Toulouse Restaurants
 

Please recomend the best restaurants, price no object.

Since I'm not a "price no obect" sort of person these recommendations are second hand.

Michel Sarran

The Beaux Arts (I have actually stayed there, but it's mainly fish, and wedidn't fancy that, so we didn't eat there)

There's also a very fine Michelin one star in the village of Pujaudran- about 20 minutes out called Le Puits St-Jacques- where I had my best ever meal

THe latest Cadogan guide says that "les jardins de l'opera" within the grand hotel of the same name is toulouse's finest gastonomic experience! [www.toulousy.com]. Also mentions michel Saran and le pastel [www.lepastel.com] The 2003 michelin red guide gives les jardins one star and 4 crossed knives and forks; Michel Saran gets 2 stars, and le pastel one star. So any of them should be pretty good.
When are you going?[we will be there from sept 4-6, but not sure we're in the same price bracket!]

Les Jardins d'Opera has two restos -
we ate at the more 'cafe-ish' one
facing the place......lovely food
and fun ambience on a weekend night -
the joint was hoppin'......and the
food was decent.

The more formal venue looked lovely.

We ate in the formal (starred) part of Jardin de l'opera, and hated it. ALthough we've eaten in a number of 'high class' restaurants in the Dordogne and surrounding, we really felt this one was far too stuffy. Just never felt comfortable. And the choice of menus the night we were there was very strange. Duck with sesame - good, but since we live in duck country, we would have liked a change. Or cod tongues with fava beans. Hard to believe, but they came as a small circle of tongues with a single ring of beans. Other things as part of the meal, of course, this being France, but still...

One of our favourites is the Brasserie des Beaux Arts, right next to the Hotel des Beaux Arts, but not part of it.http://www.flobrasseries.com/brasser...p?brasserie=11

Great ambience in a real belle epoque style brasserie on the river, good food, on the river. Emphasis on fish and seafood, but other choises as well. Fun to be there yourself, and to watch other people. The last time we were there the 10 year old next to us had a seafood plate along with his parents - clams, oysters, and lots of other shellfish whose names I dont even know in English (bulots, etc.) Then shared their
steak tartare. Another little French gourmet in the making. Anyway, we would recommend it highly.