Travels with a Gourmet

For lunch, there is a two-course set menu – €21 entree et plat ou plat et dessert (starter and main or main and dessert), or just the plat du jour for €15.50. At night the dinner three-course set menu (starter, main and dessert) is a bargain at €25.00.  Where nearby Les Garcons is more for a younger crowd, Midi Vins is where a more mature crowd eat.  As soon as we sat down, we were given a plate of saucisson secon buttered baguette rounds – the salty sausage and the sweet butter was a pleasure to munch on while we were deciding on what to order.

We had a glass of wine each to go with our lunch.  My mom started off with the rillettes au poissons maison aux herbes (fish rillettes) and I had the melon du soleil au jambon Vendéen. My simple plate of sweet melon draped with raw cured ham from the Vendee region was again one of those perfect flavor combinations of savory and sweet. My mom’s fish rillettes were delicious – flaked fish mixed with lots of fresh dill and onion and tangy with lemon juice. Again, the portions were big and as we finished off our appetizers, we were wondering how we were going to get through the larger main course – filet de daurade grille a l’aneth for me and the araignée de cochon a l’ail confite for my mom.  My whole sea bream fillets were served with a spaghetti of zucchini, a fancy French way of calling thinly-sliced zucchini in spaghetti-like strips, and a dill-butter sauce.  My mom’s bread crumbed pork came with roasted garlic cloves and a mountain of crispy fries.  Both were good but the fried pork and fries, although a cholesterol bomb, was the winning plat of the day – hot, crispy pork with sweet roasted garlic and crunchy homemade frites.  This was unpretentious bistro food at it’s best.  Although we were full, we couldn’t resist sharing a plate of tiny framboises (raspberries) simple sprinkled with icing sugar to end our meal.