GITES
WITH POOLS
Hotel des
Mines
Reviewed by
Tate.
5,Allee de
la Verrerie, Faymoreau.
Tel.02 51 00 59 59
Closed Mondays.
Tel.02 51 00 59 59
Closed Mondays.
Hôtel des Mines
The Hôtel des Mines built in 1918 and situated at the heart of the mining centre at Faymoreau was our choice of eatery today. It was a lunchtime sortie into the very North Eastern corner of the Vendée. This time it was just Trevor and I, the weather was awful and had been for a week, so we were looking forward to something to lift our spirits. Would the Hôtel des Mines in this unusual setting amidst the miners’ cottages in the mining village of Faymoreau do the trick?
The Hôtel des Mines built in 1918 and situated at the heart of the mining centre at Faymoreau was our choice of eatery today. It was a lunchtime sortie into the very North Eastern corner of the Vendée. This time it was just Trevor and I, the weather was awful and had been for a week, so we were looking forward to something to lift our spirits. Would the Hôtel des Mines in this unusual setting amidst the miners’ cottages in the mining village of Faymoreau do the trick?
Entering the dining room I was pleasantly surprised by the large
airy dining room with its high ceiling and agreeable décor. We were seated on
distressed look chairs at an ordinary table with a fake wooden top, which was
covered with a disposable paper place setting. The elevated part of the 120 seat
dining room, which looked altogether more stylish, wasn’t being used for the
lunchtime service but even unused its extra elegance added to the ambience of
the restaurant. There were plenty of other diners, normally a good sign, and we
settled down with our aperitifs, a Riccard for me and a non alcoholic beer for
Trevor, and perused the menu.
Other than a la carte there was a 19 euro menu which looked pretty
good but included 1.50 euro supplements for each of the cheese and dessert
courses, or there was the 11 euro meal of the day which both Trevor and I opted
for. On the menu today was the hors d’oeuvres table for entrées, a choice of
veal or monkfish as a main course and either white cheese or chocolate mousse to
finish, wine was not included. The hors d’oeuvres table wasn’t exceptional, but
it wasn’t the worst selection that I’ve seen, and the food was acceptable. I had
the rôti de veau or roast veal, it was served with a thin sauce, a large
quantity of haricots vert or green beans and surprisingly a small amount of
shredded lettuce with a vinaigrette drizzled over the top. Sadly the veal was
not the best cut I’ve ever eaten and unexpectedly parts of it were tough and
sinewy. The sauce smelled good but was disappointingly lacking in taste and the
lettuce was totally incongruous with it. The veal was unfortunately overcooked
and Trevor ventured the explanation that as the restaurant had almost certainly
pre-cooked the veal the chances of it being perfectly cooked were slim. Trevor
had the lotte or monkfish tail with rice, which he said was OK, he gave me a
taste and it was tasty enough but I thought it was overcooked and I have to say
that I wasn’t that impressed.
I’m on a bit of a crusade at the moment, I find that vin de table
is generally as good as most of the cheaper wines on restaurant wine lists and
is normally about half the price, so I’m tending to go for the vin de table,
especially at lunchtimes. Today was no exception and the vin de table at 5.50
euros was reasonable and fairly good value for money. The chocolate mousse
arrived and it was the best thing about the whole meal. It was copious, it was
delicious, it wasn’t as light and bubbly as most good mousses that I’ve eaten,
but it definitely hit the spot and I can confidently say that I enjoyed it as
much as any chocolate mousse that I’ve eaten. We finished with our obligatory
large coffees, and yes, they did include a chocolate, which for once I wish I
hadn’t eaten, because compared to the chocolate mousse it was
bland.
This
restaurant was bewildering; it worked on some levels and yet was so
disappointing on others. The dining room was lovely, but the tables and table
settings were cheap and in my opinion let the restaurant down badly, Trevor
particularly disliked the distressed look chairs which he thought looked dirty.
The service was efficient and friendly, but the quality of the food was patchy
to say the least. The meal ended up costing 37.30 euros which wasn’t a bad price
but then when compared to some other restaurants that we’ve eaten in is
expensive for lunch, which can cost as little as 12 euros per person for a
considerably better meal including wine and coffee. I guess that if you’re
interested in mining and you want to look around the mining museum at Faymoreau
and the miners’ chapel then you could try the restaurant. I hope that you enjoy
it more than I did. - Tate
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