Tag Archives: grenoble

Grenoble Food Guide – Snapshots

Posted on March 29, 2010 by SF| Comments Off

Saucisson Sec

Because I still have a lot of photos leftover from other meals I have had in Grenoble and you lovely readers enjoy staring at foodie pics on your computer screen almost as much as eating it…here you go! :D

Carpaccio

Breakfast: Good bread, coffee, soft cheese and saucisson sec

Beef fillet bleu and Entrecote bleu… allez les bleus!


Creperie Menu

Pear Sorbet with Williams

And sometimes all you want is a Quickie Burger.

And there you have it, my short and sweet Grenoble Food Guide. I plan to do more of these during my travels. Thanks for reading :)

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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 – La Florentine

Posted on March 26, 2010 by SF| Comments Off

Salade Caprese

Tagliatelle Carbonara

Pannacotta

Just because I was in France, didn’t mean that I had to eat only French food. The night before I had couscous and tonight I was planning to have Italian. Hannah has told me that she has never been disappointed by any of the Italian Restaurants found over the bridge, over the Isere.

So after a day of walking in the woods, we built up a pretty hefty appetite and our pores were screaming “Carbohydrates! Carbohydrates!”…well, you can’t beat pasta for that.

The service in La Florentine was very good, the waitress very patient as I practiced my French while ordering (I have now found out the best way to order table water was with Homer Simpson’s classic D’oh! quote).

We were quickly served and as usual the produce was excellent. It was nice to have really good salad again. I don’t know, salad in the UK just isn’t like that in the continent. And as the main course, tagliatelle carbonara. I adore carbonara. I adore it even more when done with the egg running over the pasta. This was followed by a very delicious creamy Pannacotta and to end the meal, cafe noir.

The setting was very rustic and relaxed with beautiful stone walls and a pizza oven burning not far away, keeping you warm. No better way to enjoy a glass of wine in the evening.

66 Quai de la Perrière
38000 Grenoble, France
04 76 43 12 66

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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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Place Saint-Andre Ink Sketches

Posted on March 23, 2010 by SF| 3 Comments

I forgot how much I enjoy just simple ink sketches. I spent almost four hours in ‘Cafe de la table Ronde’, the second oldest coffee shop in France, in Place Saint-Andre. I worked on ink sketches, drank coffee, drank wine, had lunch (fillet of beef, so very fine) and finished up my ink drawings. The scene was just beautiful, surrounded by people, who were enjoying lunch, and then later on by people, who just finished work and wanted a cup of coffee on the way home.

Because you can’t fuss over every little detail and because you can’t erase the line already drawn, ink sketching is very freeing for me. You have to work fast, but keep on looking. You made a mistake, oh well, deal with it. I don’t want to overthink. Just draw what you see. Draw it well, draw it quickly. Replicate it to the best of your ability.

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Grenoble, France – The Sights!

Posted on March 22, 2010 by SF| 4 Comments

From March 14 to 21 I was in Grenoble, France. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in France, the last was Paris when I was a very young teenager. This was new France to me. Mr H and I stayed at our friend, Hannah’s, place. She’s been living in Grenoble for 9 months now, so was a brilliant guide.

This was the breakdown of the stay catalogued by my Facebook updates :) Will be creating more posts on our foodie journey in Grenoble.

Grenoble, France – Day 1: Got off the train too early, saved by public transport and Hannah. Cable car up to the Bastille to do some wine tasting, cable car back down to the Irish Pub for more wine (& strong beer), crisps and chatter. Walk to a restaurant for too much wine and food. Tram to watch some folks swing dance. Run for the tram to get back. Success.

Grenoble, France – Day 2: Wander around the historical sites of Grenoble, lunch at Bistro Romain,wine at Irish bar, dinner Couscous with mutton (and extremely fast French) and then more wine at Ace of Spades. Wine is so cheap, but so good. I am in heaven.

Grenoble, France – Day 3: A walk in the woods, art exhibition on neurons, le Dîner de cons, Italian for dinner and an evening wander around the city. French is a hard language, need to learn the correct pronounciation for l’eau.

Grenoble, France – Day 4: Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation, attacking a duck-ish sandwich on the main street, Musée De Grenoble, staring at beautiful artworks and making fun of others, buying earrings and rings in little shops, dinner at Crêperie (and wine!) before singing our way home… I own ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ in English, German and, as of today, French.

Grenoble, France – Day 5: Cycling by the Isere river, doing a bit of shopping then sitting in a cafe at Place Saint-Andre working on ink sketches.

Grenoble, France – Day 6: Quiet day, sitting in cafes and parks observing French behaviour and culture, overdosing on beef during lunch and then cheese during dinner before meeting some lovely people at the Druid’s.

Grenoble, France – Day 7: Cable car up the Bastille, visiting the caves and then a drink at the terrace enjoying the amazing views. Lunch at Les Archer, tasty Moules Mariniere…Back after a night at the Druid’s watching England v France Rugby. England lost, but such a great atmos, the French are such a lovely bunch!

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