Services: 8/10
Being in Loire Valley, we sure did give a visit to our most favourite vineyard of the area:
Domaine Huet @ Vouvray. Domaine Huet is pretty famous for its top quality white wine with chenin blanc as the variety. Grapes of the vineyard are planted in 3 different sites: Le Mont, Le Haut Lieu, and Le Clos du Bourg. My favourite would have been Le Mont for dry white wine and Le Clos du Bourg for sweet wine. We did have a chance to have a quick glance at the cellar and did tasting. The best from the tasting was the sweet range: Clos du Bourg Moelleux Premiere Trie 2006 which is lusciously delicious, it could easily my heart away.
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| Domaine Huet @ Vouvray, France |
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| the cellar of Domaine Huet |
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| sparkling wine racks |
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| look like precious vintages |
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| the tasting of chenin blanc |
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| lusciously delicious |
Pretty close to Domaine Huet, there is this fabulous restaurant called Les Gueules Noires situated. The building is set in a cave-like-house and simply decorated with wooden furnitures in hidden green and orange tones. The best part for a sunny day of Les Gueules Noire is outdoor seats: so beautiful that is perfect for alfresco during Summer time or any sunshine days.
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| Les Gueules Noires @ Vouvray, France |
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| indoor seats |
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| outdoor seats, perfect for alfresco |
The menu range of this place does get varied rather often depending on available ingredients at local market, so don't expect to see what I review here. For wine range, of course they are local wines and are available by glass and some in half-bottle too.
Ok, let's get to starters. The first of our 3 choices was
charlotte de fraises au brocciu (7/10). This dish was a combination of delightful goat cheese and fresh local strawberries as well as pistachio. The cheese was light and soft and to combine with sweetness of strawberries was just pleasant. A perfect plate for summer.
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| charlotte de fraises au brocciu (EUR7.5) |
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| so sweet strawberry with pistachio |
Next was the dish of the season:
duo d'asperges, mousseline de haltaise (6/10). Visiting Europe during spring, it can be irresistible not to have asparagus dish. The one was the duo combination with white asparagus to be eaten with orange cream which offered refreshing sense, while green asparagus and bacon was the saltiness side. I did like the flavour, however, the texture of asparagus could have been more firm while maintaining soft touch, otherwise an enjoyable dish.
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| duo d'asperges, mousseline de haltaise (EUR8.5) |
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| mandarin and asparagus, yummy yummy!!!! |
Gyoza, sauce soya et yuzu (5/10) was filled with langustine instead of pork. Well, a good idea to have Japanese dish with a touch of yuzu to give fresh feeling. However, the dough was too thick for gyoza though being soft. If the dough can be thinner, this would be another wonderful dish.
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| gyoza, sauce soya et yuzu (EUR8) |
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| dipping the sauce ^3^ |
For main course, the first one was
tesse de cochon grillee, coulis de banyuls (7/10). Basically, it was a plate of quality ham with salty taste to match pistachio mashed potatoes. So simple but so yummy.
Then it was noix d'entrecote a la plancha, frites maison (7/10). A piece of steak it was. The delicious part was the purple mustard with sweetness that went together with the natural flavour of beef. The only let down was cooking level: I wish I should have ordered medium rare.
The last one was a fish dish and again fusion with Japanese ingredients: espadon grille a la plancha, soba au the matcha (6/10). It was grilled swordfish served alongside green tea soba and vegetables. Chewy texture of swordfish was expected but inner me still said more tender please. At least, the flavour on the palate of olive, fish, and soba did combine pleasantly.
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| tesse de cochon grillee, coulis de banyuls (EUR16) |
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| noix d'entrecote a la plancha, frites maison (EUR17) |
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| espadon grille a la plancha, soba au the matcha (EUR17) |
Apart from so yummy local food, the service was also tremendous especially the lady owner who was very much friendly, lovely, and helpful. I would recommend this restaurant to everyone who thinks to give Vouvray a visit. Cool and chill place to go for lunch on a fine day indeed.
