Editor Pick
La Marquiere
- June 13, 2008
- Rated 4 of 5 by
Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah
In this part of France, cassoulet is the classic regional dish, so when we ate lunch (the main meal in France) at La Marquiere, we ordered the “cassoulet formula”-- main dish and desert: cassoulet and crème brulee. With taxes, tip, and a nice bottle of wine, it came to $61 for two. That was in May, 2008, the time of the worst exchange rate ever thanks to GW Bush's economic mistakes.
La Marquiere gets two crossed knives and forks in the Michelin Red Guide. This is good news. Michelin says two knives and forks means “a comfortable restaurant”, supposedly an attractive place to eat (ambiance), but we have found it also means good food at reasonable prices. While not as good as a stared restaurant, it doesn't cost anywhere near as much. In short, knives and forks signifies a very good, but not great, place to eat, price, quality, and ambiance considered. Keep in mind that this a rating system of French restaurants. Two knives and forks is way beyond the average American restaurant in quality. McDonald's and the other fast food joints don't even get on the map.
We expected a nice setting and we got it-- white walls decorated with assorted countryside mementoes and a dark wood timbered ceiling, a very pleasant setting for a meal. Service was excellent, but more informal than we encountered in Paris at L'Europeen (see review). We had to get back to our bus in 50 minutes from when we ordered, so I told the manager (owner?) that , and he assured us there would be no problem, and there was no problem.
The legend of cassoulet is that a city in this region-- a claim to fame asserted by several cities-- was, at a time long ago, under siege by some enemy. Food supplies were running short, and on the brink starvation, the Lord of the city ordered everyone to produce all the food they had left and it was thrown into a communal pot for a last supper. What was available was mostly dried beans, some duck, some pork, tomatoes, and some sausage. All this was thrown into a pot over a fire. When the aromas of the cooking food wafted out to the army laying siege, the enemy concluded that the siege was futile since the defenders of the city had to be well supplied with food to have cooked up anything that smelled so good. Believe it if you want, but whatever the truth, the truth is that cassoulet is a classic French dish.
The serving was enormous. I'm a big eater, and I walked away from a pile of beans still in the pot. Cassoulet is long simmered on the stove in a big pot. Then individual servings are dished up into a large crockery bowl, topped with bread crumbs and stuff, and blasted under the broiler. The waiter will warn you-- do not touch the bowl.
The cassoulet was perfectly prepared, with minimal seasoning. The duck and sausage was terrific. I'm not all that fond of dried of dried beans. These were OK, but lordy there were a lot of them, more than either of us could eat. Having once had authentic cassoulet, I doubt I'll ever order it again, but that is a consequence of my general dislike of dried beans. On the other hand, if you have never had authentic cassoulet in France, do into pass up the chance to try it.
The creme brulees, one of our favorite deserts, were the best we have ever eaten. The glazed sugar topping was as think as a piece of window glass. It was served in a small bowl with a larger surface area they is typical in USA restaurants, which resulted in mare caramelized sugar over the butter cream below. The caramelizing was the most even and closest to perfectly done we have encountered-- a small blow torch is passed over a layer of sugar put on top of the butter cream to caramelize it. Great care is needed to get an evenly colored glaze. Our favorite crème brulee in the USA is at a five star restaurant in Park City. They rarely get it right, but La Marquiere.
Next time we are Carcassone, we will head for La Marquiere, order crème brulee, maybe a couple each, and then figure out what else to eat.
We also had a pleasant bottle of some local wine from the lower price range of the wine list.
The décor of the dinning room on the second floor was very attractive. The dinning area was divided into four small rooms, creating an intimate atmosphere. Whitewashed walls are decorated with, well, stuff. It's nice stuff. The while ceiling is broken by dark wood timbers running from wall to wall. We sat near a fireplace (decorative as there was no soot in sight) we a big copper pot hanging inside, like an old farm kitchen.
Service was, as is typical in restaurants in France, exceptional, although far more informal than at L'Europeen. Once ready, the food was rushed to our table so piping hot than the waiter had to get a thick towel to use to hold the bowls of cassoulet to keep from burning his figures.
A note on understanding French menus (the language here is going to get confusing, so words in capitals are English terms for the lower case French words): La carte is the MENU. La carte used to have two parts(menu and carte). Now it has three, the menu, the carte, and the formula. The carte is the common American MENU, offering you a choice of a variety of dishes of different sorts-- APPETIZERS, ENTREES, SIDES, AND DESERTS. Ordering A LA CARTE means ordering “from the carte” side of the MENU, in French, from the carte side of la carte. The menu is a small selection of FIXED PRICE multi-course meals with limited choices for each course. The formula offers a choice of 2-3 two course meals, all chosen by the customer from the carte, consisting of a plate (ENTREE) plus an entree (APPETIZER/SOUP) or a plate plus a desert for a fixed price, a couple dollar less than ordering the same items from the carte.
$61, tip, tax, and wine included
From journal Cruising the Rhone River