Le Jouffroy d'Abbans

Since coming to live in France, madame and I have often been disappointed with food in restaurants, particularly at the higher end. Unimaginative and predictable menus, old fashioned with heavy, over-rich sauces and a suspicion that one is being served dishes bought in from catering companies.It was therefore a welcome surprise when we lunched at Le Jouffroy d’Abbans recently. Attached to the hotel, Le Manoir de la Jahotiere, this restaurant sits in tranquil parkland, lawns and woodland.It was a lovely sunny day so we elected to eat au terrasse and enjoy our aperitifs (sadly they do not offer gin and tonic!) while perusing the menu. Both menu and wine list are quite short and reasonably priced, given the standard of the place. A two or three course menu de jour is available at €19.50 or €23.50 but we felt inclined to push the boat out and eat a la carte, with a fixed price three course meal costing €38.00, cheese extra at €8.00. The choice of dishes is quite limited, but far better that than choosing from a huge list, probably being the contents of the freezer! Five or six course tasting menus are also available.All three courses were absolutely excellent. Original, modern, beautifully cooked and utterly delicious. A bottle of Pouilly Fumé at a not unreasonable €24.00 was a good accompaniment to our selected seafood dishes.We sat and enjoyed our coffees and mignardises while reflecting that our faith in French cooking had been restored.

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We were seated at a private spot by a window in a lovely room with a piano, stone walls and a wooden barrel ceiling. A charming girl waited on us and was a delight. She wrote down the names of all 6 wines we tasted. They were unusual picks and all perfectly matched with our dinners. The chef served up little surprises... the warm grissini wrapped with Iberian prosciutto came with mascerated popcorn & tapenade. The velouté of asparagus was set off by crumbled almond bits. Great scallops. Great langoustines & white asparagus.

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We have visited the restaurant several times and always been impressed by the high quality of the cuisine and service. The dishes are creative and the menus well considered. Our only tip for improvement would be that the menus could change more frequently for regular visitors.

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A good large restaurant that was not overcrowded with tables. Attentive staff. Interesting and unexpected aperitifs was a nice touch and of excellent quality. I'm not a food critic but both my wife and I agreed this was the best meal we have ever eaten in France - nuf said?

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My wife and I stayed at the Chateau and ate in the restaurant We had the 5 course meal with wine pairings! Best meal of the trip, by far.

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