My boyfriend and I have been traveling around northern coastal France, and because it is off season…read more(not summer), we have had trouble finding places to eat that are open. Online and in food apps, it will show that they are open, and then when we arrive the restaurant will be closed. Such was the case last night. We arrived at a highly rated brasserie (French bar and restaurant) after hours of driving, and it was closed. When we pulled up though, there was another restaurant next door that looked really cute as well as open--the most important thing! The menu seems seasonal and likely changes frequently, but they had a few burgers, a few salads, a wrap, and different savory tarts.
We ordered a Cuzco salad and a chorizo and chèvre wrap. The wrap came with thick steak fries and a beautiful side salad with shredded carrots and zucchini, sliced radishes, quinoa, halved yellow and red mini tomatoes (sungold and cherry I think?), and vinaigrette. The wrap itself had potatoes, red onion, chèvre, a sausage that didn't seem like chorizo, more like a pepperoni type sausage. The tortilla had an almost chimichanga type quality but grilled instead of fried. The French fried were fresh and very crispy. The Cuzco salad was AMAZING. We haven't been eating enough veggies lately, so our bodies felt vitamin starved. This salad left us feeling energized and refreshed, so much so that instead of sharing one, we ordered another to each enjoy a whole one. It was like a beefed up version of the side salad that came with the wrap, except it had a generous amount of small feta cubes as well. Soooo delicious!
A few extra details: Our server was very nice and spoke some English. The restroom was in the adjoining surf shop, which was closed at the time, but he opened it to let us use the bathroom. There is one medium-small room when you walk into the café that has a few tables, a bar, and the kitchen is off to the side. It looked like a nice place to enjoy and espresso or a cocktail. There was a TV playing surf videos, and we sat in a small room off to the side with 3-5 tables (can't remember). There was also a patio for outdoor seating in the daytime (maybe nighttime too weather permitting).
I always use Yelp to find places to eat, but have only recently started writing reviews for places I really love. We would not have found this place if we hadn't stumbled onto it in person because they aren't on Yelp, and not eating there would have been a shame. Clean, nice location with delicious food made of fresh ingredients. Would have posted pictures of our food, but we devoured it too fast! Check them out on Facebook and Insta @esbshopcafe
