The bistro: Le Bistroquet

As mentioned in my Crêpes in Troyes post, we had come to Troyes to same the andouillette. Le Bistroquet was the restaurant where we came to sample the andouillette here in Troyes. It was a gorgeous, classic-looking French bistro with warm beige tones, rich brown wooden panelling, soft muted lighting and touches of art deco throughout. Was I ever excited! Such surroundings to me always promise more to come – and come they did. Our waitress was a petite little thing; full of feistiness but with a charming, mischievous grin. She took our order, and on quiet reflection, she hesitated ever so slightly when we came to order the andouilette, but such is the beauty of hindsight.

A starter of scallops grilled in butter proved to be lovely; plump and meaty, it was served with a light and crisp side salad dressed wonderfully in extra virgin olive oil. The froid (cold) foie gras had a lovely creamy, rich, melt-in-your-mouth texture, but unfortunately was a little too salty. Despite this, I was pleased with what had been presented so far. With no reason to suspect any surprises, my expectations remained high.

(Continue reading her story…)

Dear fair reader, are you the type of person, who like me, feels duty bound to try regional specialities and local delicacies on your travels? Would you otherwise feel like you might miss out on some important culinary discovery if you did not? When in Rome I always say.

So it was with great fanfare and aplomb that we arrive in Troyes three days into our driving trip of the Champagne region. As you already know, we’d done some research prior and located a restaurant where it was possible to try the regional speciality, andouilette. A French tourism website had described it as meatballs… little did we know, but more on that later.

Medieval Troyes

Troyes, first a Roman city, is now a quaint but slightly jaded medieval town. It retains a certain sense of charm and whilst dressed slightly rough around the edges, it hasn’t been dolled up just for the tourists, allowing it to hold onto that sense of a lived-in town. We meandered leisurely through the streets, and with all the little curiosities that its architecture had to offer, snapped happily away for it was a place worthy of a spot in the photo album. Unexpectedly, we walked past a little crêperie and I was duly summoned. Unable to resist because some things you know are just going to be damn good, we ordered the specialty of the house with ham, bacon, cheese, tomato, pan-fried potato and crème fraiche. Hot, wholesome and hearty, the melted cheese meshed with the meatiness of the ham and bacon and the soft juiciness of the warm tomato. Damn good indeed.

Crêpe with ham, cheese, tomato and lots of other goodies

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