A beautiful hillside village, surrounded by vineyards, about 40 minutes east of Bordeaux, St Emilion is all about wine. There are more dedicated wine shops here than we've ever seen. Amidst those shops are restaurants of many a style.
We choose La Cote Brasiee for one of our dinners in St. Emilion. It's situated on a very steep cobbled walking street. So steep in fact most people have to use the handrail running down the middle of the walkway.
The restaurant seemed cute, was on the smaller side and didn't appear quite the tourist trap as the many other places. We had our fill of duck and foie gras and wanted a simple steak, that's what we both ordered. One with a poivre sauce and one with a bordelais sauce. We both felt the sauces were a bit rich for our taste. Salads were uninspired. Desserts, sorbet and a cheese plate were OK. Service was fine, value OK. In short, uninspired, nicely presented food at a somewhat reasonsable price.
It was interesting to note this restaurant has an unopened half bottle of wine and sparkling water on each table prior to your seating. We wondered how many people actually purchase it. read more