GITES
WITH POOLS
Le
Minage Reviewed by TATE
17 route de
La Rochelle, St. Hermine.
Tel 02 51 27 33 22
Tel 02 51 27 33 22
Le Minage
In my opinion there is much more to eating out than just the food and drink that one consumes, there is the ambience of the eatery, the quality and level of service and finally the company that one is in. When we visited Le Minage I had the pleasure of dining with Trevor, his oldest friend David and David’s partner Paul. It was the first time that I had met David and Paul and they were without doubt a charming and engaging couple. The conversation was lively and interesting, David having known Trevor all of his life was poking fun at him in a light-hearted way and Trevor was responding with his usual good humour. We had an aperitif; we were all relaxed and were having a good time.
In my opinion there is much more to eating out than just the food and drink that one consumes, there is the ambience of the eatery, the quality and level of service and finally the company that one is in. When we visited Le Minage I had the pleasure of dining with Trevor, his oldest friend David and David’s partner Paul. It was the first time that I had met David and Paul and they were without doubt a charming and engaging couple. The conversation was lively and interesting, David having known Trevor all of his life was poking fun at him in a light-hearted way and Trevor was responding with his usual good humour. We had an aperitif; we were all relaxed and were having a good time.
The restaurant itself was in a modern building, it was split into
two parts a large rear section and a front section which suffered from a long
glass window giving me the impression that the diners were on display. The left
end of the restaurant was a cave (wine shop), which is something that I’d never
seen before and probably accounted for the very varied wine list. The décor was
not to my taste a burnt sienna colour wash with what I considered to be garish
oil paintings of Venice. Now you can call me an old traditionalist but I prefer
Turner. The furniture was modern and though not particularly comfortable was
certainly in keeping with the rest of the building.
We decided to drink the house red; I saw this as a bit of a test
for this restaurant, after all it is a cave as well as a restaurant so if anyone
should serve a good house wine at a good price it should be them. We all decided
on the 16.50 Euro menu, which was 3 courses, and there was a very good choice in
all three. While we were drinking our aperitifs we were served with a small
plate of seafood in olive oil, which was very tasty. David and I had both chosen
the pâte and Trevor and Paul had the Vendéen salad. The pâte was delicious, it
had a strong liver savour, we all had a taste and we were all impressed. The
Vendéen salads were well received, however I think Trevor was only being polite
about the quantity. He normally compares the quantity of every Vendéen Salad he
eats to a local restaurant where the proprietor heaps it on his plate because of
the business he generates for them.
The main courses were all very good I went for the filet mignon of
pork which was very tender if lacking a little in taste, David and Paul both had
Cannet, not knowing the word I spent some considerable time trying to find it in
the dictionary but was unsuccessful, so to this day I’m unsure of the true
meaning. One thing for sure is that it was duck breast and David and Paul were
asked when they ordered if they wanted it rare or pink, they both went for the
latter and when it arrived I’m sure they counted their blessings because it was
pretty rare, but that is quite common in France. We now come to Trevor’s meal;
if you’ve ever previously read about the restaurant experiences of Trevor and me
you’ll be able to guess that Trevor inevitably had a steak. He makes life very
difficult for me because when you’ve described steak 10 times what can you say
that is new. It was he said very well cooked and very tasty, what more can I
say.
Onward at a pace to the desserts, Trevor and Paul both had the
Tarte au Fruit which was apple and was typical French Patisserie. David went for
the Chocolate Mousse, I think he was a little disappointed because he is a real
chocolate freak and he didn’t think that it was made from a high cocoa content
chocolate. As for me I’m a sucker for a pretty face, and the waitress that had
been serving us was a very pleasant young lady with a very pretty face. I had
engaged her in conversation over the choice of sweet and she recommended the
Pain Perdu, which was a slice of brioche sautéed in butter, served with cream
and ice cream. I must confess I was not really impressed, it tasted a bit greasy
to me.
Now you may have thought that I’d glossed over the wine, or that
I’ve saved the best until last. You’d be wrong on both accounts. We were served
with an unremarkable bottle of wine, so unremarkable that I can’t even remember
its name. It tasted OK but for 17 euros it was I think a very poor selection
from a restaurant/cave that should have access to something outstanding at a
good price. You may recall that I said that I felt the wine was a test of this
restaurant; well it’s a test that in my opinion it failed.
In summary the restaurant was very busy so it must be doing something right, and this helped the ambience in a dining room that was not to my taste. The restaurant offered good choice for its 16.50 menu, the service was good and the food was good enough, I was disappointed with the wine, perhaps I was expecting too much, and overall there are many other places that I would eat in preference to this restaurant. - Tate
In summary the restaurant was very busy so it must be doing something right, and this helped the ambience in a dining room that was not to my taste. The restaurant offered good choice for its 16.50 menu, the service was good and the food was good enough, I was disappointed with the wine, perhaps I was expecting too much, and overall there are many other places that I would eat in preference to this restaurant. - Tate
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About the
author: Tate spends the summers in the Vendee and is passionate about good wine
and good food,he writes exclusively for the http://www.gites-with-pools.co.uk/
The coping of this article is permitted as long as the complete article along with its credits are published
The coping of this article is permitted as long as the complete article along with its credits are published