Found 1 blog post with tag: Chez Leon

Chez Leon

Where? Chez Leon (Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, France) Map

When? Friday May 12, 2017

Who? Me

Food Style? French

I'm famished after a day of kayaking 32km down the Ardeche River. Lunch consisted of a banana and several chocolate chip cookies. I want good food and lots of it.

Entree


Assortment of Ardeche charcuterie
A decent sized plate of charcuterie arrives. It bears much similarity to the platters I got when I was in Italy, sans cheese. I don't care, I dive in. The terrine and meat are great with the baguette, but I'm not sold on the salad dressing. I think it's too strong and doesn't go with the other items on the plate; something light like a vinaigrette would be perfect. I'm feeling far less hangry now, thankfully.

Mains


Joue de Boeuf
A thick, meaty smell is the first thing I notice about the beef cheek. It's from the sauce, and it's absolutely delicious. The meat is a bit tough, but it's so appetising that I'm willing to let that slide. I love the chestnuts on the plate, they've soaked up that amazing sauce. The boiled vegetables are the unfortunate disappointment, I think they're purposefully bland to counterbalance the richness of the sauce.

There is quite a lot of food and I have definitely over ordered, but I have already committed to dessert. Time to get that second stomach into action.

Dessert


Le Coucouru
I can't see the dessert underneath the massive mound of cream. I remove the top half and see the meringue base, a slathering of chestnut jam, and some ice cream. I drizzle a bit of the raspberry coulis on the top and dig in. Wow, that chestnut is amazing. Why haven't more people caught onto this? The dessert is tending towards the sickly sweet side though, the meringue just being that little bit over the top.

I am well and truly stuffed. I think I need to lie down.