Any good restaurants in the Clermont area?

[John]

Try Le Arlequin (I think that's how it's spelt) just behind the main Cathedral square - always had decent grub in the past

[Alex C]

Hi Graham,

Many thanks - In fact we did check out Le Tournesol last weekend with friends and we had an excellent meal. The set menu for €19 was excellent value and very tasty. We even sat outside on the front terrace in blissful sunshine - not bad for mid November!

Tell me more about this other new place you mentioned - Le Fonenay. Where is it?
Perhaps you could review it on the restuaurant section of this site...

[Graham T]

Well made it to lunch at Fontenay. For a modern building that's basically in a new build area they've done well to create an attractive dining room and there’s a terrace for warmer weather.

The dishes on the menus posted outside differed from menu inside and seemed less exciting. They do a 15 € three course lunch menu so we ordered that along with a 38 € four course menu that should give the kitchen a chance to shine. On the 38 € menu a starter of jelly of pork cheek lacked seasoning (and I don’t like over salting) and overdid the jelly, plus the accompanying crème of smoked lentils was fine but didn’t seem to fit in with the dish. The other starter included a smaller portion of the said jelly along with a more interesting slice of boudin noir and another pate. Coquilles St Jacques in a cream sauce topped with batons of carrot and asparagus was acceptable for a keenly priced menu, but sea bass became a bit lost wrapped in fried filo pastry with stuffing such as a bay leaf. It also featured the same vegetables. A baked pelardon wrapped in bacon (38 € menu) didn’t need the bacon. For dessert a strawberry compot on top of sorbet was perfect for the lunch menu but also appeared on the 38 € menu along with a pot of crème anglaise and crème brulee with very little crust (and hence the dish didn't have a balance of textures). All through this plate decoration went into overdrive – flowers, inedible leaves, black olive bits, saffron cream and reduced sweet red wine – all repeated on several dishes.

In conclusion the 38 € menu is poor value and overall the kitchen needs to look hard at balancing the dishes and seasoning. Sadly disappointing after a good run of superb meals elsewhere that show how standards in the area are improving.

Graham

[Alex C]

Hi Graham,

Thanks a lot for your very exhaustive restaurant review. Would you mind adding it to our Restaurant Reviews section? Simply click on the pink 'restaurant reviews' button at the top of our site to get started.

- Greg