Candes Saint-Martin, my favourite spot in La Touraine.

Wednesday 17 July 2013

The Lion d'Or revisited - Part 2

We each ordered a glass of sparkling Vouvray. With it came three appetizers: an airy asparagus mousse, a tiny slice of ‘pâté en croûte’ and a savoury mini cake. 


And then it was time to order. B. and J.L. both being fond of asparagus, decided to have an all-asparagus lunch. Their starter was:

'Asperges blanches du moment, oeufs de caille pochés et lomo séché,
émulsion de parmesan et huile d'ail des ours.'

Being a lesser fan of the vegetable, I had a

'St Jacques en tartare sur crème verte et framboises fraîches
et son caramel'.

Our main courses were: 

 'Onglet de veau aux asperges vertes et sa gambas en kadaif, blinis de topinambour, jus à la sauge'


 for my friends and for me:

Le Suprême de Pintade farci et rôti au beurre de pistache, 
fenouil à l'orange, jus de volaille au curry


J.L. was the only one to order a dessert: a selection of sorbets.

The restaurant also has a very interesting coffee list, a unique concept that didn’t go unnoticed by my coffee-loving friends. While they both had a coffee I finished the last of sparkling water and the last inch of Saumur Champigny wine.

The total bill came to 130 euros, a real bargain considering the quality of the meal, the freshness of the ingredients, the excellent service and the elegant surroundings.

P.S. Sorry about the somewhat 'damaged' photos of the main courses. They looked and were sooooo good that we forgot to take a photo of the untouched dish.

6 comments:

Craig said...

Gorgeous looking food Martine! The presentation is outstanding.

John Going Gently said...

Little works of food art

VirginiaC said...

Thank goodness you were able to take food photos of the meal...everything looks tempting.

Amanda said...

You can tell it was not a cheap meal. Lovely!

Louise said...

Oh, it all looks so delicious...it has inspired me for my menu for this evening...the photos are just fine...and the prices, compared to here in Perth, Western Australia, remarkable...that meal would have been at least 200 euros for 3 people!

ladybird said...

Craig, It was outstanding in every way, the scallops being my favourite.

John, Welcome and thank you for posting a comment and following my blog. These days 'chefs' are real artists.

Virginia, The 'funny' man at the nearby table (see previous post) was intrigued when he saw us taking photos, but he didn't ask us why we did it.

Nadege, I was excellent. I think the bill was quite reasonable given the high gastronomical standard.

Louise, May I ask which dish inspired you? That way, I'll know whether I have to pop over tonight for dinner at your house ;)