Brittany & Normandy Restaurant Recommendations

Echo your praise for Roellinger and Les Rimains. And am so happy to have Pont Aven mentioned. Certainly for La Taupiniere, but also magical town (once the day-trippers go home at sundown). The joyful sound or rushing waters meets you at every corner due to the many mill streams that cut through town. The fine arts museum is a must see for its major collection of the Pont Aven School of art’s Nabis.

Just remembered a magical address in eastern Brittany, La Mare aux Oiseaux It is just north of Saint Nazaire in the Regional Marais. A very restful hotel, but also lovely lunch stop.

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Second Pont Aven and it’s lovely museum.

Other dining recommendations: Le Grand Hôtel du Grand Large in Quiberon and Chez Jacky at Riec-sur-Belon not far from Pont Aven. Both for lunch, but I can’t imagine dinner wouldn’t be great if they’re open.

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Just a follow up- while in Bayeux I had one meal at Le Pommier. Food was quite good (straightforward presentation and fairly classic offerings) and very reasonably priced. We had a second meal at L’Angle St. Laurent which was excellent- well cooked, interesting flavor combinations, and also well priced. I’d happily return to either, but L’Angle is a step above.
For lunch one day we stopped at Maniore de L’Acherie between bayeux and MSM. Food was solid but not very exciting, but the price was outstanding (20e for plat+dessert).

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Quite true. Bordier used to be an artisan product but no longer is. The fabrication has been taken over by industrial Laiterie Triballat some years ago. It is still good, but even supermarkets in Brittany carry a few brands or artisan butter, generally organic, that are even better. And needless to say, a few steps in any village or town market and you will find at least two or three farmers selling their own butter, and I don’t need to describe how good they will be.

Now for restaurants and kouign-amann.
Kouign-amann first. There are two types of kouign-amann, the Douarnenez version (pie-like) and the Abers version from Northwestern Finistère, very flat and baked in large trays. As it goes, people from the Abers tend to claim that theirs is the best but I hope there aren’t any of them reading this right now for I’m likely to be bombed with raw cauliflowers through my windows. To tell the truth, I find it rather dull and sugary. The Douarnenez version has now been imitated by boulangers throughout Brittany and is generally very good. Now there are two families within this one: the traditional version, based on bread dough, and the more recent version based on croissant dough, created (so I’ve heard) by a boulanger in La Forêt-Fouesnant. They look somewhat alike but they’re very different in crispiness, the croissant-based one being lighter and less chewy. I can’t tell which is my favorite, both are delicious. It is also the only dough base that gives good results with the roll-up-and-cut-then bake “kouignette” version, while the bread-based version is jut not fit for this treatment.

Wherever you are in Brittany, and even in Paris since Georges Larnicol makes excellent traditional KA, look for the shiny surface. If the surface isn’t shiny, chances are that the KA won’t be great. The surface should be like a skating rink of buttery caramel. BTW Larnicol’s kouignettes never were my thing but his regular-sized KA are very decent.

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Thanks for mentioning the 2 types. I had the Abers Finestère-type first, and that’s the dragon I’ve been chasing since 2008.

I haven’t had the other type you describe, in France.

Nothing has come close in Toronto, Montreal or NYC.

Restaurants now. Just out of my bag, from Northeast to South:
Breizh Café in Cancale, and of course La Table Breizh Café.
In Saint-Malo, same management, izakaya Otonali, Le Comptoir Breizh Café and L’Atelier de la Crêpe. Le Bistrot du Rocher, and —touristy but very good, not cheap— Brasserie du Lion d’Or for seafood, kitschy decor and Jacques Demy atmosphere.
Plomodiern: L’Auberge des Glazicks
Lorient: L’Amphitryon (chef Olivier Beurné)
Pont-Aven: Le Moulin de Rosmadec, taken over by Christian Le Squer. While I’m at it, he also took over the restaurant at the Rennes train station (still untested by me).
Riec-sur-Belon, my 'hood when I’m in Southern Brittany: I really like Chez Jacky. There’s something a little crazy and relaxed about this place that I enjoy a lot.
There are hundreds of nice little cafés-restaurants all along the coast, no matter where. A little serendipity but not much is needed, but more often than not you’ll be happy with the result. Moules marinières, moules au curry (a Breton classic), simple but good fish dishes, langoustines, oysters, andouillette, and frites of course.
I almost forgot the excellent traditional restaurant at the Hôtel du Pouldu.

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The Abers version is actually very rare, you’re not likely to find it outside of the Haut-Léon region. In Brest, perhaps.

The über-famous version is the Douarnenez one.

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I had spent 3 nights in Quimper, and took the regional train to Pont Aven and a few other small towns. Whatever I purchased was flat, from a large pan, with lots of caramelization. It was addictive- the best pastry I’ve eaten. I didn’t pay attention to the bakery. This was in 2008, and I haven’t been back to Brittany since then.

Perhaps it wasn’t the version you describe, but it also was very different from the versions here in North America. Most versions are a type of Kouignette, based on the DKA type that has become popular at Dominique Ansel.

This pâtisserie is popular in Montreal https://aukouingamann.com/

Patrice in Montreal makes some unconventional Kouign Amanns. They are worth trying, but not traditional.

From your description I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the Abers version (which very thin, not shiny and sprinkled with sugar) but simply the classic Finisterian version (Douarnenez) baked in a tray instead of a round pie dish. That’s the one with the caramelized top.

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We enjoyed a superb meal at La Pomme d’Api in Saint-Pol-de-Leon, just south of Roscoff. A very talented youngish chef and his charming wife. Would return in a heartbeat.

I notice that they now are offering chambre d’hote. And once again, I would STAY here in a heartbeat.

“Restaurants with rooms” allow you to enjoy a fine meal, some wine and simply wander upstairs after your meal without driving, mindful that France’s alcohol limit for drivers is 100mgs alcohol per 100ml blood, essentially one small glass per hour.

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Thanks for all of the great recommendations and KA education.

Thank you. I do believe there’s a deep, interesting ethnoculinary background behind kouign-amann and it deserves to be known.

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I googled the pronunciation because it looked a little tricky. There are variations on the spectrum from from “queen” to “coon” with subtle differences. I’m assuming that any approximation will be understood because I hate to have to rudely point.

“Coon”? It might be one of those strange québécois pronounciations but in France queen is close enough

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In proper Breton it’s ‘cooeeng amann’ with a nasalisation on the final -ann, as in the French tante, so it sounds more like “awn”, and the final -n is pronounced. Some subregions of Brittany (“pays” or bro) will make it sound more like “kuing” which is pronounced a bit like “queuing”. The meaning is “butter cake”.

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Thanks!! I expect I’ll get lots of practice saying it.