Le XII - Part 2

After our drinks across the road from the market hall under restoration, we walked over to ‘Le XII’. Although I had never been to this restaurant before, the exterior looked familiar. I recognized the steep steps leading up to what used to be the entrance door of a café we had visited in the early years of the millennium. At the time it had been a rather dark and rustic place, with dark wooden beams and an old bar, over which a large collection of standards of what I think were soccer teams were on display.

Asparagus with langoustines and veal sweetbreads.

The new entrance to the restaurant had been moved a few metres down the road. Inside the place looked modern and pristine. Some interior walls had been knocked out and room was spacious and bright. The staff was very young, hardly twenty, yet very efficient. There was chatter and laughing coming from a function room on the side. While we were studying the menu card, the young waiter and waitress commuted between the kitchen and the function room, carrying large plates laden with delicious looking food.

Cannelloni of smoked salmon.

Seabass with new potatoes and oyster mushrooms.

B.'s main course from the 'ardoise' menu.

J.L's main course.

B. decided to have the ‘ardoise’ menu (some kind of deep fried spring roll with finely chopped vegetables and a filet of John Dory with spring onions and cherry tomatoes). J.L. and I splashed out on an ‘à la carte’ menu: asparagus, langoustines and veal sweetbreads, followed by a sea bass filet with new potatoes and oyster mushrooms, for me) and (cannelloni of smoked salmon stuffed with salmon mousse, followed by another fish dish, of which I have forgotten the name, for J.L.). I also wanted to introduce my friends to a Loire Valley wine they hadn’t tried yet: a fruity Cour Cheverny (white) by a winemaker called Luc Percher at a 'lieu-dit' L'Epicourchois. They liked it so much that they took the empty bottle with them in order to have the winemakers address, in view of a possible visit of the winery.

J.L. had a trio of sorbets and a coffee. B. just had a coffee while I finished the rest of the sparkling water. It was a very good meal, nicely presented in very nice surroundings; the only disappointing element being the fact that the outdoor terrace with castle view only existed in the imagination of a very clever web designer.