Safeway to buy groceries, I suffer.

And I don't think Spain or Italy have any better food in little rural restaurants than France does, either. I spend a lot of time in really rural places in France and have had some amazing meals at places that didn't even look like restaurants - places that were essentially someone's home-turned-small-restaurant.

I'm sorry you weren't impressed.

ealing_calling

It sounds like you have a very rare travel-related disorder: Negative Food Magnetism.

Please tell us when/where you'll next be in France, so we can avoid the negative vortex of culinary experiences hurtling towards you . . .

But seriously. Either it's a case of diff'rent strokes, or you were incredibly, consistently unlucky. I stuff myself silly while visiting those 3 départments, and never gain a pound, no matter how much butterfat I consume. [Hmmmm what's the French for <<Super Size Me>>? Might be a great film!]

bardo

To each his own - don't sweat it. I understand there are even those who dislike ice cream and chocolate. Seriously though...I only have Paris as a reference point, but even the "worst" meals I had there were wonderful.

Underhill

We have even found the food in provincial French cafeterias (usually attached to a shopping center) to be excellent. In Brittany we had several superb dinners in Plancoêt (where the Tour went through yesterday) and at tea rooms and a little crêperie. The only bad meal I can remember in France was at Le Vieux Bistro in Paris in November 2001.

Mostly it depends on what you like and what you order--and, of course, on the chef. Next time try a "good" restaurant, a bistro, or a brasserie.

Gretchen

" To each his own - don't sweat it. I understand there are even those who dislike ice cream and chocolate"

Strange you should mention that. I don't dislike them but have absolutely no appetite for sweets. So the posts about Berthillon do not call to me. I can appreciate wonderful chocolate however. But when the "formule" includes dessert, I might not choose it--or get only the 2 course menu.

Christina

I generally like French cuisine, and I do not do much research and don't focus on food much. I like a nice meal, but it's not that important to me and I don't plan for special restaurants or spend a lot on it.

I've had lots of mediocre cheap meals in France and in Paris, of course. There are cheap, bad restaurants everywhere. I also do get a little tired of the typical cafe/bistro offerings which are not always that imaginative. I get tired of that after a while, they all seem to offer about the same thing. I've mainly been in Paris, and a lot of the cafes all offer the same boring salads or starters, which I don't even care for (some thing with corn is popular, as well as "lardons" and some egg thing). I've never been in Brittany and don't remember anything special about my experiences in the Loire as I wasn't there long.

I don't eat French every night when I'm in France for more than a week or so, as I want something different occasionally, also. I really like a lot of other types of cuisine, though, and most big cities have good restaurants of all kinds. I've never really had a "menu" in France that included both a cheese and dessert course, though, that is unusual in my experience, as usually it's one or the other. Well, maybe some restaurants give you a choice of cheaper and expensive "menus" and I don't choose the one that has all those courses, either.

Mariarosa

I can see someone getting tired of the same cafe and bistro-type offerings. My recommendation is to seek a North African (Algerian, Moroccan, etc.) restaurant or North African dishes in French restaurants. It has been my experience that when taste buds get tired, you can order a great lamb tagine over cous cous, even in French restaurants (cous cous has really becaome more widespread than just N. African restaurants) and the hearty, hot, spicy stew will revive anyone.

Disclaimer: I have not been to Normandy and Brittany since 1989, so maybe you need to be in Paris or somewhere south (closer to N. Africa) to find cous cous/tagines in regular menus.