Where I ate today: Le Terminus, Cruzy

Okay, so I didn't technically eat at Le Terminus today. In fact, it was (sniff) nearly 3 months ago, but skimming through these pictures I was unable to resist a cheeky post.

The meal was delightful; gorgeous food, balmy weather, idyllic setting. The hosts, Gaëlle and Sébastien Caille, are the kind of effortless French chic that renders your carefully put together ensemble immediately frumpy and pedestrian. But the food... moan... the food. Exactly the kind of unpretentious bistro fare that you hope to find in a regional restaurant, with generous portions and a respectful nod to its Spanish neighbours. Every meal we saw come out of the kitchen made us jealous, in particular the diner-style burger which dripped with cheese and avocado, pickles spilling out of its sweet toasted bun.

The restored train station (now bar) next door to the main dining space serves tapas on Friday and Saturday nights, and the restaurant patio offers a grassy backyard playground, with swings, a hopscotch path and some logs for jumping across and balancing on. Even better, this area is behind a screen of plants, far enough away that your fellow childless diners won't be irritated but you can still keep an eye on the little ones.

slow roasted lamb shoulder

prawn fajita

spiced duck breast

fish in a bag with vegetable confit and puy lentils

pistachio parfait

pannacotta with wild strwberries and lemon sorbet

Restaurant Le Terminus - Avenue de la Gare - 34310 - Cruzy

Le Marche

This is why people move to the south of France. Some images from the markets around Olonzac.

What I ate today: pig's face terrine salad??

After a second failed attempt to eat at the Hotel D'Alibert in Caunes-Minervois (it has been closed for lunch twice so far), we happened upon a little restaurant in Rieux-Minervois, Le Logis de Merinville. It is run by a couple, Cathy and Pierre Morin, who have been there for 35 years. He is the chef and she works front of house. The decor was quirky, the food very authentic and homely. We opted for the Menu de Jour, which included this interesting salad of terrine, cucumber, lettuce and tomato:

We believe the terrine was made from pig's snout, ears and tongue with some aspic to glue it all together. The flavour of the meat was very nice, but personally, I'm not a fan of aspic. It lends everything a gelatinous texture that just quite doesn't work for me with savoury dishes. Perhaps I'm not comfortable enough with traditional French dishes (I don't know how Julie Powell made it all the way through the aspic chapter of Julia Child's book). The flavour of the salad dressing was delicious, though and the vegetables very fresh and crisp.