What was your best meal on the French Caminos ?

[vicrev]

Mine was probably in a Caravan/Camping park in Sarlat 1st course..... a massive bowl of veg soup ( I thought it was meant for 3 people ) 2nd course......rare beefsteak (like a doorstop ) with aligot. broad beans,asparagus, puy lentils. 3rd course.......board with 5 cheeses (all local) 4th course.......flan with fresh strawberries (with creme fraise ,of course) washed down with half a litre of claret, coffee with a small chocolate...........all for the princely sum of 12 euros.......I stayed an extra day there so I could front up for another round.......had to build up the energy reserves for the next round of walking !!.............I have found the Caravan/Camping parks with a restaurant great value in France & usually make a beeline to them at mealtimes when I get sick of my own cooking when walking.....................Vicrev

 

[Magwood]

I remember being totally impressed with the meal I ate on my decent from Cruz del Ferro, in el Acebo. I don't know what the restaurant was called, but it was probably the first one we came to after a cold and wet descent. I was just so glad to be in a warm, dry place serving food that did not include pasta and chips and I enjoyed it so much that I took a photo of it (although looking at it now it doesn't look quite so appealing!)

 

[mspath]

At La Curiosa in Mansilla de las Mulas , near the friendly municipal albergue, I enjoyed an outstanding daily menu for only 10€. It included creamed cauliflower with bacon, grilled salmon and scalloped potatoes, lemon pudding, rosé wine and coffee! Wow! The Michelin inspector should visit soon!

MM

 

[peregrina2000]

If you mean "best" in terms of gastronomy, I would have to say Restaurante Basseri in Pamplona http://www.restaurantebaserri.com (restaurant in the very back behind bar) or Meson los Templarios in Villacazar de Sirga, http://www.restaurantebaserri.com.

But "best" in terms of total experience would be a hard fought contest among many nights in an albergue sitting around the table and sharing pleasant conversation, dreams, fears, wonderment, all the human emotions. One that comes to mind was the night we celebrated the 80th birthday of a man who was walking the Camino in memory of his son who had died several years earlier. Or the dinner in Arzua in which a firefighter from Malaga, after producing an amazing "mushroom rice" dinner with very humble ingredients, broke down as he told us that we would be arriving in Santiago the next day, on the anniversary of his wife's suicide. Or the dinner in San Remon da Retorta in which a young pilot for SpanAir learned he was getting fired and didn't need to report back to work. I don't say these things to be melodramatic, but just to say that the Camino provides you with an amazing opportunity to get in touch with your humanity and your mortality.

I'm all in favor of good food, and there are many places to eat well (NOT with a menu del peregrino, however), but on the Camino, I would forego the good food for the good company any day.

Oh, but if by "French Caminos" you don't mean "Camino frances", my restaurant recommendations are not what you're looking for! On the LePuy route, my favorite meal bar none was in the little restaurant in the hotel in Saugues. It wasn't so much because of the food (though the food was good and the cheese cart AMAZING) but because when the owner learned that my dad had participated in the Normandy invasion, it became a long, emotional conversation about French-US relations, what is evil, what would we have done, etc. (and this was in French, and I don't speak French!)