Tag Archives: culinary

Grenoble Food Guide – Les Archers

Posted on March 28, 2010 by SF| 1 Comment

Unfortunately in Grenoble between the hours of 14:00 to 19:00 most restaurants stopped serving food. So if you miss out, you’ll have to make do with the last of the lunch time sandwiches…unless you make it to Les Archers. Because they are open all day and served traditional French cuisine, our starving selves made it to their tables.

I was so hungry that I didn’t take many photos, but instead attacked the food in front of me with gusto. Traditional French, yes definitely. Mr H ordered a horse burger, it was served to him with no bread buns. Seems that’s how they roll.

I had my favourite Moules Mariniere. One of my more vivid memories of Paris was building stacks of empty mussel shells after fishing them out from their white wine and cream sea. What was served was very tasty, but not as good as I remember (memories are viewed with rose tinted glasses). Definitely better than what I have had in the UK.

Hannah was a lot more adventurous, ordering Andouillette; or, in English, tripe sausage. Coming from the Philippines, nothing would scare me and after enjoying a good chunk of it, concluded it was very similar to the Filipino speciality Isaw; or, in English, Grilled Chicken Intestines. Tasty, but I could never have too much.

No wine this time, due to our overindulgence the night before. Hence the laziness and the lateness of our awakening. And the next night was not going to be much different. We were off to the Druid’s Pub, to watch the England vs France Six Nations Rugby Match.

2 Rue Doct Bally
38000 Grenoble, France
04 76 46 27 76

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Grenoble Food Guide – La Ferme a Dede

Posted on March 27, 2010 by SF| 1 Comment

When I visited Grenoble, I was not only visiting for the city and the culture (not to mention the wine and the food…), but also my good friend Hannah. She has lived in Grenoble for 9 months now and she told me that on her list of things to do before she leaves, was to have raclette in La Ferme a Dede. Apparently everytime she has tried, they were always full. A good sign.

I popped in one day in between shopping and my cafe stops and, with my broken French, attempted to make a reservation for a few days later. I said all the right words… Je voudrais reserver un tableau pour trois. Vendredi a huit heures (don’t beat me about my spelling!). The patroness nodded her head, didn’t reach for a reservations book, but assured me that that’ll be alright and continued sweeping. I walked out still unsure.

I was still unsure if we had a reservation when we did get there on Friday at 8 pm, but thankfully we had a table afterall! Serves me right for doubting.  We all ordered raclette, which arrived as a hunk of cheese cradled in what looked like a torture device. We were given plates of meat and shared a large bowl of salad. We could have as much bread and potatos as we wanted.

At first we weren’t sure how this was going to work (very embarassing, for I am Swiss and it’s suppoused to be a Swiss specialitiy). I was used to the square raclette heater with little pans for each diner. But once the cheese started melting to the plate below, we got the idea. Cheese on knife, knife on bread or potato. Enjoy meat and salad with. And don’t forget the wine.

It was an extremely pleasant night, when we got fat on cheese and laughter. I was sure that we had a mild cheese overdose, we were high on the oh so lovely smell.

La Ferme a Dede
24 Rue Barnave,
Grenoble
04 76 54 00 33

24 Rue Barnave, Grenoble -

04 76 54 00 33

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Grenoble Food Guide – Le Couscous

Posted on March 25, 2010 by SF| 3 Comments

Chicken liver salad

Mutton and Couscous

Lamb chops and couscous

5 Euros for a pitcher of wine

The second night in Grenoble, we originally planned to visit the Creperie. Unfortunately both Creperies were closed (lots of shops/restaurants are usually closed on Mondays), so we went into the first restaurant we found open and here we found Restaurant Le Couscous.

Now I’ve had couscous before and have been disappointed many times. But in this restaurant, I found out that to eat good couscous, it needed to be cooked by those in the know. And the lovely gentleman, who ran the place, certainly knew how to do that.

The couscous melted in your mouth like butter. The mutton I had with it was very tender and tasty, the portion size was very generous. They served stew in a seperate pot, the broth of which you would pour over your couscous. I can’t say I licked my plate clean, but did my best with the encouragement of the chef. In his opinion, I needed more meat in my bones.

This is also where I discovered 5 Euros for a pitcher of wine. That cheap? My mind first screamed, “Vinegar!”. I was happy to find out that wine here is really affordable and really that good. I don’t think any restaurant would dare serve bad wine here.

I left feeling full and satisfied. Looking back I would have to describe this night as one of the best during the time I spent in Grenoble. You never know what’s around the corner, so enjoy the unexpected.

19 Rue de la Poste
38000 Grenoble, France
04 76 47 92 93

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