Irish Independent 2009

French fancy - By lucinda o'sullivan

You don't need your passport to indulge in the best French bistro food, as Lucinda O'Sullivan discovers. Just head to the South-East and you'll find lots of superb French restaurants

'Is the sunny South-East the new Brittany?" I said to my friend Carmen, as we stood on a wide, deserted street looking down over New Ross. We had just left Et Voila, a new French bistro, which reminded us of a place in Brittany where we once lunched. It had been in the middle of nowhere, but we were attracted by the expensive cars outside.

The French have this knack for opening a restaurant in the back of beyond, knowing that if the food is good, people will come. That particular French restaurant had a set menu three-course lunch at €12: hors d'oeuvres followed by a huge platter of sauerkraut, saucisson and bacon, plus a litre bottle of wine on the table, the cork extracted, ready for the rush!

This time we were on a mini French odyssey in the South-East, as there are now a number of French restaurants between Wexford and Waterford. The decor at Et Voila is contemporary, but the food is unadulterated. The menu offered four salads: Nicoise, chicken Caesar, baked goat's cheese, or gratin of smoked haddock -- all available as small or large, at €5.50 or €9. Four each of pasta or main dishes were €10. They also had a formula concept: two courses €14.50; two courses and coffee €16.50; two courses and glass of wine €18.50; or two courses with wine and coffee, €20. Chef specials included moules mariniere at €8.50 or €15; 6oz or 8oz sirloin steaks with shallots and a wine sauce at €12 or €17; and black-sole fillets with lemon beurre blanc at €25.

Sticking to the €18.50 set menu, I had a really lovely starter-size rondelle gratin of smoked haddock and potato, capped with a tiny poached egg, while to the side was a beautifully anointed salad. Then came braised beef in red-wine gravy aka daube de boeuf: two big chunks of shin beef, cooked for hours to total melting succulence, and providing a deep and intense jus -- absolutely divine with a quenelle of mashed potato. Carmen had a delicious Nicoise salad for €5.50. To follow, she chose sauteed Dublin Bay prawns, €23, in garlic butter and a little filo pastry, which were to die for.

With a glass of wine, €5, our bill, including service, was €57.

In Waterford we had dinner in l'Atmosphere. Great ambiance and food makes this one of Waterford's most popular restaurants.

L'Atmosphere has all the fricasses and foie gras, boeuf and bourguignons, tartiflettes and terrines, scallops and saucisson you could desire. Here, we tested another set menu, a great three-course special, for two people at €65, including a bottle of wine -- but it's not available on Friday or Saturdays. Chunky farmhouse pate with onion marmalade was served with rustic, toasted bread while an oven-baked goat's cheese millefeuille was served with a salad, fig compote and a black olive tapenade. Excellent.

Both enormous, delicious main courses were served in cast-iron cassoulet dishes. The leg of lamb had been braised for six hours and came as thick slices in a hearty stew of potatoes, onions, and carrots, while a cassoulet of confit of duck leg and Toulouse sausage had beans and potatoes.

We finished off with a fine creme brulee with pear confit, and a chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream.

The wine included was not the greatest. "Could we pay a few euro more and get a better bottle?" we tentatively asked our great Italian waiter. "If you pay €8 more and give me a big hug," he replied. The hug and the €8 were worth the switch to a bottle of Lirac Domaine Maby.

Both restaurants produce the type of food the French do standing on their heads, without any Irish influences diluting them.

So, no excuse to go abroad this year, taste a little bit of France in Ireland.

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