Skip to main content

AUBERGE DES JACOBINS, NARBONNE - RESTAURANT REVIEW


Saunter along the renovated pedestrian spaces bordering the Canal de la Robine in Narbonne and you'll find a variety of restaurants vying for your business. We've tried a few. We have a few more to try. But the other day, about a block off the Canal on the Les Halles side, off the beaten track and out of view of the Canal, we came upon the Auberge des Jacobins. We're glad that we did.


The Auberge is a small space, just a few tables outdoors on the sidewalk, about three tables indoors in the shade looking out, and some tables up a few steps in a room in the back that we didn't inspect. On a midweek day, having arrived a bit after noon for lunch without a reservation, the trade kept the single waitress hopping. But she was attentive and timely. And when we finished, as busy as she was, she was happy to spend some time chatting with the Americans.

We started with small salads, anchovy and smoked duck and chevre chaud. Three of our party of four went for the plat of the day, a chunk of fresh cod, lightly breaded with a parsley sauce, accompanied by potatoes pureed with artichoke. All properly done and well priced at 9 euros. I had the duck breast with frites. The duck had been grilled hot and fast and was just right. The frites could have been crisper but serviceable. For dessert, I had a loose custard with a burnt crust adorned with raspberries. Hot and tasty. The brioche pain perdue was a real hit.

With two demis of wine (Too expensive, but isn't it always?) and coffee at the finish, the tab just broke 100 euros. Just fine for a leisurely meal. So...

Better than average. Good but not outstanding.

For more restaurant reviews and foodie info, click HERE.



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

RESTAURANT TEN, UZES: RESTAURANT REVIEW

Ten sits just off the market square in Uzes, one of the prettiest villages in southern France. The newly renovated space is airy and comfortable with tables of sufficient size and sufficiently spaced to provide for a pleasant dining experience. Service was cheerful, fully bilingual, and attentive without being overbearing. The food presented well to both eye and tongue. And the rate of approximately 30 € per person for a party of five included starters, mains, a dessert or two, two bottles of local wine, and coffees at the finish. Reasonable if not cheap eats.  So why am I hesitant to give an unqualified thumbs up?  It took me a while to figure it out. Uzes is a quintessentially French village in a quintessentially French region of southern France. There are those who will say that the Languedoc is just as beautiful but less crowded and less expensive than its eastern neighbors. I know. I'm one of those people. But the fact remains that for many people, villages like Uzes are t

CONGRATULATIONS, DUNCAN AND FIONA: JUNE 1, 2019

We've known Duncan since he was about 5 and were honored to be invited to all of the festivities surrounding his wedding to Fiona. The wedding was held in a magazine converted to a military museum in Gosport. Duncan's dream...a wedding in a place where they used to blow things up. I've never been around so many uniforms. Live Long and Prosper! A kiss was the price to continue... That's Duncan's sister Clair arriving on the right. Grandparents...headed for 100 and sharp as tacks. Reception in an old magazine/museum. Mom baked the cake and made the ducks to order. Not from the wedding but seemed appropriate.

GRAND CAFE OCCITAN: RESTAURANT REVIEW

  We made our way to a new restaurant the other day, up toward the hills past La Liviniere in the small town of Felines-Minervois. None of our party had been there before, but a friend had visited and said that she'd enjoyed it. She's a vegetarian. First clue. Now don't get me wrong. I have no gripe with those who choose to go meatless. I understand the environmental concerns and I understand the horrors of factory farming. But I also understand that form follows function in the design of tools, in the design of appliances, and in the design of human teeth. Our incisors and canines did not develop over the course of hundreds of thousands of years to rend the flesh of a fresh-caught broccoli. We are omnivores by design, Darwinian design. And I enjoy eating omni. Enough preamble... I never went inside the Grand Cafe Occitan. A young lady who would be our server met us at the front door of the nicely pointed old stone house, leading us to a pebble-covered courtyard on the side