Auberge Du Dominicain - Montreal

Small restaurant and retail place. There were only of us there for a Saturday lunch and the service was relaxed' but friendly. Margaret had squid which was OK. I had a very large plate of charcuterie excellent pate, OK rillette, salami and chorizo....Not so keen on the boudin or ham. Margaret had a salad which was also OK. I had cassoulet which was flavourful. Nice bottle of local red.

We visited with family by chance. It was the night the Tour de France had ridden through the village so had been a very busy day. However we received a warm welcome, cool refreshing drink violet and white wine mix) on the house, which...was lovely. We chose the middle price set menu which had a good variety for us. Our family had the Steak for two they said it was the best they had ever eaten) ! We has cassoulet and the lamb off the cheaper menu, again beautiful all round. The chessboard was delightful, with the desserts being the icing on the cake. The hostess was helpful, attentive and chatty. We will visit again !

This is a real Auberge with no pretensions but with a really nice lady owner and good country food. We both went for the menu at I took two fish options. Starter was smoked salmon salad. This was plenty of nicely dressed leaves with...chunks of tasty smoked salmon scattered throughout. My mains was Trout Meuniere. This was served whole and cooked to perfection. The skin lifted off the top side in one piece and the flesh came away, without effort and left the bones almost totally behind. On turning over the fish, I was able to lift the skeleton off in one piece. The flesh was tender and tasty and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm obviously on an indulgent run as I ate every scrap of the fried strips of potato that accompanied my fish. Again, worth the bit of indigestion. My companion had the charcuterie plate. There was plenty of pate, ham some chorizo and boudin. This was served with fresh crispy bread. For mains, it was steak which, unusually for France where steak tends to be a bit tough, it was tender and tasty and very well received. Like my mains, it was accompanied by the fried potato strips which are a speciality of the house. I've not seen them anywhere else. I didn't have dessert although my companion enjoyed some rather nice ice creams. And we finished with a white coffee and a tissue. Our normal was accompanied by a large bottle of Badoit and still water. Just as a matter of interest, the Plat du Jour, was spicy meatballs with white beans and it looked very good and excellent value at As ever, we enjoyed our visit, our first this year. Aside from serving good food, there is an interesting selection of local goodies and alcohols for sale. So it would be a good place to pick up a last minute gift or even a gourmet treat for yourself. Oh, and by the way, Madame speaks speaks good English.

We haven't been to the Dominicain very much this year, so today we went for lunch. I was determined to try the much lauded Cassoulet and my companion went for the menu as we were marking a special occasion. There is a choice of...Cassoulet Royal (which has leg and shoulder of duck as well as a little bit of tripe which added flavour I'm told, plus saucisse de Toulouse) or just Cassoulet which has a little bit less meat (no shoulder/manchon of duck). Being in indulgent form, I decided to go for the Royal. To say that it was copious is to understate the quantity. The meat was so tender, that it fell off the bone with a mere touch of the fork. The beans were creamy and luscious and the sauce just devine. I always try a Cassoulet, at least once, in Autumn and early Spring. And for this Cassoulet Royal, it would be worth travelling miles on foot. And after it, you'd need to walk another miles, at a fast pace, to work it off. I'm very glad I ordered mains only as it was plenty all on its own. My companion chose the plate of charcuterie to start. This was a large oval plate with pate, boudin, ham, terrine, a chorizo favoured roll -more tender than chorizo but every bit as tasty, and another roll which tasted of pork and ham and while unidentified, was very good. The charcuterie was accompanied by a basket of chunks of fresh local bread. The mains was faux-filet my companion is a lover of steak, and the expert's opinion was it was just about the best faux-filet to be had in France. It was served just on the rare side of medium rare and was tender and flavoursome to the last mouthful. It came with house chips which are crispy curls of deep fried potatoes, harrocots beurre, a herby tomato and garnished with a pretty little physalis. The piece of steak was extremely generous and cooked to perfection. It was served with a homemade pepper sauce. The menu included dessert or cheese and the chosen option was boules of very nice ice cream. We had one glass of white Corbieres and half a pitchet of a very nice mellow red. All in all this was an excellent, delicious and very substantial meal, charmingly served as always at the Dominicain. With a total bill, including the wine, we thought that was a very reasonable price. Our only complaint was that the food was so good, we were fit to do nothing else for the afternoon. And let's face it, that's a good complaint when you're on holidays, now isnt it!

Montreal is on the Chemin de Piedmont- the foothills Pyrenees pilgrimage walk that connects to the Camino to Santiago. Anyway, a beautiful little town. We stayed at the pilgrim hostel across the street from the restaurant. I cannot comment on the food- though it looked...wonderful. I came in looking for a local Rose. The very kind owner suggested a reasonable one- maybe euros. One of the best wines ever- really phenomenal. Wish I could tell you the label, but just ask for one from the local vineyard.