+++++++++ NEW REVIEW ++++++++++

SALASC

Sometimes it is just right to head for the hills and Lac Salagou. Sadly there seems nowhere to eat on the Lac itself (correction there is a Hotel/Bar next to Celles but they didn't want to serve the other day - what sort of reception when you arrive at 13.00 and ask if you can eat and the waiter says I will ask in the kitchen and fails to return!)

BUT there is the fine little bar/restaurant in the square in the lovely village of Salasc. It is true French food, decor and welcome.
Set meal is €12 and the food was splendid AND had that complete rarity - vegetables! Not just veg but THE most delicious mix of Spinach, Chestnuts and Pluerette mushrooms - a real WoW!
Good pichet wine at €4 for half a litre
Also a la carte

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GRUISSAN - there is yet another new restaurant
called the garden (le jardin) it's run by Italians, they stay open late, do excellent pasta and it's not expensive and good value for money
They do at least six different pasta sauces and a selection of interesting inventive tapas. you don't need both as the pasta dishes are "filling" - there are also salads for those on diets
And it can be washed down with local wine or lambrusco
Not open at midday but every night until about 0200
The usual chef is Nico and he is occasionally replaced by his equally tallented brother
they both cook like "mama" back home


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Peter and Patricia Kirwan strongly recommend

L’Affenage, Aniane

Tucked into the North East corner of the Herault Valley, Aniane seems to suffer from “North of Watford (England !)” syndrome in spite of being close to superb wine makers including Daumas Gassac. Originally the home of the Benedictine monks who developed vineyards throughout the area, the town itself is nothing to write home about but ...

It’s the setting for a gem, the restaurant l’Affenage. Vaulted ceilings, paintings, and an eclectic display of china, & brass ornaments give it great ambience. The main restaurant is cool in the summer, in winter you eat in a smaller one by a cheerful open fire !

Owners, Graham and Ira Hughes, are British but Graham’s cooking is based firmly on traditional French recipes up-dated for modern tastes : Duck with chocolate sauce (south west) onion soup (Ile de France), chicken liver soufflé (Lyon), fish casserole (Marseille), lamb Pot au Feu (Languedoc)…Many delicate yet luscious sauces have their origins in Napoleonic times. All are delicious and attractively presented. Ira welcomes and serves and prepares the mouth watering puddings.

There are menus at €20 and €25, each offering a testing choice of dishes for each of three courses. The €20 offers, amongst others, my favourite starter, Moules gratinées and I struggle to choose between Magret de canard, sauce chocolat (€2 supplement) and Marmite des poisons (fish casserole). For pud the choices include delicious Gateau maison (cheesecake) and Crême au citron.

The €25 menu’s choices include Salade de foie volaille (chicken livers) au vinaigre de l’Agen, Gambas au beure d’ail (king prawns in garlic butter), Daurade Royale (sea bream) grillé au beure maitre d’hôtel (€2 supplement) and Rognons de veau (calves’ kidneys) à la sauce moutarde. There’s an exotic choice of seriously fattening puds.

There is also A la Carte and a very simple Menu Touristique at €16.

Restauant l’Affenage, Place de la Mairie, Aniane. Tel : 04 67 57 31 25 .
No credit cards. Closed Sunday evenings, and Monday and Tuesday.

The Place de la Mairie is in the old town and tiny, so no parking but one can usually park around the nearby Chapelle des Pénitents or on the main car park 100 yards away.


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CAPESTANG

If watching boats while you eat is your "sort of thing" you could do worse than try "la Bateliere" which is by the Port with all the hire boats. Not only the movement of boats but you can see the Church tower too.
Not the cheapest but certainly excellent food and generous plats and a good pichet wine for €6.50.
Best entertainment is watching some dreadful attempts to moor up - if you like that sort of thing.

04 67 93 42 77
Owned by the same people who have Le Provence in Place Jean Jaures in Capaestang - a review would be good.

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ROUJAN

Lovers of Pizza by David Morgale -

Just thought I would pass on the news that for all you out there who love pizza, the San Francisco in Roujan has reopened.The owner has been ill for two years but has recovered and is open again, and for my money makes the best pizza in the Herault, but maybe i`m biased.It was the first place we ate after buying a property here.
You know what they say.Use it or lose it.

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MONTPEYROUX
Bar-Grill le Castellas
Avenue des Platanes

Most local bars are dull and unattractive; we avoid them like the plague. A delightful exception is Montpeyroux's family run bar/restaurant with its warm, friendly ambience, good, fresh, well presented food and friendly service.

The pleasant dining room is separate from the bar area, softish lights, candles on the tables !
On warm days it's great to sit outside under big sunshades, on comfy chairs around well spaced tables.

For 8-12 euros choose from three mixed salads including either goats' cheese, gésiers, or gésiers and foie gras. Entrecote steak, lamb, andouillettes or fish (all grilled over vines) and frites are great value at 10 euros, whilst a 2 course menu of salad starter and main course, or main course and pudding or cheese is a bargain at 12 euros. The more adventurous can nibble their way through a huge mixed plate including grilled meat or fish, goats cheese salad, delicious vegetables or frites, with a glass of wine, beer or Perrier thrown in for just 14 euros. Sounds odd : in fact it works well and is great fun !

Very pleasant wines too – as you'd expect in one of the region's best regarded wine producing villages – at prices ranging from 8 – 15 euros a bottle, with very drinkable carafes 25 cl (3.60) and 50 cl (5.80).

It's about 100 metres down out of the main village square on the road to the Castellas.

Probably best to book if you want to eat inside.
Closed on Sunday evenings and Mondays.
Telephone : 04 67 88 62 49
No credit cards.

Peter & Patricia Kirwan recommend

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FAUGERES

The Bel Air - just off the D909. 3 course menu (€13) plus demi-pichet Rose, pichet de l'eau and coffee/tea - total cost just over €34. Menu was choice of between 2 starters and 2 main course plus dessert. They also offer a l a carte. The food was cooked using local produce and was certainly very tasty. The service was good. To get there take, the D909 from Bedarieux or the D909A from Herepian and just past the Cave Faugeres turn left at the petrol station and just before left turn for Pezenas/Roujan you will see the Bel Air on the left. Similiarly if coming towards Faugeres from Bezier direction - turn right at Petrol Station.

We then walked the meal off by going to the 16th Century Faugeres Windmills (Trois Tours) - well worth the walk for the panoramic views - just a shame it was cloudy and starting to rain!

Shirley

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MARSEILLAN

La Luna - it is new and rather more 21st century than the others around the port. Not the cheapeast but chic and the food is excellent and beautifully presented. A new team of young people - worth a try.
Menues of 2 levels and a la carte too - around €15 seems the average.
Interesting wine list with some Italians - and the pichet of Rose at 5.50 was nice and not a silly price.
Oh - nice loos too!
One little niggle - why do so many places charge so much for the coffee - €2 is a bit steep and suddenly the bill leaps.
Forget that - worth a try and overlooks the port
04 67 01 73 59

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BEZIERS

There is a new restaurant in Beziers which we have found to be very good. It is 'La Vigne Gourmande' and is a little bit away from the centre at 67, Avenue de President Wilson but is well worth a visit.
They have a menu at 24€ (three courses) and at lunchtime they do two courses for 17€. There are plenty of choices and they are all very well presented.The wine list is also very good. It is run by a married couple, he cooks and she serves and speaks excellent English. We have been there several times and have never been disappointed. Try it!

Geoffrey Portwine

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CLERMONT L'HERAULT

Peter & Patricia Kirwan recommend :

TOURNESOL
Situated above the traffic, next door to the Post Office; tel. 04 67 96 99 22

In the twelve years since the young owners took over the Tournesol, they have revolutionised it. Now one of our favourite restaurants, we’ve even enjoyed two splendid Christmas day lunches there (they open 7/7). They have recently been awarded two forks by Michelin.

They have steadily improved the restaurant itself, which is now thoroughly attractive, cheerful and comfortable with great ambience, cool and airy in summer, warm and friendly on grey, cooler days. The two terraces are welcoming too – choose sun or shade ! Courteous, efficient staff add to one’s enjoyment.

Traditional Mediterranean menus at €39, €27, €23, €16 with a Menu du Mois Gourmand” at €29, feature a wide choice of beautifully presented dishes. Starters range from a delicious 3-flavour gazpachio, through foie gras, beef carpaccio, oysters, mussels all prepared in a variety of ways. Interesting salads too.

Fishy main courses include tasty tuna, perch, sardines and sea bream dishes, whilst mouthwatering cuts of magret de canard, beef and lamb more than satisfy the most discriminating meat lover. Most are enlivened with a judicious use of local herbs and nuts which add interest without being over powering. Forget your diet for the day ! The sweets are seriously mouthwatering, ranging from rich chocolaty concoctions through tarte tatin, to fresh fruit mousses and sorbets.

The wine list improves all the time, with a good selection from local quality producers who use local southern grapes (Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault ...)as well as more traditional varieties such as Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, Viognier. Priced from 20 euros upwards, they’re well worth it, so drink less ... savour them more ...

This year they have opened an adjunct, La Saladerie, on the busy esplanade below. It is less formal, offering, mainly, simple salads and coquillages. 12 oysters cost €13,10, moule marinières is €9,50 and a simple menu @ €12 includes pleasant meat and fish dishes as alternatives.

CLERMONT l'HERAULT
Opposite the Cafe de Negociants has a pubby feel - in the best sense and food is good and not expensive - a review would be welcomed PLEASE.

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CLERMONT L'HERAULT

Les Ramparts - on the plaza by the Church - with your back to the church you walk towards the right towards a delicious smell and a fine glass covered porch
LES RAMPARTS - an ideal place to eat before a concert in the Church!
Fine food, well presented and - amazing - lovely vegetables too!
Menu is €15 but we had the steaks = - €16 entrecote and €14.50 Rump. Some of the best steaks we have eaten - even a choice of Frites or Saute and the Thai sauce was devine
Pichet wine excellent -
Lunch menue €12.80
04 67 96 33 81

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3 WoW recommendations for good value eating out – from modest to less modest! But all are good value and WoW tested.



MARGON Belle Lurette has re-opened

This had the WoW supreme award for value and welcome but then it closed. WoW is delighted to report it is now open again and is the same excellent value - €12.50 for 3 courses and including 1/4 a pichet of wine or a beer.

New people seem charming - of course it is not the same but we ate well and the presentation is most professional and the food delicious.
They also have an a la carte menue and Pizzas to eat in or take away.

Open lunch and evenings 7/7 - we wish the new family well. Was very busy the other day - might be worth booking on 04 67 24 67 70

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POUZOLLES -

the bar opposite the boule court is good value too €13 for 3 courses + 1/4 pichet of wine - and normally 3 choices a course. Not as polished as Margon - paper napkins and just the one glass for water and wine BUT that said - good homecooking at a good price. They sometimes seem so busy you feel a bit "in the way" but they are actually a lovely team - if not as upfront as the Margon folks. Give it a try - you can't go wrong for the price, now can you?

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FLORENSAC Bistrot d’Alex
If you get a wee bit outraged by the mark up on wine but still want to drink good wine but at sensible prices – this is the place for you.
Wine is sold at the “shop” price with many a good bottle for under or even well under €10. Set meal is €16. May not sound exactly cheap but when you count in the wine at many other places you will be pleasantly surprised by the size of the bill. Mainly French customers – which WoW thinks is normally a good sign.
Normally lunch only. Get there early and do a tasting before you go in and eat
Get there – follow the signs to Vinipolis and drive past the ugly cave co-op to the modern tasting and eating place.
Probably best to book - : 04 67 77 03 05

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A great place to eat - WoW recommended

COLOMBIERES SUR ORB - Auberge des Gorges de Madale
Keep it to yourself – a splendid place to eat! The chef and staff of Auberge des Gorges de Madale prefer to serve friends and locals and tend not to promote their exquisite cuisine. But do not for one moment be put off – it is a stunning place to eat in the Orb valley – and while €25 does not immediately look like great value……….. The price does include an aperitif, ad lib wine, muscat and coffee plus some of the best food we have eaten in Herault.
It is just outside Colombieres sur Orb – a nifty left turn in the direction of Bedarieux and a most unpromising “arrival experience” Or from Bedarieux, just after the long right hand bend before the village and the “common” – slow down as you need to turn right (there are the remains of the old road which you turn across) - look out for the sign.
The Auberge is on the “soon to be finished” model of French décor. BUT once inside and “a table” then the experience is just special.
Not always busy but always worth check on 04 67 23 01 93 – this is an culinary experience not to be missed. If you eat no-where else this year you must try the Auberge des Gorges de Madale – an experience and at what one ad agency in the ‘60’s described – at the younger price – i.e not steep but great value.
Easy to go and on and on – but better to try it yourself – then you too can bore for France, as we are tempted to.

There is no choice so check the menu at
Menu published at aubergedesgorgesdemadale2.blogspot.com

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CESSENON-SUR-ORB

Give yourself a treat with Bill and Ben (yes - those really are their names) at L'Orb Restaurant.
Lovely to sit out and see the town pass by in the square - a fine setting.
Their menu of the day for €17.50 was delicious - 3 courses - no choices but splendid. Ben is a real artist and the flavours were delicate and interesting and Bill is a welcoming host - worth a try.
All topped off with a fine carafe of Rose and fine Italian coffee.
A la Carte also available - looked really appetising - and no problems with language - they are Brits.
Phone 04 67 89 43 52 www.restaurantdelorb.com
PS get on their mailing list for themed evenings


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AIGUES-MORTES

How to choose a place to eat in this splendid time capsule of a town?

Well Wine Blah is a great guide and suggests, not the fine square but somewhere "just around the corner"!

Chez Carriere is a great find - well priced for a quality meal with a fine range of fish and seafood as well as meat. Lovely atmosphere and ambience AND a WoW award for an excellent pichet of red wine. Full meal with coffee for 2 for €35 - a real find.
And if you would like to spend more time in the town they have 20 bedrooms and they are open year round.
www.chezcarriere.com



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GRUISSAN
Peter writes
Owning, as we do, a Chambres d'Hôtes in the village, we have to be careful when recommending restaurants to our clients. Obviously, the same applies for readers of WoW. Thus, after exhaustive testing and inevitable self-sacrifice, the following are chosen as our preferred eateries.

1 l'Ardoise Antonin.
A small restaurant with a limited, but excellent carte and reasonable prices for the quality. Generally six or seven choices of main course plus a suggestion of the day. Traditional food cooked with love and attention. Welcoming and friendly, plus they acquire at least some of their wine from (in our view) the best cave in the village. Open all year (if not every day) and with a terrace in summer.

2 Le Kabanon.
This is situated just inside the entrance to the municipal camp-site and is open from June to September. It is mostly open-air and you have to be hungry! Traditional food and very reasonably priced, but best avoided when there is no wind. Otherwise, the mosquitoes will eat better than you.

3 La Cabane Du Pêcheur.
The owners used to run a restaurant of the same name on the chalet beach, but have moved a little inland. All kinds of sea food to be found at reasonable price. Open all year, but not every day out of season.

4 La Base Conchylicole
If you like raw shellfish (oysters, mussels etc) we recommend this address. They are open 365 days a year, but finish serving at about 7.30 pm. You can eat inside, but better outside where there is an excellent view of the sea. They have no restaurant licence so you have to take your own bread an butter. They do, however sell decent white wine. Very busy in season and especially on Sundays when people arrive by bus! If you don't like raw shellfish, you can, of course, buy to cook. You won't find them cheaper elsewhere.

5 la Medina
This is on the new port and is the best address for couscous – either there or to take away. You have to be very hungry as the portions are enormous

6 Les Quatre Coins
This family-run restaurant has a good reputation. It is also on the new port and is not exactly cheap, but is a good address if you want a pleasant ambiance and is ideal if you need to impress a new girl/boy friend, lover, mistress, bank manager or financial advisor. Open all year, but only at weekends out of season

7 La Cranquette
It specialises in seafood (but not as we know it, Captain). Not exactly cheap, but cooked with style and imagination, with a reasonable selection of wines. Everything, is cooked in a plancha in full view of customers.
Plus....... They have no freezer, so you know it's fresh
(1) Having no freezer, when they run out, they have been known to shut!
(2) The plancha is small and, in high season, waiting times can be long.
If you are content to wait for something special, it is a good plan to book10 r République 11430 GRUISSAN tel: 04 68 75 12 07


Now the bad news:
If you are looking for an Indian Restaurant, there are none here or in Narbonne. Similarly, if you are looking for a Chinese restaurant, there are none worth a visit. If you like Pizza, the best option is to take a plane to Stansted and then another to Naples
bon appétit!
Peter Pugh

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COLOMBIERS

Chez l'Eclusier
If you are stranded somewhat south-west of Beziers on the route D609 from Narbonne, the seemingly endless industrial zone is painful on the eyes, you think (wrongly) that Bricoman still closes at midday, it is lunchtime and you are hungry, help is most certainly at hand. You head for Colombiers and head, additionally, for the Canal du Midi. There, you will find a delightful little restaurant called Chez l'Eclusier. The staff are friendly and attentive, you eat well and if you choose the plat du jour, it is not overly expensive. In season, it is wise to book in advance (04 67 37 14 77). Failing that, if you have to wait, the time will be well spent, outside, reading the amusing and original descriptions of what you are about to eat. A real gem!
Peter


Thanks Peter - much enjoyed by English hacks on a recent tour

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SETE

So many places - how do you decide?
Well the Halles has a neat place where you can eat very alfresco - feels very French and worth a try

On the Quay - - 8 General Durand - give Chez Fransois a try. It is not cheap but it is good and plats start at €14 but the ambiance is superb and the food and service top notch in this intimate restaurant. They are "producteurs" so the quality is assured. Try the assiette de poisson frites - 6 different varieties come with a fine salad - 04 67 74 59 69.
Outside - bit cold now - gives a great view of the local boats and activity. And just by the under canal parking.

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ROUJAN

The Grande Cafe - often overlooked we fear - but a fine welcome and well priced meals served in a much nicer than average (for a French bar) eating area.

Good value although the music/tele inside and the road outside in summer can be a bit LOUD!

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GOOD VALUE EATING - WoW recommended.

MONTPELLIER - a place for a simple bite -
Visit the Creperie des 2 Provinces
at 7, rue Jacques Coeur - 04 67 60 68 10.
A wide - in fact huge selection of Crepes - delicious and swift with very pleasant pichet wine. And the service is friendly with the waiter even pointing out a cheaper way to eat by using the "formule" - very helpful.
Good clean loos on the Ist floor - but note - the tap is for caterers and is operated by the knee!
Closed on Sunday - otherwise opens at 11.45 and closes at 11.30 at night - so somewhere to eat before the theatre - or after

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PS Congratulations to the city of MONTPELLIER on the stunning re-furbishement of the Comedie parking - light, bright and the floors helfully colour coded and pleasant music too.

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BEDARIEUX has a Chinese Restaurant at 112 Avenue Jean Jaures (face a la gare) Le Palais de Bedarieux 0467 23 75 40. Open 7/7 1200-1400 and 1900-2230. They specialise in Chinese and Japanese cuisine. There is a terrace for eating out in the summer. The food is good, but the atmosphere can be a bit lacking in the restaurant if not many eating in - they also do Take-Away (-10%) - and on the 3 times we have eaten there they were serving more take-away diners than restaurant diners. Probably a good place to go and eat if there is a group of you, then you can create your own atmosphere!

Menu Rapide €10.50. Menu Vapeur et Menu de Chef €16.50. Menu d'Amour €46 and Menu du Bonheur (6 personnes) €139.00. Portions are generous on individually ordered dishes and 4 of us (just before xmas) ordered in quantities for 3 and there was food left over!

Shirley

WoW thanks Shirley - again - how about some other readers sending in a recomendation?

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ROQUEBRUN - Shirley writes - "we can thoroughly recommend Auberge Saint-Hubert, avenue des oranges, 34460 Roquebrun. Tel - 04.67.89.50.37 - they are a 'restaurant traditionnel' with a great 'a la carte menu' but also 'plat du jour' du €19 per head. Its an hour+ drive for us from Andabre - but well worth it as the scenery is great en-route and the food is to die for!! If we lived nearer we would frequent it a lot more! The wines they serve are local and can be bought from the local Cave almost opposite the restaurant! The interior decor is superb and they also have a covered verandah for eating outdoors in warmer weather."

Shirley Morgan

"Thanks Shirley - the more good people who write in with recomendations the better this site becomes" - WoW

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PEZENAS


WoW enjoyed a pleasant meal at the Brasserie Moliere (overlooks the main parking) - menu de jour was just €11 and the place was full of locals having lunch. Pretty good pichet wine for €7 and all in all a very "authentic" experience. Feels like a French restaurant should be and - not so French - has good sized and clean loos - 2 for men and 2 for women.
Oddly it is a part of the hotel Moliere - but not on the same site.


Le Coq D'Or in place Gambetta is open too and deserves a visit - if you have been - please share your experiences with WoW.

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BEZIERS

Not too many places recommended yet - it is up to WoW readers please!

But close to the Cathedral is "Chez Toi, Chez Moi" at 32 rue Vienet. Husband and wife team - he cooks and she is out front. Fine food - grills cooked on wood in front of "your very eyes". Give it a try - the meat was superb and the soup a feast in itself.

Nice and unpretentious and all for €11 for 2 courses at lunch time. Also very drinkable pichet wine. Actually the first pichet was horrid - but no qualms about sending it back and a new pichet was produced and the WoW palate was vindicated - "very acid Sir!" Isn't that a great attitude - one fears in the UK one might have been told "if Sir choses the cheap stuff Sir should expect.........."

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MARSEILLAN - yet again

So many nice places on the port but for the best fare we have had for a long time - Taverne du Port


€13 for the winter menue and a nice Picpoul for €12 - and it was just lovely. (It is also a wine shop so the range is vast)
Nice simple but happy service and the Patron looks as if he is a "central casting" character - the nice Uncle.

It is best to book 04 67 01 78 78

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MARSEILLAN - La Ferme Marine - a WoW paradise if you like shellfish

To find it you have to take the small road on the Etang side of the cemetery

WoW photographer does not do justice to this groaning table of wonder!
We had a - eat as much as you like for €22 seafood bonanza! A huge table with just about everything plus some cooked dishes likes Oysters and Mussels grilled with cheese.
PLUS you sit on a terrace, or inside, with a 180 degree view of the Etang and Sete in the distance. Not cheap but just wonderful if seafood is your thing.
PLUS it is all "home grown".
Full of French people outside in October so guess it is best to book once it is too cold to eat outside or in the summer
04 67 76 14 59 - more info at www.lafermemarine.com - which also has a map - just keep on driving - it is worth it!


3rd party view - couldn't get in - you need to book - but it looked sensational and they didn't do the snooty French thing when they said they were full - we will be back for sure!

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BEDARIEUX

L'Ateler,22 rue sur le Puits, Bédarieux(in one of the little side streets near the church leading from the market square) Tel: 0467 23 86 02

A review of a restaurant in Bédarieux? Surely not. Bédarieux is not known as a centre of gastronomy but a young couple, Ludovic and Gwenaelle Calvo, have recently opened a new restaurant in the town which certainly" vaut le détour". The décor is contemporary which might not be to everyone's taste, but it is immaculate and bright and air-conditioned , so although small(25 couverts) it is very pleasant even on the hottest days of summer.
At lunchtime there is a set menu at €13.50 for an entrée and main course or main course and dessert, or €17 for all three,very good value given the excellence of the food.
In the evening a three course dinner @ €24 with a choice from two items for each course provides Ludovic with the opportunity to display the range and quality of his cooking. Everything is beautifully presented with great attention to detail, and Ludovic's charming and attractive wife Gwenaelle looks after the front of house.
So if you are looking for something different in an area not exactly teeming with good restaurants, try L'Atelier.
The restaurant is open in the summer for lunch from Monday to Saturday and from Wednesday to Saturday for dinner.
In winter from Monday to Saturday for lunch and Friday and Saturday evenings.
Patrick - our man in the valley D'Orb

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Places with a view - though not cheap but great views and food

SETE



Les Demoiselles Dupuy - 4 Quai Maximin - almost IN the fish market.
Authentic, on the quay and wonderful seafood - a WoW favourite and recommended by Martin Bez of Gallery Sud fame. Benefits by not being on the main and noisey road in the port.
Listed by Gault Millau guide 2009 - it benefits from a goodish wine list and pichets - Rose pretty good @ €8 for 50cls
"Best Tuna ever" opines WoW Tuna expert and seafood is raised by the Patron and his family in Bouziques - plats €15.50 - €19 but only fish is served here.
There could be more restaurants than fishing boats in Sete - so it is hard to choose but we don't think you can go wrong here.


Looks authentic too

One shock - the loo has HOT water - on the other hand the cold tap doesn't work - you can't win them all! 04 67 74 03 46

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OLARGUES - try the Fleurs d'Olargues - sitting over looking the old town with the bridge and river in the foreground - great spot and super welcome from the Danish family who run it - well recommended - and the loos are Danish best too!

Pont Diable is the backdrop and the pretty town of Olargues perched above it
Enjoy your food under the shade of the trees. Speak Danish, French and English
04 67 97 27 04

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VAILHAN - another great view from the Presbytere. Over the lake nestled into the Church. Just another example of clever Maires - this is owned by the tiny hamlet and let to a talented chef and his wife.
Dine on the terrace and see the breath-taking countryside.
Splendid food served with style - try it - though the wine WoW thought on the dear side. 04 67 24 76 49
And after you eat - stroll to the dam constructed to reduce flooding on the plain of Pezenas - not only is the lake beautiful but the dam does the job too.
However we hear reports that Madame has off days and can be quite rude.

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Ed sends from MAGALAS

The Excalibur seems to grow in popularity - everyone knows it and for less than 20 Euros a head including wine and coffee you can eat extremely well from a wide choice of Pizzas and Dishes. The translations are a hoot too. Hat's off to Marie and Roberto for all they do to support the village and their bar restaurant in Magalas!

He also recommends O'Bontemps - agreed it is fine but it is pricey and so a bit outside a WoW wow - if you see what we mean!

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Jon sends from LUNEL

L'Authentic, 9 av Gen de Gaulle, Lunel, 04 67 83 91 12

This is good at any time, but 2-course lunch with glass of wine or beer or water for 13,50€ is exceptional. Cooking of high standard. No pichets but bottles from extensive Languedoc wine list are sensibly priced.

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Laure sends from LODEVE

« Sun House Café »,17 rue Neuve des Marchés : Samir Jaoui est arrivé de Norvège avec sa bonne humeur et son sens de l'accueil méditerranéen : il crée en 2008 son restaurant. Tapas, assiettes orientales à déguster au son des musiques du monde, en terrasse sous les drapeaux boudhistes, ou en intérieur au côté des peintures qu'il expose régulièrement sur ses murs. Vernissages avec concerts chaque mois. Tél : 06 31 56 18 67 & 04 67 88 51 18


« Soleil Bleu », 39 Grand'Rue : Sylvane offre à midi dans son salon de thé tranquille et spacieux un choix de plats du jour ou tartes/salades raffinés et l’après midi un vaste choix de thés et cafés accompagnés de délicieux gâteaux confectionnés par Pierre, son mari. Ce lieu est aussi une galerie où les créateurs métiers d’art exposent avec bonheur : terres, grès et rakus, œuvres gravées ou peintes, livres d’artistes…. Réservations tél-fax : 04 67 88 09 86

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MONTPELLIER -

Les Bains
Just behind the Opera House is an oasis of calm and delight. A clever conversion of this once public bath house has you sitting where once there were baths and overlooking a courtyard of plants where plays a lazy fountain (or they have cleaned the filter). A really good antedote to the rush and noise of Montpellier and WoW recommended.


At the other end of the scale - try the Green kiosk by the old Pathe cinema - opposite the Pavilion Populaire on Esplanade Charles De Gaulle
Meets the WoW criteria for decent pichet wine - €4.50 for 50cl of light Rose. The ideal place to have a snack before a Corum concert or between visits to the Fabre or Pav Pop. Savoury pancakes to die for at very sensible price - no feeling you are being ripped off in this leafy promenade and the sort of welcome you might like - but not get - at a 2* establishment. Worth a try

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Places with a view - though not cheap but great views and food

GRAU D'AGDE - ish - actually between Rochelonge and La Guiraudette - take the turning at the Hyper U and follow the signs to Rochelonge

Les Vagues

This is the "entrance experience" and the out of focus in the distance is the Med - this is on the beach but on decking.
It has style, warmth, welcome and fabulous food with a view to die for. A sailing boat slid past in the dusk - just like a movie
Entrees from €11 - 16 - plats from €15 - 25 and wine from €16 a bottle - but this is the real thing and just the place to suggest to nice guests who offer to take you out to dinner.
A real WoW wow for this one - and the sell Plume - the 9% low alcohol wine - so you can enjoy your wine
04 67 39 08 63 or restaurantlesvagues@gmail.com

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Le GRAU D'AGDE - Adagio

- possibly one of the best meals without spending a fortune with the added benefit of eating on a platform over the river, a view of the Med and sometimes the Pyrenees. Stylish modern feel, food and decor/plates etc. Wine a bit pricey but a place for a celebration and open all year

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CAP D'AGDE Restaurant "Les Halles" - Port Richelieu
45 avenue des Sergents
Looks just like a fish shop from the main road but behind is a simple a deligtful space where the fish is excellent.


As a London journalist remarked "I dont think I have ever eaten such good fish in a long time"
Worth a try - expecially if you have been to the Ephebe Musee - a couple of minutes walk away - then after eating wander and look at the boats and consider the oft told remark that 90% never seem to move.
Tél. : 04.67.26.82.93 www.leshallesauxpoissons.com

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BEZIERS - Les Halles

Fine idea - you go around the market and pick up the freshest of fresh food you would like to eat then take it to the bar and they cook it for you for €1 per portion.

On the other corner of the Halles is a pretty good place too - forgotten the name and ate there a long time ago so can't vouch for the quality or prices. Bit Covent Garden market style if you like that sort of thing.

NOTE - SETE has the same sort of thing - but they choose - amazing seafood

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NEFFIES L’Escampette

This is the kind of informal bar/restaurant which every village needs-and few seem to have. Set in the heart of Neffies with a cosy, though rather “tired”, dining room and a wide terrace overlooking the vines, it offers a warm welcome and jolly atmosphere throughout the year.

The menu offers many traditional French dishes, some of which are not often seen these days . All are well seasoned and the chef has a real talent with sauces. At my last visit, the whimpers of delight from my husband and our friend as they tasted their food were reminiscent of the famous scene from “When Harry Met Sally”!

The lunchtime “formule” is simple and offers good value at 12€. There is no fixed price menu in the evening, but eating a la carte is reasonable and costs very little more than most set menus. A demi- litre pichet of wine costs 4.50€ and a glass is 1.50€.
Trish Walker

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(Not a usual WoW recommendation - no price and possibly priceless - but well worth the read even if you cant afford it!)

When your Nimes flight to Blightie is cancelled, don’t despair.
Get back in your car, and say to yourself oh yipeee! We’ll go to the Alexandre - a 2 star Michelin Restaurant in Garons just down the road - you can’t miss it, it’s well signed.
We didn’t miss a flight, but went anyway, as the guests of the Chef, Michel Kayser, as a thank you for some work we’d done, translating and designing his new brochure.
The restaurant is set in a lovely garden full of huge trees, whose branches were bowed with snow - while inside, the greeting from Madame Kaiser, the Maitre D was warm and welcoming. The restaurant was full of spring bulbs and all sorts of exotic furniture, sculptures and paintings, and mercifully free of background music. She brought us glasses of bubbly and no menu, because we were on a ‘treat’ and just had to wait for the unfolding epicurean drama to begin.
Moving swiftly on from all the wonderful amuse-bouches of home made madeleines, macaroons filled with thises and that’s, the little mound of celeriac ‘spaghetti’ topped with freshly shaved truffles (no, I didn’t know that truffles shaved either, but when they do, it’s divine), we got to the first course which was an isle flottante of quenelles de some kind of fishy mousse, served on a sort of cepe soupy sauce, with yet more truffle shavings…out of this WORLD, served with their own home made breads and rolls.
Then came a wild duck, all artistically arranged on the plate to fool me into thinking it won’t be as good as it looked - and of course it’s even better - served with the incie-winciest bit of a hint of carrot puree, quince confit and some kind of potato concoction that I couldn’t possibly describe in more detail except to say that I shoved far too much of it onto my girl-friend’s plate and regretted my generosity immediately. She had loup de mer wrapped up with something else that was fishy and white, and served with tiddly squidlets and she felt obliged to give me a bit of hers which was just as well, because it was equally delicious.
We were served (divine waiter with white hedgehog hair cut) a good white from somewhere round Nimes for the fish course, and then a red that came from Caux from the Domaine des Contes des Floris - a blend of Carignan and Cinsault which sent me into fresh raptures...until the puds arrived…
Now if anyone knows how to present a pud, it’s the Kayser…they arrive in Doctor Caligari’s Cabinet - a huge wooden caged affair on rollers, which then gets opened up with a grin and a flourish and there, inside, is a pudaholic’s dream … every imaginable kind of mousse made from liqueurs, fruits drenched in…liqueurs, exquisite little concoctions of macaroons and raspberries and slabbettes of different kinds of chocolate yummies, liquorice ice cream and and and and…I chose the chocolate creation and was immediately rebuked for only choosing one. So I dutifully went on a mousse hunt and an ice cream plunder, and have lived to tell the tale with glee…
Coffee came with yet more amazingly exquisite chocolates and macaroons all served on a sort of red lacquered plateau which I nearly tried to eat as well.
One of the things I loathe about eating out at lunchtime, is that horrid full up feeling that makes me want to slouch about burping and groaning for the rest of the day. So it’s a huge compliment to this restaurant that we both came out, after something like 5 courses, feeling skippy and decidedly happy - which might explain why I clipped their cypress tree and lost a side light on the car….
I don’t know what it would have cost if we’d had to pay for it, but probably more than my translation was worth.
When Monsieur Kayser appeared to see how we’d enjoyed ourselves, his beaming face and genuine modesty were a fitting full stop to over three hours (we did as much nattering as eating - that’s what girl-friends are for isn’t it) of the best restaurant outing for years.
Nicola

RESTAURANT ALEXANDRE, 2 RUE XAVIER TRONC,
30128 NIMES-GARONS 04 66 700 899

www.MICHELKAYSER.COM

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ONLY ONE RESTAURANT GAINS 3 stars this year in the whole of France

The only establishment to have been awarded the top accolade of three Michelin stars is Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse in the Languedoc region in the South West of France, which brings the total of three-starred restaurants in France to 26.

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Please send in any places you really recommend - so we can share them with our readers.
Email - hicks-france@wanadoo.fr