There are some things in life that cannot be replaced with anything, one of them being a home cooked meal! But there comes a time, when one can be stuck in a hotel for a couple of weeks with no home cooked meal in sight!
Well if that time ever comes along, I hope you are stuck in the same fabulous little French town where I was, because if you do, you are in for a surprise š
Pornichet……have you ever heard of this place? Well neither had I until I got the address of the location of my hotel stay for my 2 week business trip. This little town is on the West Coast of France, bang on the Atlantic Ocean and is located about an hour away from Nantes, 20 minutes from St. Nazaire and 10 minutes from La Baule.
Upon arrival my first meal consisted of a last minuteĀ dinner of Fish and ChipsĀ ( and I really mean last minute as it was Easter Sunday, everything was closed and I was the last order of the night). Fish was great, Chips were more like french fries but once I drowned them in Malt Vinegar they were just right! But lets move onto the the “French Cuisine”!
After that experience it was all uphill! Lets start by smelling the freshly baked bread in the morning, OMG, it was total punishment, I tried I tried to stay away from it but what can I say, my will power was not doing too good. Totally hooked on the Pornichet Boulangeries. Met one of the great bread bakers, young kid, could have been my son, but what a gift!
My first night here Beth (my partner in crime on this trip) and myself ended up walking a few blocks down the road, got caught in rain, wind, ate some sand but it was all worth it.
Nina a la plage greeted us with open arms, fabulous dinner, wine and service.
Had the most delicious Steak Tartare, followed by an amazing Banana dessert of some sort and a Limoncello on the house and of course “the wine”, never had a bad bottle of wine, wine wine and more wine……….did I mention we had wine, lol ?
From this fab place we move onto another fab place located in the Hotel Sud Bretagne, were you will beĀ in for a treat! Check out their menu. On this particular day (yes went back more than once), I ordered a magnificent Green Salad with Foie Gras and Langoustines
followed by a scrumptious Lobster Risotto
This place not only was a great culinary experience, but its worth the visit just to check out their decor, quaint private dinner rooms, cigar room and bar!
From this experience we jump to Thailand and visit our friend “Kim” at the local Thai Restaurant called “Le Siam”. Came here twice and loved everything I ordered!
As a special treat, the owner “Kim” loves introducing his guests to his weird, creepy Cobra Sake!
With that experience aside, now we hop over to yet another little treasure called “Le Lardoise”,
here I had the most fabulous mussels which were finger-licking good!
Not sure where to go from here, most of the restaurants were walking distance from the hotel we were staying at which made it convenient, easy and helped with the digestion, but one that stood out theĀ most was a place called “Secret”.
The name of the restaurant says it all, there is no menu, and each day’s menu is a “secret”, you eat what you get, and if you don’t like it, tough titty said the kitty as its all they have š
On this particular day we were greeted by the following menu:
- Green Salad, bacon lardons and quails eggs
- Duck Confit with Carrot Mousse and Churro Potatoes
- Nougat GlaceĀ with Pistachio Mousse and not sure what other deliciousness!
Have to say that it was one wonderful “secret” <3
And in this same fashion and can go on and on about a quite a few more restaurant, but decided I will leave them for my next visit which will be in a couple of weeks!
So if you ever find yourself in this little town, be prepared to experience some wonderful French Cuisine as well as being treated by some excellent International restaurants. Everyone of them greet you like you are a long lost friend, small family business, full of joy and of course, fabulous food š
With this a bare you farewell and bon appetit from quaint Pornichet!
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