SUMMER 2025
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Steak Tartare - La Pause des Genêts - Le Comptoir - Normandie Cider - le Lion D'Or - Provencal Beef Burger -
STEAK TARTARE
Steak Tartare for years never appealed to me, though my wife Helen would often choose it in a restaurant. The thought of raw beef or perhaps it was the raw egg often added to the top of a Tartare that put me off. However, whilst at a Christmas party in Denmark a few years ago, the Danish Chef served steak tartare as a starter and my opinion changed immediately. Restaurants can serve it a variety of ways and even one in France we visited served it as just diced raw beef with the other ingredients along side on the plate for you to mix yourself. I wasn't impressed as when ordering in a restaurant I expect the chef to some work.
I have made Steak Tartare many times at home and trying different ingredients - this is my favourite.
Ingredients ( 2 people )
Fillet Steak 250 gms
2 or 3 Mushrooms
Sun Dried Tomatoes ( 3 slices )
Parmesan Cheese ( a few slices )
Dijon Mustard 1 teaspoon
Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon
Truffle Oil 1 teaspoon ( can be replaced with Olive Oil )
Lemon Juice ( 2 teaspoons ) See note below
Pinch of salt and Pepper for seasoning
Garlic Crouton ( optional )
Naturally you can add or remove more mustard, cheese, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce etc. to taste.
To prepare - finely dice the fillet steak, sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms, placing in a bowl. Add the oil, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Add thin slices of the parmesan cheese ( potato peeler ideal for this ) and finally season. DO NOT add the lemon juice at this stage.
With your hands mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Just before serving add the lemon juice and mix in. Reason to not add the lemon juice until the last minute is that the acidity of the lemon juice cooks the beef and will discolour it losing the fresh red of the beef, making it less attractive.
When all mixed together I use a metal ring and pack the tartare down in it and then place on the plate. If you don't have a ring you can spoon the tartare to present on a bed of salad.
To add a crisp texture - I cut a slice of bread and in hot oil in the oven create a large crouton. Once browned remove, place on kitchen paper to absorb the oil and rub a glove of garlic over to the crouton. Place at the bottom of the ring and spoon the tartare on top.
LA PAUSE DES GENÊTS
Discovering the region at times we have have found some little gems. We found the Bistrot 'La Pause" in a coastal village on the Baie du
Mont-Saint-Michel 5 years ago. Having visited annually, we again visited this August on a very hot day. The car park gives you a view of Mont St.Michel over the salt marshes, with entry into this quirky restaurant from the main street. In winter there are a number of small rooms to dine in, each decorated with a variety of bric-o-brac. But our favourite time to visit is in summer, where it is possible to eat in the sub-tropical garden. Since our first visit we noticed how much the garden has grown. The staff are very friendly and attentive offering us an aperitif whilst we viewed the black board menu that they bring to you. There is a 28.00€ menu, but this is limited and the menu steers you towards the à la carte choices, which has a range of meat, fish dishes and salads. The menu is a range of French classics some with an Asian twist. For our main course, Helen enjoyed a Ttoro of Tuna and shell fish, a traditional Basque dish not dissimilar to a Bouillabaisse and I had the Beuchelle à la Tourangelle which is an ancient classic originating in Tours. Pan friend veal kidneys and sweetbread in cognac, wild mushrooms, root vegetables in a cream sauce. Delicious if you enjoy offal. We shared a dessert which was beautifully presented, fresh and light. The restaurant has a comprehensive wine menu, though prices seemed on the high side ranging from 40.00€ upwards. We are more than happy drinking a Muscadet and found a bottle for only 20.00€ on the menu. With the cost of aperitifs, entrees, main courses, dessert and wine the final bill is not cheap. Though this is not a restaurant you are going to visit daily, so for a special occasion the extra cost was still very worthwhile to enjoy the excellent food in a very pleasant setting.
La Pause de Genêts
11 Rue de L'Entrepont 50530 Genêts
Tel: 0233 89 72 38
www.lapausedesgenets.fr
Wednesday 19h30 - 24h00
Thursday 12h00 - 17h00 19h30 - 21h30
Friday 12h30 - 14h00 19h30 - 21h30
Saturday 12h30 - 14h00 19h30 - 21h30
Sunday 12h30 - 14h00 19h30 - 21h30
Monday Closed
Tuesday Closed
Set Menu 28.00€ À la Carte Starters 17.00-25.00€ Main Courses 30.00-38.00€
LE COMPTOIR RESTAURANT (Casino) BAGNOLES-DE-L'ORNE
Bagnoles-de-L'Orne is a popular spa town town in southern Normandy. Many visitors stay to take a 'cure' in the spas.
We have visited the town many times and enjoyed walking in the near by forest Andaines and foraging mushrooms there. Though a very attractive town often we have been disappointed with the quality of restaurants. Along the main street there are a number of pizza, crêpe restaurants etc. All serving general tourist grub. Last winter we were searching a restaurant in town on a very wet evening and finding most places closed. Having found a restaurant open overlooking the lake, I won't mention the name, but this was honestly the worst meal I have ever been served in France. I didn't write eaten as it was inedible - frozen seafood in a watery sauce and my sister-in-laws Monk fish was still frozen inside.
However, not to knock Bagnoles, at the far end of the street there is a good restaurant Ô Gayot which I wrote about in the spring blog.
But recently we were introduced to Le Comptoir restaurant which adjoins the towns Casino in a wonderful setting over looking the lake and where we had a very pleasant dinner.
There is an à la carte menu plus set menus offering starter-main, main-dessert and starter-main-dessert. Service was friendly and the menu was typically French bistro style with a good selection of starters - such as steak tartare, carpaccio, céviche salmon, salads etc. Main courses offered the like of Steak au Poivre, Mussels, sea bass and a chef special of the day. We were all very happy with our choices and prices were very reasonable for this type of location.
Should you wish to try to recoup the cost of dinner, you can visit the casino. To enter you must have a ID - passport, driving license etc. Not digital ID on your phone. Entry is free and you are able to play various machines, digital roulette and black jack. When we were there the croupier run roulette and black jack tables were in operation, but I believe these are only manned in the evenings at weekends or when numbers permit. Unfortunately I was not successful in winning on the roulette table to pay for the dinner.
Le Comptoir
6 Avenue de Robert Cousin
Bagnoles-de-L'Orne 61140
Tel: 0233 37 84 27
Monday 19.00 - 21.30
Tuesday - Wednesday - Tuesday - Sunday 12.00 - 13.30 19.00 - 21.30
Friday 12.00 - 13.30 19.00 - 22.00
Sunday. 12.00 - 14.00 19.00 - 21.30
Set Menus - 23.00€ 25.00€ 30.00€
NORMANDIE CIDER AND POIRÉ
Normandy is rightly famous for its cheeses but also for its cider and calvados. Though travelling through the region you will see orchards everywhere, but there are 3 recognised Cider areas within the Appellation d'origins Contrôlée (AOC) system - the Pays d'Auge, East of Caen and the Contentin Peninsular for apple cider and Domfrontais area famous for its Pear Cider (Poiré) often referred to as "Normandie Champagne". There are a variety of recognised cider apples - la bouteille, le domaine, le tranquille, le bedan, and le rouge-mulot - these apple varieties are very different to eating apples, being small and rich in tannins, which give the body to the cider. The apples are picked as they ripen by variety from mid-September to mid-December. Once collected the apples are sorted over a rack to remove leaves, any rotten fruit etc. so that only the healthy fruit is washed before crushing and slowly pressed. The pressed juice is then blended to a secret recipe of each cider producer before being put into stainless steel vats for the juice to ferment. Fermentation takes a minimum of 6 weeks, the cider maker deciding on the length of time of the fermentation process, before bottling. Cider can be either flat or fizzy, this like the alcohol content (Generally 3-5% though stronger ones are available) and is all down to the variety of apple, the sugar content in the apples, which varys year to year, during fermentation and the extra continuation of fermentation after the cider is bottled. Cider is a living liquid and as it matures, its clouds and it clears. Poiré cider (Perry) is produced using the same method but using the juice of pears.
PDO Poiré Domfront is the smallest Protected Destination of Origin in France located in the south of Normandy and into the Mayenne.
Traditionally cider would be served in small earthen ware bowls and later ceramic ones. You can still find Normandy restaurants serving their cider in an earthen ware bowl. Though most people order wine with their meal, cider pairs beautifully with hearty meat dishes, rich sauces, charcuterie and of course the famous Normandie cheeses of Camembert de Normandie, Livrot, Neufchâtel and Pont-l'Évêque.
East of Caen is the Cider Route a 40km well sign-posted route crossing the Pays d'Auge. The route takes you down attractive country lanes visiting some beautiful villages - Beuvron-en-Auge, Cambremer, Bonnebosq and Beaufour-Duval. A nice day out at any time, but in autumn when the apple harvest is under way you can stop off at over 20 cider farms to see the process and visit the farm shops to purchase their individual ciders to take home. Link to website Normandy cider route
Starting from Domfront there is also a marked Pear route ( Poiré Domfront ) which again you can visit producers and their farm shops.
I haven't covered Calvados and Pommeau - I may add information in the Autumn Food Blog
Beuvron-en-Auge - Pays de Auge - Cider Route
LE LION D'OR - FOUGEROLLES-DU-PLESSIS
Recognised as one of the best 'Plat du Jour' restaurants in the area. Only open lunchtimes and very popular with local workers who know the best places for lunch, as you will notice with all their vans parked outside. The restaurant is fantastic value for money at 16.00€ for 4 courses plus wine and cider. On entering and taking your seat, the waitress will offer you an aperitif before taking your order for the main course, which is presented to you on a sheet of A4 paper listing the days selection of 6/8 choices. The choices range from steak, chicken, pork and fish all served with your choice of salad, potato dishes, frites and vegetables. Having placed your order, you are invited to visit the self-service buffet to collect your starter. Get yourself a plate and pick from a good variety of salads, pasta, charcuterie, shell fish, pickled fish etc. Helping yourself to as much as you want. A bottle of red wine or cider is placed on your table, from which you can drink a glass or the whole bottle. Having been served your main course, you can then visit the chilled cabinet to have some camembert cheese and or a choice of desserts. The dishes are simple French rural classics, hearty and delicious, but you won't get better value for money. The restaurant sits over a 100 diners, so reservations are not necessary, but to get the best of the self-service buffet I would suggest arriving soon after mid-day.
Le Lion D'or
Place General de Gaulle
Fougerolles-du-Plessis 53190
Tel: 0243 05 53 76
Monday - Saturday 12h00 - 15h00
PROVENCAL BEEF BURGER
I discovered this recipe when I was 21 whilst visiting my French Grandmother in Toulon in the South of France. On the beach at Le Mourillon was a burger van serving food in the evenings. Though I haven't visited recently I understand from my cousins the van is still just as popular as it was over 40 years ago. What makes this burger are the provencal herbs and the North African flavour of chilli.
I love a good burger, however many are disappointing with no real flavour. Try this as I'm certain you will enjoy and they are so good to pop on a barbecue. The burgers can be served the traditional way in a bun with salad etc. or as the van would do, take a 12 inch/30cm length of French baguette, cut cooked burger in to slices and lay along the length of the bread. Add what takes your fancy - cheese, salad, tomatoes, dried oregano etc. Then flatten the bread and burger in a griddle press to about 1 inch/3cm thickness. Wrap in grease proof paper and enjoy. I remember many an evening playing football on the beach with my cousins and friends, then enjoying these burgers with a very cold beer.
Ingredients - 4 burgers.
500gm minced beef
1 egg
Bowl of Stale bread crumbs
2 Tsp Dijon smooth mustard
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tsp chilli flakes
6 slices of sun dried tomato (from a jar of tomatoes soaked in olive oil)
Fresh Herbs - Sage, mint, rosemary, chives, oregano, parsley
Salt and pepper seasoning
Using an electric blender, blend stale bread to create bread crumbs and put to one side. In stages blend the minced beef with a selection of herbs and the sun dried tomatoes. In a bowl add the blended minced beef, adding the Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, the egg, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Add 1/2 the bowl of bread crumbs and using your hands mix it all together. If it feels a bit wet add more of the bread crumbs. Once all blended together create one large ball of the mixture. Cut the ball of beef into quarters and again using your hands create 4x tennis size balls of beef and press the ingredients tightly together before patting into the shape of your burger. Refrigerate or good to freeze for another day.
To cook - Pan fry to colour the outside then 10 minutes in an oven at 200c. To barbecue, place over coals to colour then place a bit higher to continue cooking for a few minutes. The burger should be moist (slightly pink) inside to get the flavour of the all the herbs and flavourings.
