SPRING 2025
Please scroll down the page to discover what we have discovered
Content to date:
Boeuf Bourguignon - Rajasthan Restaurant - Le Rendez-Vous Bar - Le Central Bar-Brasserie
BOEUF BOURGUIGNON
There are so many Classic French dishes but perhaps Boeuf Bourguignon would be number one when thinking of a classic. We have the dish on our menu which is often chosen by our guests who enjoy the rich red wine beef sauce with very tender beef.
Ingredients -
1kg - Beef chuck steak cut in 3 to 4 cm cubes. ( Ideally beef has fat marbling through it to be extra tender when cooked )
Plain flour
4/6 Carrots
6/8 Shallots
8/10 Paris mushrooms
2 Garlic cloves coarsely chopped
2 litres Beef stock ( if using stock cubes - about 5/6 I also add a spoon full of Bovril)
1/2 bottle red wine (drinkable Burgundy wine not cooking wine)
3 table spoons Worcestershire sauce
2 table spoons Cognac or Calvados
Table spoon tomato purée
Bouquet de Garni of herbs
Salt and pepper
Trim beef cubes of any sinews and excess fat, but no all the fat as this is important to make beef tender.
Mix beef cubes in seasoned flour (Plain flour will help thicken the sauce)
In a heavy casserole dish fry the beef cubes in olive oil and in batches, turning so each side is browned.
In a separate frying pan fry the bacon lardons until nicely coloured but not crisp. Chop carrots, peel shallots.
Having coloured the beef, pour a small amount of the red wine and garlic into the casserole pan, scrape the bottom to de-glaze the pan.
Add all the boeuf to the pan and the rest of the red wine. Stir as the wine sauce thickens then add the carrots, shallots, bacon lardons and the Bouquet de Garni. Add the beef stock and season. Finally add the Tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce and Cognac/Calvados.
Bring to the boil, then cover and place in oven at 150c.
To make the beef beautifully tender cook long and slow (3 hours)
Lightly Pan fry the mushrooms in butter and add to the casserole for the final 30 minutes of cooking time.
Remove a piece of the beef to check the beef is melt in the mouth. If not, give the casserole a bit longer. Check seasoning to taste.
Remove the bouquet de Garni and its ready to enjoy. This can be made the day before and re-heated or good to freeze.
Suggest complimenting the Beef Bourguignon with buttery mash potatoes and green beans in butter and chopped garlic.
RAJASTHAN INDIAN RESTAURANT - MAYENNE
Visit any number of British towns and all will have one if not more Indian Restaurants. In France, you have to search out if a town has one and you are more likely only to find one in larger cities. We have discovered three under an hour from us, two in Laval and one in Mayenne only 20 minutes away. The restaurants in Laval are satisfactory, though as the French are not great fans of hot spicy food the curries were nice but a bit bland to my taste. To celebrate a birthday we discussed where we should go and ended up deciding a curry would be good as we rarely have one here in France. So we opted to go to the Rajasthan Restaurant in Mayenne. Our waiter was very friendly who offered us a choice to eat in or outside, as a very pleasant evening we chose to eat out on the terrace. He soon offered us drinks and their à la Carte menu which has a good selection of Indian starters, Curries and Biriyani's. The menu also has a number of set 3 course menus and vegetable curries for those not wanting a meat or fish curry. We started with a selection of samosa's, chicken and prawn tikka and Seekh Kebab etc. to share. For the main course, two of our friends chose a Biriyani which they said was excellent, I like my curries hot and spicy so I chose a Chicken Vindaloo which I could not fault, in the UK this would be classed as a Madras, as hot and spicy but not 'blow your head off' as can be often found in UK restaurants. The variety of Naans were also very good, though the poppadom's are much smaller and not exactly as you find in the UK. Other than the quality of food, the attraction of the Rajasthan restaurant to us was that on a balmy evening as we had, you can eat on the terrace overlooking the River Mayenne. Though the interior restaurant looked a very pleasant setting also to eat on cooler evenings or in winter. Wine can be ordered from the small wine list, but as every Indian meal needs a cold beer, Kingfisher beer is available in bottles plus as I was driving I enjoyed their excellent mango lassi . If you fancy an Indian, I can thoroughly recommend this restaurant which is in the centre of town, by the castle and opposite the cinema.
Rajasthan Restaurant
13B Pl. Juhel
53100 Mayenne
Tel. No. 06 33 43 80 92
Monday Closed
Tuesday 12 noon - 2.30pm. 6.30pm - 10.30pm
Wednesday 12 noon - 2.30pm 6.30pm - 10.30pm
Thursday 12 noon - 2.30pm 6.30pm - 10.30pm
Friday 12 noon - 2.30pm 6.30pm - 11.00pm
Sunday 12 noon - 2.30pm 6.30pm - 10.30pm
LE RENDEZ-VOUS BAR - MAYENNE
There are a number of bars and restaurants in the centre of Mayenne, but when ever we visit we pop into Le Rendez-Vous bar for a coffee or aperitif. This quirky little bar is run by Dominique Collet. Dominique is always welcoming and the bar is warmly decorated with arm chairs and sofas with the walls covered with quirky artefacts and musical instruments. They offer a small menu on the black board such as a platter of charcuterie and cheese, oysters etc. Live music is very popular here with local bands playing at the back of the bar especially at weekends. An outside pavement terrace is open if you wish to people watch or as we did have a drink before going on to the Rajasthan restaurant which is just around the corner. The bar is also ideally located if going to the cinema opposite.
Le Rendez-Vous Bar
27 Pl. Georges Clemenceau
53100 Mayenne
Tel. No. 07 85 56 28 29
Monday Closed
Tuesday 9.30am - 10.00pm
Wednesday 9.30am - 10.00pm
Thursday 9.30am - 10.00pm
Friday 9.00am - 01.00am
Saturday 9.00am - 01.00am
Sunday 10.30am - 7.00pm
LE CENTRAL BAR-BRASSERIE - DOMFRONT EN POIRAIE
Le Central is a very popular bar on the cross roads in central Domfront, with only a short walk up to the old historical town centre and castle. The bar is run by a charming Chinese family who are always very welcoming. With its large street terrace it always has a vibrancy with a younger crowd and is popular with bikers touring the region who stop off for refreshments. The bar offers a good selection of draft beers, coffees etc. and snacks are also available at lunch time and in the early evening - Croque Monsieur, frites, salads etc. and great Chinese noodles and nems being available from the blackboard menu. This is one bar you can guarantee to be open and though they close Thursdays if this falls on a French holiday, they remain open unlike many other French bars. To the right of the bar is an excellent butchers serving high quality air-dried aged beef, lamb and pork. A little bit further to the right is the Festival des Pains, my favourite boulangerie which sells a large variety of breads, fantastic quiches, cakes, desserts and home-made chocolates. It is open all day Sunday, so after a lunch time drink at Le Central, I pop in for bread and treat us to one of their desserts.
Le Central Bar-Brasserie
1 Rue du Maréchal Foch
61700 Domfront en Poiraie
Monday - Wednesday 06h30 - 20h00
Thursday - Closed
Friday - Sunday 06h30 - 20h00