I don’t think of the Michelin as a bible, it is like most guides extremely fallible (admittedly my opinion of them has risen since they, albeit posthumously, discovered “Dwyers”) but in France it is the most reliable guide I have found.
When we are travelling in France there are a few symbols in the guide which we look out for.
The first sign is the one of the Michelin man licking his lips, this is the Bib Gourmand award given to “establishments offering good quality cuisine for under €26” this is almost inevitably a restaurant which specialises in regional cookery.
The second sign we look for is the two coins one, this indicates that there is a meal available for under €17, the third sign to look out for is the comfort one, this is indicated by the amount of Monopoly hotels in the sign, going from five to one.
We have discovered that one is totally adequate for our needs and is certain to be the cheapest option.

On the way back from Languedoc last week we decided that as we had to be in Cherbourg at 6.00 in the evening we would certainly need an overnight stop on the way and the town of Pons, near Bordeaux offered us a good resting place.
The Hotel de Bordeaux ticked most of the buttons.
It had a Bib Gourmand, the coins sign, and two hotels on its comfort rating, this gave us a room for two for €56, for the room and breakfast an extra €10 each ( the only sign of cheekiness as that was a fairly basic bread, jam and croissant job.)
Here is the Dinner menu we ate:

Sweet bell peppers stuffed with a salt cod and garlic puree,
drizzled with olive oil with a Madras curry Chantilly
Or
A panful of “petits gris” (snails) with pesto
ewe’s milk cottage cheese and tomato sorbet

*****

Superposition of sardine filets, piperade and slithers of chorizo
Or
Guinea fowl breast, risotto with squid ink and a thyme jus

*****

Platter of fully matured Regis Moreau cheese

*****

Peach crumble, red fruit coulis and apricot sorbet

I had the peppers to start, which had been meticulously skinned, filled with superb Brandade and the accompanying whipped cream with curry concoction was surprisingly delicious, resulting in one licked plate, as was Sile’s delicious plate of Petits Gris (It amazed me that she picked them, she has been waging a one woman war on the same creatures in our French garden all summer, but then, maybe there is a way of taking advantage…)
I had the sardines for a main course, again beautifully prepared, not a single bone, no mean feat when it comes to sardines, the Piperade acting as the whipped cream in the Millefeuille and the crisp, fried lengthwise slices of Chorizo acting as a delicious pastry divider. This was again unusual, brave and very effective.
Sile’s Guinea fowl was so delicious I didn’t get to taste it but the risotto (again an unusual choice of garnish) was very good and not in the least fishy.
The cheeses, at least 60, on offer all in perfect nick, were superb.
I spotted and devoured a Banon de Chevre, a leaf wrapped Goat from Provence which was poured, rather than sliced on to my plate, cheese heaven.
The new French standard dessert is “Le Crumble” which is their take on that British classic. They get it slightly wrong and make the topping with too much nuts and not enough paste, the peaches were good however and the Apricot sorbet superb.
At the end of this delicious meal I was inspired to finish up with a digestif and asked the waiter could he recommend a local one.
He looked at me in surprise, realised that I was in earnest and then brought back the Cognac menu, this had about sixty different brandies on offer by the glass from the area, I hadn’t realised we were just down the road from the eponymous town.

Taken from our bedroom a birds-eye view of the
terrace where we ate our dinner in the Hotel Bordeaux.

Now comes to the hard part, what did this cost.

I am more aware than most that all restaurateurs in Ireland are getting constant stick on the price of their food. I too was on that firing line just four years ago.
But in their defence let us examine the above menu.
There is no Fillet Steak there, no Sole, no Smoked Salmon starter.
How many restaurants in Ireland could offer Sardines as a main course and hope to sell even one in a night?

The cost of our dinner(excluding drinks) in the Hotel Bordeaux was €22 a head.
(This is less than a cost of a smoked salmon starter in a smart Dublin restaurant last week)
Don’t you believe that the French have lost the art of catering.