If anyone is visiting France I recommend the restaurant L’entrecote, branches in Nantes, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier, Lyons (and Barcelona).
This is something of an institution. My mate was aware of it but had never been, discovered there was one down the road from where we were staying in Toulouse, made me run to get there half an hour before it opened…….you can’t book. I was sceptical, but we were already about 25th in the queue. By the time it opened there were another 150 behind us…vast majority local. Fortunately it’s a big place.
There is no choice for your main meal. For €21 you get a small green salad with walnuts and a very nice dressing, seemingly limitless bread and then steak and chips. But brilliant steak and chips, thinly sliced entrecôte (we asked for medium rare, which in French terms is on the rare side for us, fortunately no problem) bathed in an outstanding garlic butter sauce, and a mountain of chips. You get a big platter of steak, and more chips were offered on a regular basis. We also invested in a €19 bottle of house Bordeaux, which was very good. You can get desserts, or a plate of cheese, for €7-8 each, but I was close to explosion by that stage.
When we left the queue was just as big for second sitting. And we walked past on Monday lunchtime…..and there was a queue. Outstanding value, great experience, lovely food.
Also managed several visits to markets where at weekends people seem just to hang out, buying stuff but also snacking on cheese, seafood, sampling wines…..these supplemented by duck, melted cheese and mushroom galette one evening and the inevitable cassoulet on Sunday. This is very tasty but I’m still digesting it.
I haven’t spent much time in France, except for Paris, for a long time, but this was great, but dangerous. The delicious but rich food, obviously good wines, and requirement for thirst quenching beer are definitely health threatening without self control, which I abandon on holidays. It’s also expensive - €5-7 for a pint, you can get a glass of wine for €2.5, but more frequently a bit more even in the markets.