Restaurant Recommendations for Normandy
 

We'll be in Normandy at the end of the summer and would love restaurant recommendations. We'll be in Giverny, Rouen, Honfleur Bayeaux, Mont StMichel. We'll also be in Rennes for a couple nights. We prefer french food and anything from cafes to nice dining is good. Thanks!

In Rouen, I enjoyed the classic cousine of Restaurant La Couronne, which still gets good reviews.
In Honfleur, I had a delightful meal at Brasserie les Deux Ponts, but its current reviews aren't quite as good.
In Rennes, I thought le Cours des Lices outstanding, and it still seems very well received.

Good luck with Mont St-Michel. ;)

We enjoyed La Sirène at MSM.

Instead of dining at le MSM, which IME has a mediocre-to-terrible selection of restaurants, you might want to pop over to Dol-de-Bretagne and eat at Restaurant Auberge de la Cour Verte. We haven't dined there yet, but Breton friends who visit the Dordogne every summer tell us we must, and we trust their taste.

Thanks, all! I figured MSM might be a challenge to find good food, so appreciate your suggestions, StCirq & ANUJ. We're staying in Pontorson which looks to be very close to Dol-de-Bretagne.

Another vote for La Couronne in Rouen. We first ate there about 20 years ago, and it was great then. Julia Child had her first meal in France there in 1948 (featured in the film "Julie/Julia"). It's generally considered the oldest, continually operating restaurant in France. Since 1345!

Hi, yestravel,
We at at Au P’tit Mareyeur in Honfleur and loved it, but this was 12 years ago, so I won't make promises on what it's like today! We had the best bouillabaisse I've ever had there, and it seems that this is its centerpiece. The reviews are still overall good to excellent although there are some negative comments on TA.

We enjoyed our dinner at La Breard in Honfleur. In Bayeaux had a great meal at Au Petit Bistrot~loved the lamb pistelle. Before arriving at MSM we had an outstanding lunch at Le Restaurant de Coquillage located at Chateau Richeux!

I’m taking notes for our trip in October, thanks!

In Bayeaux we always make it a point to dine in the restaurant of the Hotel Lion d'Or, conveniently located at the end of their market for which we always time our visits. Recently redecorated but fairly traditional, the place has wonderful food and service. We made it a point to dine at La Couronne in Bayeaux but a long time ago and to truly do the "correct thing" I ordered their highly touted duck in blood sauce. Pretty chalky tasting, so I've not ordered that dish again. Restaurant is lovely and definitely a piece of history though.

We have the most dining experience in Honfleur which is our favorite city in Normandy. I agree with another poster that Dieux Ponts has slipped. Too bad because it's well-located and rather fun. L'Absinthe has slipped a bit too but still a lovely experience in a beautiful space with very good service. I agree with the above poster that Le Breard is a very worthy place. Though at various times in our travels I've chased Michelin stars, we've never gone to Sin Qua Non. It just looks too spare to be any real fun. Our favorites are Cote Resto on the St. Catherine square (nice outdoor and lovely indoor and always excellent food with good options). and L'Ecallieir just up the street from the basin unfortunately with no real views and no outdoor dining but IMO the best seafood options in town.

If you feel drawn to dining on the basin (and you may well, it's one of the most beautiful spots we've seen in all our travels), it's pretty obvious that there are just too many restaurants there to offer uniformly good options. We've settled on Au Vieux Honfleur on the Hotel de Ville side which has the virtues of being less crowded than the others all squished together on the other side and to providing a view of the wonderful old slate buildings that front the basin on that side. Its food is also IMO the best on the basin--but I've certainly not given all of them a try.

Enjoy your time in Normandy. They combine great scenery and fabulous food.

Great info & suggestions! Not that we ever dine poorly in France, we're sure to be good this trip. Thanks, all!