[Brittany, France] Trip Report

We spent 23 days in Brittany and Normandy

With very few exceptions all of our meals were outdoors and really good. The three really special meals in Brittany were:

Rosemadec Le Moulin — lunch in Pont Aven — 1 Micheline star

The food and service were fantastic. We started with a glass of champagne each and chose to eat a la carte. We were served four amuse bouche before our beef and lamb main courses, a shared wonderful cheese course, a chocolate dessert and a grapefruit mousse. This was an incredible value for €165.

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La Vieile Auberge — lunch in the countryside near Tinteniac
I chose this restaurant because it was halfway between our hotel in Carnac and our gite in Plouer-sur-Rance and would break up our long drive. We like eating at a countryside auberge but didn’t expect this high-level gastronomic experience.

We chose the 3-course traditional menu: foie gras and smoked salmon entrees; beef and sweetbreads (€12 supplement) plats; and chocolate tarte and mille-feuille desserts along with a glass of kir royale (€115). Everything was delicious but the sweetbreads were one of the best I’ve ever had. They were milky soft in a morel cream sauce. A truly memorable experience.

This restaurant is certainly worth a detour.

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Breizh Café — lunch in St Malo

This was the best of the many creperie we went to. We started with 6 oysters; the ham, cheese and egg crepes for each of us and shared a caramelized banana, chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream dessert crepe. (€49,80)

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Kougin-Amann
Apparently, there are two types of kougin-amann (thank you Carmenere on Hungry Onion for the lesson).

We bought our first kougin-amann at Chez Ty Kouign in Minihy-Treguier (there are several locations). This was the Douranenez version (croissant dough) and came in a 9in tin pie plate (12€60) which the saleswoman told us to heat it up for 5min at 150C. It was outstanding—flaky with a shiny, caramelized top!

We also bought the smaller “kouignette” individual size version at one of the Ma Boulangerie outlets. It was not quite as carmelized as the one from Chez Ty Kouign but just as delicious.
Our third was the Abers version which we bought at the in Sunday market in Cancale. This is the flat version and we didn’t like it. It was flavoress and too sweet and (sacré bleu) we threw most of it away.

Misc

The three other food highlights were the Brittany butter, the plougastel strawberries and the charentais melons.

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I’m so jealous. Sounds fabulous.

That cheese cart made me swoon…

Thimes: Don’t be jealous; just go!!! :slightly_smiling_face:
Gman: The cheese selections in the markets are to die for too. (thanks for all of your helpful posts on CH over the years)

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We also loved our meal at Briezh Café in St Malo, sitting at the counter watching the chef in constant motion.
We sampled so many Kougin-Amann and kouignette that we became addicted.
We purchased our kouignettes in Pont Aven at the pretty Maison Georges Larnicol boutique, which offered them in over a dozen different flavors.

I feel faint. Adding chocolate, raspberry, whatever fillings to a kouignette makes what is a near perfect pastry into something far less perfect. IMHO. But chacun son truc.

I’m sure you´re right Parn. We chose the originals.

Just to add…kind of like choosing a chocolate gâteau basque. No, no and no for me.