La michodiere - Pau

The hosts we were staying with suggested this restaurant as we wanted a neighborhood place with locals and no tourists. We were able to walk here from the B

I am surprised to read such mixed reviews about Le Michodiere; we had an incredible experience. We pulled the name out of the Lonely Planet guide just to enter an address in the car's NAV system as we were passing through Pau on the long drive from Provence to Hendaye, France. We had race bikes on the back of the car and we were concerned about how we could safely park the car on the street and still eat lunch inside. Although we found a spot easily down the street, when we explained our predicament to the chef, Claude Michaud, the only guy in the restaurant for lunch, he ran out to move his car from in front of the restaurant so that we could eat and keep an eye on the bikes. Really cool. We then sat down to a 16 euro (great deal)! Menu Fixe, starting with mussels, then moving on to a choice between chicken marsala or salmon in citron, then either chocolate mousse or tiramisu or sorbet. The mussels were fantastic - we mopped up every last drop with bread, and Claude laid on pasta with the salmon when he heard my husband was racing L'Etape the following week. My teenage sons were blown away by the chicken marsala. For dessert we chose the mousse and the tiramisu which did not disappoint. Throughout the meal, Claude answered our many questions about the area, particularly about Basque language and history. After our long, late lunch, he closed up the restaurant to drive us to a bike shop near his house so my husband could pick up a few last items for his big race. Now that's service! Claude was amazing and my family wants to go back on our way back through Pau at the end of this week. A great experience.

Although this restaurant isn't located very centrally and its interiors are outdated, the service was good and the food was delicious. Additionally, the price per quality quota is excellent! Menu with three courses was less than 30 euros and the quality of those courses was great. Five stars.