This was a gem of a find in Albi - I thought the prices for the menu du jour (19€) was super…read morereasonable and such a good value for the quality and quantity of food that you get. You can also get a slightly different menu for 25€ that has a different appetizer and dessert and a fish or meat, which is a good price for a 3-course meal.
For the one reviewer that obviously hasn't eaten at many places in France and complained there were not a lot of options on the menu du jour and that the service was slow, well, welcome to France. That's just the way it is. Most places have only one option for the menu of the day, but it works because the food is fresh; there's a slightly higher priced option if you want beef or a different appetizer. Between the 4 of us dining together, we got 2 of the menu du jour and 2 of the slightly higher priced options so we could try more dishes.
Appetizers:
- Tuna and sun dried tomato muffins - These were surprisingly good! Not salty, and a good savory muffin to start off the meal. This was included in the menu du jour.
- Shrimp and Seafood appetizer - This was on the 25€ menu and it was delicious. Kind of like a seafood bisque mousse topped with little clams and shrimp. If you like seafood, this is a good pick and it went well with the pieces of bread.
- Escargot and vegetables in a puff pastry - My Dad got this and we all loved it. Also on the slightly higher priced menu but worth it for a unique dish.
Plat:
- Cabillaud / Cod - This was in a butter-orange sauce and it was good. I've had a lot of cod dishes in the last week and this was probably not my favorite of the bunch probably because the texture of the fish wasn't very flaky and it felt a bit flat. The vegetables were really good, but I thought the steak was better than the cod.
- Steak / Boeuf - Definitely one of the best pieces of steak I've had in France. The meat was good quality and the sauce was perfect. I loved this dish and would highly recommend getting this if you like steak.
Desserts:
- Cafe Gourmand - If you like a little bit of variety with your desserts, this is a good option. It had a little apple cake, apples wrapped in a phyllo pastry, and a crunchy almond cookie topped with cinnamon ice cream. It was all delicious and tasted fresh and homemade.
- Flan de Pomme - This came with the menu du jour and it was delicious! A cross between a bread pudding, custardy cake and came with an apple compote. So unique, not too sweet, and just a perfect dessert.
All in all, we had such a great meal here. The service was a bit slow but they may not have had enough chefs in the back making food, so we got to enjoy a nice leisurely lunch. We ended up having a lunch that was 2.5 hours, so if you're in a rush, just grab a sandwich or some other faster food elsewhere. If you have time and want to have high quality food at reasonable prices (especially for the menu du jour for lunch), this is an excellent choice. I would normally have given this place 5 stars if the lunch had been about 2 hrs long, but it was more like 2.5 hrs or just shy of 3 hours because it took them so long at the beginning to give us water, take our order, etc.
I would definitely come back here again if I were in Albi during lunch, as the menu du jour is an excellent value at 19€. The slightly higher priced one at 25€ is also a good deal.
