in station, and thus all the restaurants in the area were aimed at the weary traveller; english pubs, a hard rock cafe, etc. Not my cup of tea on this trip. So we walked on into the night, hoping for a cute bistro or something of the like. Turning down some random sidestreet Art spotted a pleasantly lit storefront, and when in full view our decision had been made. L'Education Nationale is a tiny, bustling little french bistro that without a doubt served the best homestyle french food I've ever had. And yes, I've been to France. We each started out with a pastis, which was on the house, soon followed by beer, moules marinieres, and escargot. The mussels were as you would expect, white wine, garlic and thyme, though they tasted more like the sea than any I've ever had before... in a really good way. The escargot was the prize though; imagine if made little lincoln loggs out of puff pastry, and stacked them into a tower, then filling the inside with a creamy riesling sauce and quite a few very large snails. Unbelievable.
My father was entirely satisfied after the escargot, and did not order himself an entree, but I could not help myself. The special of the night was ox tongue with a spicy bouillon sauce, and I was all over it. Served with a little potato cake, grilled endive, and sauteed leeks, it was the most tender, delicate meat dish I've had in a very long time. The bouillon sauce not spicy as advertised, but rather a tangy gravy with a hint of red wine. My plate was bone clean in minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment