Le Clos Basque was recommended to us by Sue, from whom we had rented the lovely central apartment on Place Saint Eugenie. http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p82808. She had said it was the best restaurant in Biarritz, but still not outrageously priced. We were instantly sold on the recommendation and made a prompt booking.
The restaurant was quite small and being popular, a reservation was essential as the place ended up being full. There was a lovely “local” feel to the restaurant. It is built in a small stone building and on a quiet street so seemed the type of place you needed to know about to be able to find.
There were only two servers which meant service was quite slow. We even waited about 10 mins to get the menus, but once we had the French bread we were prepared to wait for what we knew would be amazing food. It was also a great opportunity to improve my French by attempting to translate the menu.
The French really know how to make a great Rosè – the Saint Jean du Novi was an excellent choice. It was that beautiful light crimson colour I love in a rosè with a delightful taste of red berries.
The menu was quite simple being split into entrees, mains which are either “la terre” (from the earth i.e. meat), or “la mer” (from the sea), and my fave – desserts.
I opted for the only veggie entree on the menu – les lègumes gorgès de Soleil grillès en salade, feta marinèe which I loosely translated to grilled sundried vegetables with marinated feta. I was pretty close! And damn happy with my choice! The mix of flavours on the plate was just heaven!
After that, I was suitably excited for my main dish of Merlu (white fish very popular in the region), sundried tomatoes and red pesto with pureed courgettes and potatoes (Le dos de Merlu aux Ecailles de tomates confites et pesto rossa, purèe de courgettes a la pomme de terre) which was simply divine!
A sign of an amazing restaurant is when everyone is so pleased with their choice that we all believe we have won. This was case at our table where mains order by the others were a roasted Merou fish fillet with saffron risotto, and a calamari dish with cod and bacon.
The most exciting part of the meal was next – dessert! My chocolate terrine with green tea sorbet (La terrine glacèe au chocolat, sorbet au thè vert) was again an absolute winner! The chocolate terrine was rich and smooth and perfectly complemented by the green tea sorbet.
The other options of waffles with a nutella and mascarpone crème, and some sort of bread pudding with a crème anglaise didn’t even come close (in my mind), but were enjoyed by my companions.
A nice touch to end on was the dark chocolate that was served with the espresso coffees.
So all up this restaurant was definitely a fabulous choice! 3 out of 3 for me with a glorious rosè, and some delicious chocolate to finish!
If you are ever visiting Biarritz, I would strongly recommend you make a booking and enjoy the delicious meals served up in this laid back, yet professional restaurant.
Restaurant details:
12, Rue Louis Barthou
64200 Biarritz, France
+33 5 59 24 24 96
Dishes: Entrees – €7.50, Mains – €13, Desserts – €5.50. 3 courses at €26.