Café De La Gare 1900

La Table d'Inomoto

➤ 85 rue Nationale, 33240 Saint-Andre-De-Cubzac, France, Saint-André-de-Cubzac

Cafés • Européen • Japonais • Fruit De Mer

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"Seiji is an artist and today's meal of courgette gazpacho with a low-temp egg, codfish with miso and hazelnut sauce and dessert of peach soup with brownie was out of this world. We drove 70 kms to eat here and were glad we did! Not to be missed if you are anywhere nearby. ¡Seiji es un artista! Hoy comimos gazpacho con huevo a baja temperatura, bacalao en salsa de miso y avellana, y de postre sopa de melocotón con brownie. Todo esmeradamente preparado. Condujimos 70 kms sólo para comer aquí y no nos arrepentimos. No os lo perdáis se estás en la región."

La Table d'INOMOTO

➤ 85 rue Nationale | Face à la Poissonnerie, 33240 Saint-Andre-De-Cubzac, France, Saint-André-de-Cubzac

Kebab • Pizza • Mexicain • Français

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"Despite the fact the “cheminotes,” or train workers, continue to take part in the national pastime of French strikes, the local trains around Bordeaux are still running. So we were off recently to Saint Andre de Cubzac to meet friends whom we have known for almost 40 years. The chef came to Bordeaux to work as sous chef at La Pavillon des Boulevards. Now he has decamped across the river to create a little jewel box restaurant, which describes its food as “franco japanese”. Our meal began with a chou fleur cream. A handful of lightly dressed greens and sprouts sat atop a soft cooked egg. It was sitting on a bed of cauliflower “rice” with the creamy soup surrounding it. A thin sliver of crunchy cauliflower stem garnished the dish. There was also a crunchy rice cracker and cubes of smoked haddock topped with edible flowers. It was a work of art to see, but an even greater work of art to taste. The egg yolk flowed into the cauliflower with unctuous creaminess. The salad added crunch and tang. But the smoked haddock added the master touch, balancing the creamy richness of the soup with a bite that was firm and smoky. With this course my friend had brought along an Alsatian pinot gris, Domaine Allman Laugner 2015. It was round on the tongue with a clean, crisp finish. Ideal with the richness of the cauliflower. Next was the main event. My wife and I were both lured in the direction by pork cheeks. The pork was cooked fork tender. It was napped with a brown gravy that had just the merest but flavor enhancing whiff of orange. Alongside were crunchy sweet snow peas, a tangle of earthy enoki mushrooms and a leaf of crisp bok choy. But the side dish that sealed the deal was a butter laced mound of puree de pomme de terre, mashed potatoes. It reminded you of how the French can take something as simple as the lowly spud and turn it into a classic. With this dish, our friend had brought one of my favorite right bank Bordeaux reds, a Chateau Canon Reserve 2011. It was big and smooth with a fine texture. It was perfect with the pork. To finish our “repas” the chef served whipped cream covered strawberries, sitting on a disk of meringue floating in a pool of raspberry coulis. It was soft, sweet and refreshing. We finished at the restaurant with coffees and then returned to their home for digestifs and a chance to relive fond memories of the times were have spent together."

Cafe de la Gare 1900

➤ 25 avenue de la Gare, 33240 Saint-Andre-De-Cubzac, France, Saint-André-de-Cubzac

Cafés • Européen • Français • Fruit De Mer

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"This was a first visit for all four of us, and we were not disappointed. A little difficult to find at first as no name is visible from the outside, future visitors are advised to look out for a front extension newly painted dark reddish orange, against a classical stone building, almost opposite the station.At lunchtime on a Saturday, this bustling restaurant was full of locals - a mix of families and workers, including a group of firemen who didn't turn a hair when the rest of their colleagues rushed past in a fire truck with lights and siren blaring. Our neighbours clearly had their priorities right - lunch!The staff were friendly and efficient, taking our orders quickly. The extensive menu was displayed on blackboards on the wall, and offered an impressively broad range of dishes. Although there was plenty to attract meat eaters and vegetarians, we were a little surprised by the complete absence of any fish or seafood - rather strange in this part of France....Two of us opted for the menu and the others went a la carte. While our drinks and entrees arrived quickly ( the cauliflower soup with flakes of Parmesan was delicious), it became clear that the kitchen was under pressure when there was a gap of nearly 10 minutes between the arrival of two of our main courses and the serving of the other two. The two men in our party had finished theirs before ours arrived and we could see that other tables were also commenting on the delays....Fortunately the Magret de Canard Lacque was excellent and was swiftly followed by a hazelnut mousse layered with crispy tuiles. We rounded off the meal with coffee and the total bill for four including wine was almost exactly 100 Euros.In spite of the hiccup over the service, we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and will definitely return - there is an attractive terrace for sunny days too, and the acoustics there would almost certainly suit anyone with hearing difficulties better than the main salle, which suffers from the all too common problem of busy restaurants these days. It was loud!!"