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Bargain places to eat


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Hello forum-users,

Can any of you give us some tips on great places to eat that don't cost the earth? I'm keen to hear tips from your local towns/villages, and any other ideas you might have for making a holiday in France cheaper, given that the pound is almost the same value as the euro at the moment.

Thanks for your help,

Carolyn

Editor, France Magazine

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Many of the places locally are good to eat and good value, but because most of the business is seasonal, staff and owners change frequently, so you need to try places on the hoof before it changes again, and a few that I wouldn't want to share!  have a look at http://www.leclubdesbonsvivants.com/restaurant/Aquitaine/Dordogne/villes-et-restaurants-non-recommandes.html

In all cases to the uninitiated Lunch is the bargain; those that remain consistant are perhaps at the top end of what you may want to hear,

Le Coquelicot, Saint paul de lizonne 

Le Lavalette Restaurant  7-9 Place des Halles, 16320 VILLEBOIS +33 5 45 61 7137

Chez Paul in Angouleme 8, Place Francis Louvel, 16000 Angoulême, France +33 5 45 90 04 61

La Tupina, 6 Rue Porte de la Monnaie, Bordeaux, 0033336915637, Good traditional Bordelais cooking http://www.latupina.com/anime.html recommended by Rick Stein etc, but my surprise each time I visit is that lunch starts at €16 up to €30 and is definitely worth the trip

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All you have to do is keep an eye open for where you see a load of lorries parked up at lunchtime.....that will be the best value and most substancial meal you will find in whatever part of France you holiday in....Also as has been mentioned ....when out and about the hypermarkets serve yourself restaurants are also good value ...Evenings check out the "Hotel " restaurant menu's as well as the restaurants they can do a very good value 3 course meal ....and you will get a "proper " napkin instead of a paper one !

My favorite "Hotel" does a 14 euro menu and upwards .
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Cepie (near Limoux in Aude) just off the roundabout at the north end of the bypass, can't remember the name but you can see it from the road and its next to the butchers in the mini commercial zone. On arrival you get an aperitif followed by a buffet starter (go as many times as you want and its all fresh) then the main course, usually a choice of two or three things. After that there's a choice of about 4 deserts and coffee, all washed down with a 1/4 ltr of house wine. Total price 12 Euros and very good it is too. How popular is it, well it opens at 12:00 and if your not there by 12:15 then your out of luck. Its been so successful that they have added half as much space again to the restaurant giving about 160 covers yet its still full. The place is new, clean and basic with lots of glass walls. Toilets, always a good indication, are immaculate.
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There are restos popping up all over the place with a special "menu anti-crise" - solid home cooking, for prices as low as 3.50€ menu for plat and dessert. The one that was shown on "66 minutes" last night had such a menu only on Tuesday for lunch. It is run by a young couple who realise that now is a bad time to start a business, and by offering their cheap menu, they manage 3 sittings on that one day, a total of about 115 customers - just between the 2 of them.

There is "La Grande Brasserie" in Montpellier, also doing a "menu anti-crise", but I have no more details.

 

EDIT: sorry, I have only just realised that Maricopa had beaten me to it with the "menu anti-crise" in a Nantes resto.

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If you are in the area where the Gers (32) and Hautes Pyrenees (65) meet the Landes(40) and Pyrenees Atlantiques (64) then the following may be of interest: 

Restaurant d'Application
, Lycée Professional Jean D'ARCET, 05 58 71 63 50 (8h00 - 18h00)  1 place St Quitterie 40801  Aire sur l'Adour
. It's a training restaurant - good 3-course meals from €8 depending on the menu.  Open for weekday lunch in termtime (12h10 prompt) except Wednesdays, and for dinner (19h10 prompt) on Tuesdays and Thursdays - must book.
  There are similar training establishments in Pau and Tarbes but we haven't tried them.

Bar des Autobus (PMU) Tel: 05 62 96 38 78,  87 place Libèration 65700 Maubourguet. Well known for big servings of good wholesome food at low prices at lunch and dinner times - popular with truckers.

L'Auberge    05 62 70 91 15  rue Nationale,  32320  Montesquiou.    Opens

lunchtimes only Monday-Friday. Soup/Starter/Main/choice of Dessert/Wine €12, but little

or no choice.  Everything is homemade by the owner’s wife.

Le Resto    05 59 92 05 31   ave Charles de Gaulle,   64140  Lons (Pau)  Take

the main road from Lescar (Shopping Area on outskirts of Pau) and drive

towards Pau Centre - this restaurant is about half way along on the

right. Arrive between 11.50 and

12.10 as it is very busy. Lunch menu comprises large help yourself

buffet table of approx 25 starters then a choice of 2plat du jour, plus a very substantial buffet

table of desserts and cheese plus 75cl of

wine - all for €10 !

Bon appetit!

Val

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It makes you wonder how they can turn out meals at such a low price (4 Euros ish), plenty of 'sauce' and loads of veg I suppose.

I have found that for good French food in a 95% French environment that if you look for something that appears a bit 'rough' on the outside can often be the best.

There's an Auberge at a place called  Cournanel called, strangely enough the Auberge de Cournanel, just on the south side of Limoux by a small bridge. Three course meal for 19,99 excluding wine and its very good, the lamb or steak are by far the best I have had, unless the one at Cepie has them on the menu but then you don't know till you get there. It does not look too grand from the outside so the Brits don't visit so much hence its mainly French clientele and its always busy. Sometimes its nice to enjoy your meal without hearing English being spoken in the background.

There's also an Auberge at Axat just off the D117 on the south side of the Pierre-Lys Gorge next to the bank. Again not much to look at, has a limited menu but it is regional. You can have a good meal for around 20 Euros. The seating arrangement although of reasonable size is the lounge of the guys house that's been extended. So whilst you eat you have the wife in the corner knitting on their three piece watching the TV. Sometimes shes doing her ironing. It sort of gives the ambiance of eating in somebodies house. Decor's not great, plastic table cloths etc but its clean and the food is good.

Least the wife kills me there is a certain B&B near Quillan that does an excellent meal with good wine for just 20 Euros all in. I just hope I get that birthday present I asked for (creep, creep, grovel, grovel) [;-)] .

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One of the best value restaurants in our region (dept 16) is the Auberge du Cheval Blanc at Luxe near Mansle - Wednesday to Friday they do a five course set lunch including all the trimmings & a bottle of wine between 2 people for 17euros/head.  Their cheese trolley has to be one of the best in France, there is no limit as to how many you may have.....the presentation is as good as their full price menu & it is incredibly popular especially during the summer months, when we need to book up to 3 weeks in advance.  It is mentioned in the Michelin guide so definitely worth a mention in this article, though with increasing popularity I may have just shot myself (& our guests) in the foot..
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From the title of this thread "Bargain" places to eat, I took it that it was very cheap but good value restaurants that were meant.

For me, but I may be alone in this, a "bargain" menu is probably one which is not more than 15€, and it might be less. At that price, possibly the best restaurant in my area is Les Marronniers in Lamalou-les-Bains,8 avenue de Capus. Tel. 04 67 95 76 00. It is run by its owner, Gilles Aubert, the 13.50€,  3-course menu is often superb and changes regularly. He uses produits du terroir as possible, even gives cookery classes. The desserts are particularly wonderful.

 

Quillan, the one restaurant that both Maricopa and I referred to, which showed the 3.50€ menu (one lunchtime a week) for Plat and Dessert, had for main dish, turkey in a white cream sauce and mushrooms, with rice. Pudding was fromage frais with a raspberry coulis.

The young couple running it were doing absolutely everything themselves: shopping, cleaning, cooking, serving, everything - they are just starting in business, and very keen to make a go of it. That is the only way they can do it, serving 115 couverts (can you imagine?) for that lunchtime. The rest of the week, their meals are just....normal. One restaurant in the same street, was complaining that it took customers away from them, and that they might have to do something special too.

 

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betoulle wrote the following post at 23/01/2009 8:37:

"One of

the best value restaurants in our region (dept 16) is the Auberge du

Cheval Blanc at Luxe near Mansle - Wednesday to Friday they do a five

course set lunch including all the trimmings & a bottle of wine

between 2 people for 17euros/head.  Their cheese trolley has to be one

of the best in France, there is no limit as to how many you may

have.....the presentation is as good as their full price menu & it

is incredibly popular especially during the summer months, when we need

to book up to 3 weeks in advance.  It is mentioned in the Michelin

guide so definitely worth a mention in this article, though with

increasing popularity I may have just shot myself (& our guests) in

the foot.."

I went there a few years ago, it was very good value and food excellent.

For me the only downside on that day was that there were hardly any French diners, the clientele being mostly British expats.[:(]

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I'm not sure if this counts as "bargain", but for the quality and quantity of food it is very good value for money. Les Grandes Aulnais, Cressac, south of Angouleme, between Blanzac and Chalais, Dept 16. Choice of menu 17 to 25 euros. They are rather heavy on duck, but we are vegetarian and they always make us something wonderful. We have never had a less than excellent meal there, although we only go when we are on holiday. The wine is not included, but the set menu we have is aperatif & nibbles, soup, crudites, vegetables, main course, cheese, pud. The only criticism I have is that the menu does not change, although the ingredients do, depending on seasonal availability. Most of the vegetables are home grown, and the ducks are home reared, they are often wandering about while we eat. There is always a mixture of French and English people there.

Pat

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Here in sunny Aisne, most restaurant food is a bargain, a lot of it is however really average in terms of quality and presentation.

La Pierre a Clous in Laon on the main pedestrian street from the cathedral to the town hall is excellent if you want really good, home cooked food of excellent quality at a very reasonable price. The plat de jour is normally 8 euro, dessert 1 euro, coffee 1 euro. The real baragin, if you have the time and have not eaten that day is the Menu at 16 euro, crudites, starter, main, cheese, desert. The food is regional, and comes in filling, farmers size portions, it is not 'haute cusine' thank goodness, it does not offer 50 choices described in flowery terms, but as an example, the plats de jour on last Monday were, Civet de Lievre, Rognons blanc d'agneau and Langues de Porc piquant.

The place is packed at lunchtime with local office workers and there are one or two SERIOUS stomachs in evidence of the effect of a daily diet and there is no 'menu minceurs' on offer, but they do some seriously good salads if that is all you want. Their homemade charcuterie and triperie is stunning, I never used to like Fromage du tete till I ate there.

Well worth a visit if you are in the region, or as seems more likely for most Brits, passing through on your way south

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I think the original poster asked for ideas (in addition to restaurant recommendations) for bargain meals, presumably to help people coming over for holidays/short stays in the summer.  So here are two....

From May to October, in this area of the South West at least, every week sees one or other commune en fête, which usually involves an evening meal on at least one day of the weekend.  It is open to all, great fun, and provides the opportunity to meet locals in the same or neighbouring villages.  Look for the flyers and posters in the window of the boulangerie, notice boards in the supermarchés, or pinned on telephone poles along the route.  The meal could be anything from couscous, to moules et frîtes, steak and chips, or paella, but the vin will flow freely and if the weather is fine you will eat under the stars - four courses and wine, all for around 10 euros. And if you're lucky you will have bandas music, a display by the local dancing school or the whole repertoire of French rugby songs thrown in!

Another thing to look out for in the wine producing regions is the annual portes ouvertes for the various appellations.  In Madiran this is held in mid-November with tastings and celebrations at most of the vineyards. The St Mont equivalent is held at the end of March.  Many of the wine producers offer meals too, ranging from sandwiches to full lunches (the latter bookable in advance and usually very reasonably priced; you buy your wine on the premises and glasses are provided!).  Madiran also has a lively three-day wine festival in the village in mid-August, with evening meals and entertainment on at least two nights.  A useful website for finding out what's happening is www.vindusudouest.fr.

Val

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Sorry to hear eating out in the Cotswolds is so expensive Carolyn...you are in the wrong spot there .too many Royals on your doorstep ? .Dorset and Hampshire lots of places two eat for a tenner ...Last Sunday we had lunch in a pub in Lyndhurst £5 each ...and about 8 meals from to choose from on the fiver menu. The Swan if anybody wants to give it a try ..
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[quote user="Editor - France Magazine"]accessible to all. [/quote]

Not quite. Formules and village fete menus never cater for vegetarians.

But this is France. We enjoy pain a l'ancien and a hunk of cheese on the riverbank.  Just don't forget to pack the corkscrew. [;-)]

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