Time for a Foodie Blog!

OK, I haven't said much about food in my postings so far, but after last night's dinner I feel the need to share details with all of you fellow foodies out there! So if you don't want to hear me gush about the best meal ever, you'd better look away! :-). All the food we've had this first week has been fabulous! Our plan is to have one meal in each city at a really good restaurant, and then the rest of our meals we've been trying to keep less expensive (creperies, sandwiches, etc.) So last night we went to a really nice restaurant called La Rapierre (The Rapier) for our one more expensive meal in Bayeux, and it absolutely lived up to the hype we read on Rick Steves and Trip Advisor. We were there for over two hours, and it was one of the best meals I've had on any vacation anywhere.

They started us out with an amuse bouche that was a warm asparagus soup. It seemed to have a little cream in it, but it was very light with a bright, strong taste of asparagus. Yum! (It was only about three tiny little spoonfuls, but it was a beautiful start to the meal.)

My appetizer was raw oysters from Gold Beach, just down the road. They were so sweet and salty. I absolutely love raw oysters and these were some really good ones!

 

 

 

 

 

Tammy's appetizer was a black pudding and poached apple tartlet. The black pudding is a blood sausage, and you can see the black slices of it layered right below the mixed greens. Below the sausage are the slices of sauteed apples. I tasted it and thought it was very good, but Tammy really liked it! Very rich and savory with a subtle liver-like taste.

Next they brought out a palate cleanser which was an apple sorbet topped with just a couple drops of calvados. It was very refreshing and tasted of the freshest, sweetest apples. (Normandy is famous for it's apples.)

 

 

For our entrees, we both ordered duck! I absolutely love duck and order it any chance I get, and this was the best I've tasted! It was cooked perfectly and almost melted on the tongue. It was served with a red wine and shallot reduction and served with a side of vegetables. Absolutely beautiful!

 

 

 

They serve the cheese course between the main course and dessert. A cheese tray is brought around with wedges of different kinds, and you get to choose the ones you want to taste. These were my selections (Pont l'Eveque on lower left is like a mild version of a Camembert. It's very soft and so tasty.The top one is Morbier, also a cow's milk cheese but it is semi-soft and tasted like a mild Gruyere. The black line running through it is ash. The last one on the lower right is Valencay, a goat's milk cheese (one of my favorites). It was like a Chevre, but not as tangy). So delicious!

 

 

 

 

And finally they brought us dessert. We both had the vanilla cheesecke with an apple puree (think apple butter) and a salted caramel ice cream on top. It was absolutely fantastic! The ice cream was rich and salty, the cheesecake was rich and tangy, and the apple puree gave it just the right bit of sweetness. (Oh, by the way, all the desserts are much less sweet than in the U.S. They just use enough sugar to make it seem like a dessert, but not enough to overpower the actual flavors in the dessert.)

And of course, no meal is complete without a beautiful little cappuccino. Isn't it cute!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know this seems like a lot of food, but the portions are smaller than in the U.S., so you're just getting a few bites of each course. This was a perfect ending to a wonderful day of sightseeing! Can't wait to go to another great restaurant in Brugges, Belgium (that's our next fairly big city)!

 

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