Dordogne restaurant recommendations (with links)
The Bruno website is getting queries about restaurants in Perigord from readers planning to visit the region. So here are my favourites, with suggestions in every price range. I have added links where available, but many of these restaurants are too small (or too local) to advertise on the web. For quality, the Vieux Logis wins hands down. For value, the Auberge de Roussel and the Auberge Medievale are hard to beat.
The best restaurant in the area (my daughter has insisted I add ‘the world’) is Le Vieux Logis in Tremolat. It’s where I take my wife on birthdays. A meal at Le Vieux Logis is always memorable. The Menu de Marche is a reasonably-priced five-course surprise men currently triced at 45 euros, that makes the most of local produce. Recently we were treated to a mini picnic (astroturf trays with mini gingham rugs for plates) of amuses-bouches; a brandade of cod; a trio of tomatoes; a trio of rabbit and cepes; hibiscus jelly with vanilla mousse; a walnut and chocolate millefeuille with milk chocolate sorbet; and a chocolate cappuccino served with an apricot milk crisp. The quality of the food is matched by the setting, especially if the weather is on your side and you can sit out on the terrace under the trees. At lunchtime they serve a brilliant tapas menu.
Also in Tremolat is an offshoot of the Vieux Logis called Le Bistro d’en Face, somewhat cheaper than the main restaurant with a less refined but very sound menu and a pleasant atmosphere in this small town where Chabrol filmed Le Boucher.
In La Roque-Gageac, I am torn between la Plume d’Oie and La Belle Etoile. They are both classic and agreeable restaurants but to dine on the Etoile’s terrace is a delight.
In terms of choice, the best towns are Bergerac, Sarlat and Les Eyzies.
Bergerac
Sarlat
Les Eyzies
In le Bugue, honest French fare in Le Cygne, reasonably priced Italian food at Da Francesco and crepes at L’Abreuvoir. The locals lunch at Oscar’s and the tourists flock to the open-air terrace and the very good pizzas at La Pergola. I am not a fan of the ‘Vietnamese’ place called Le Pha, but its location on the river is pretty. There is a charming wine bar, Chez Monique, where the main street, Rue de Paris, runs into the square of the Mairie, which serves very well-chosen wines (Monique used to work at te renowned wine cave of Julien de Savignac). On the main street is a decent café and pizzeria called La Renaissance, which serves reliable food at decent prices. The croissants at Patisserie Cauet are excellent, and their coffee is carefully sourced. Just outside Le Bugue on the road to Limeuil is Le Parc, at a lovely spot by a small lake with excellent buffets that are good value at lunchtime. It is also where I go when I get a sudden craving for barbecued pork ribs.
In Limeuil, at the top of the hill by the entrance to the castle and its park, is a charming place called Garden Party. By the bridge is a cheerful place, famous for its vast range of pizzas, called le Chai. They also do a very good value set lunch. My daughters always liked to flirt with the famous running waiter, known for his acrobatic leaps down the steps with his arms full of hot pizza.
In Paunat, Chez Julien, just behind the magnificent abbey, has never let me down. Julien used to be the maître at the Bistro En Face and runs the lace with jovial flair. The food is recommended.
In Le Buisson, up a long steep hill, is the Auberge le Roussel, a small and simple family inn where Herve and Maite Perrier grow their own vegetables and take justifiable pride in the meals they serve. Herve cooks and Maite serves with a cheerful smile and this unpretentious place with the red and white checked tablecloths has become a favourite. Their menus of the usual Perigord food are very sound but it’s worth exploring the carte for Herve’s own dishes. I have very fond memories of his stuffed cabbage.
Up the hill from Le Bugue in Audrix is the Auberge Medievale which has become a personal favourite. Its vine covered terrace with lovely views has always been an enchanting place to lunch or dine in summer, but the cooking seems suddenly to have gone into overdrive. The chef’s specialty, Ravioli de Langoustines, is excellent and if like me you enjoy kidneys the cassoulet de rognons is an absolutely splendid dish. You are always served a tureen of the home-made tourain soup, and this is one of the best versions I have tried. In careless hands it can look and taste like old dishwater but this version is excellent with lots of egg whites and garlic, not too much bread and a very hearty taste. This is the kind of honest and reliable local restaurant that is disappearing elsewhere in France, with good solid regional and traditional cooking, enlivened by some extra dishes. The wine list is sound. You will not go wrong with the Chateau Jaubertie.
Between Le Bugue and Les Eyzies is Campagne, home to a good place called Couleurs which even manages to overcome my distaste for food served on slices of slate rather than old-fashioned plates.
In Montignac, I like dining in the garden at La Roseraie and enjoy their vodka-flavoured gazpacho.
The best restaurant in the area (my daughter has insisted I add ‘the world’) is Le Vieux Logis in Tremolat. It’s where I take my wife on birthdays. A meal at Le Vieux Logis is always memorable. The Menu de Marche is a reasonably-priced five-course surprise men currently triced at 45 euros, that makes the most of local produce. Recently we were treated to a mini picnic (astroturf trays with mini gingham rugs for plates) of amuses-bouches; a brandade of cod; a trio of tomatoes; a trio of rabbit and cepes; hibiscus jelly with vanilla mousse; a walnut and chocolate millefeuille with milk chocolate sorbet; and a chocolate cappuccino served with an apricot milk crisp. The quality of the food is matched by the setting, especially if the weather is on your side and you can sit out on the terrace under the trees. At lunchtime they serve a brilliant tapas menu.
Also in Tremolat is an offshoot of the Vieux Logis called Le Bistro d’en Face, somewhat cheaper than the main restaurant with a less refined but very sound menu and a pleasant atmosphere in this small town where Chabrol filmed Le Boucher.
In La Roque-Gageac, I am torn between la Plume d’Oie and La Belle Etoile. They are both classic and agreeable restaurants but to dine on the Etoile’s terrace is a delight.
In terms of choice, the best towns are Bergerac, Sarlat and Les Eyzies.
Bergerac
- Le St-Jacques Run by a Dutch couple, who do a very good asparagus risotto and veal with a mustard and lardon sauce, all starters are 12 euros and all main courses 18.
- La table du Marche This place is great, menus at 19 and 29 euros and the cooking is both sound and inventive. Tapas-style dishes as well as bistro fare. One f the best fish soups I ever had.
- L’Imparfait I recommend the crusty pig’s foot and the fricassee of kidneys and veal liver. They also do a very good onion tart.
Sarlat
- Le Grand Bleu Almost as good as le Vieux Logis, and their tasting menu offers a wonderful ris de veau de lait caramélisé and a blissful soufflé au grand marnier.
- Le Bistro de l’Octroi Best value, good food, fairly priced and almost always open.
- Auberge de Mirandol Very fine building, but if the food seems a little too predictably Perigord try the hearty cassoulet au canard.
Les Eyzies
- Hostellerie du Passeur A little old-fashioned but none the worse for it.
- Le Cro-Magnon Sound, traditional food.
- Les Glycines (well modernised with an excellent and adventurous new chef, who has taken the brie and truffle dish mentioned in ‘Black Diamond’ and made it a speciality. His foie gras is first rate and he has a delicate touch with fish.)
- Le Vieux Moulin A lovely setting by the river and very good food; the pigeon is recommended and the desserts are wickedly tempting.
- Le Metairie (on the road to Sarlat, with a pleasant courtyard and some excellent small tarts as first course dishes.)
In le Bugue, honest French fare in Le Cygne, reasonably priced Italian food at Da Francesco and crepes at L’Abreuvoir. The locals lunch at Oscar’s and the tourists flock to the open-air terrace and the very good pizzas at La Pergola. I am not a fan of the ‘Vietnamese’ place called Le Pha, but its location on the river is pretty. There is a charming wine bar, Chez Monique, where the main street, Rue de Paris, runs into the square of the Mairie, which serves very well-chosen wines (Monique used to work at te renowned wine cave of Julien de Savignac). On the main street is a decent café and pizzeria called La Renaissance, which serves reliable food at decent prices. The croissants at Patisserie Cauet are excellent, and their coffee is carefully sourced. Just outside Le Bugue on the road to Limeuil is Le Parc, at a lovely spot by a small lake with excellent buffets that are good value at lunchtime. It is also where I go when I get a sudden craving for barbecued pork ribs.
In Limeuil, at the top of the hill by the entrance to the castle and its park, is a charming place called Garden Party. By the bridge is a cheerful place, famous for its vast range of pizzas, called le Chai. They also do a very good value set lunch. My daughters always liked to flirt with the famous running waiter, known for his acrobatic leaps down the steps with his arms full of hot pizza.
In Paunat, Chez Julien, just behind the magnificent abbey, has never let me down. Julien used to be the maître at the Bistro En Face and runs the lace with jovial flair. The food is recommended.
In Le Buisson, up a long steep hill, is the Auberge le Roussel, a small and simple family inn where Herve and Maite Perrier grow their own vegetables and take justifiable pride in the meals they serve. Herve cooks and Maite serves with a cheerful smile and this unpretentious place with the red and white checked tablecloths has become a favourite. Their menus of the usual Perigord food are very sound but it’s worth exploring the carte for Herve’s own dishes. I have very fond memories of his stuffed cabbage.
Up the hill from Le Bugue in Audrix is the Auberge Medievale which has become a personal favourite. Its vine covered terrace with lovely views has always been an enchanting place to lunch or dine in summer, but the cooking seems suddenly to have gone into overdrive. The chef’s specialty, Ravioli de Langoustines, is excellent and if like me you enjoy kidneys the cassoulet de rognons is an absolutely splendid dish. You are always served a tureen of the home-made tourain soup, and this is one of the best versions I have tried. In careless hands it can look and taste like old dishwater but this version is excellent with lots of egg whites and garlic, not too much bread and a very hearty taste. This is the kind of honest and reliable local restaurant that is disappearing elsewhere in France, with good solid regional and traditional cooking, enlivened by some extra dishes. The wine list is sound. You will not go wrong with the Chateau Jaubertie.
Between Le Bugue and Les Eyzies is Campagne, home to a good place called Couleurs which even manages to overcome my distaste for food served on slices of slate rather than old-fashioned plates.
In Montignac, I like dining in the garden at La Roseraie and enjoy their vodka-flavoured gazpacho.
