Three Days in Honfleur

Two wonderful restaurants recommended by the Michelin Guide in the charming town of Honfleur: Le Breard and Sa Qua Na

After reading an article in the New York Times travel section about Honfleur, and receiving a promotion for a cheap train fare, I could not help but make the necessary arrangements to go for a few days in November. I chose to stay in the wonderful La Maison de Lucie that the article mentioned. I always double check with the Guide Michelin, however, because where France is concerned, this is absolutely the best guidebook to use.

La Maison de Lucie is a small inn with stunning rooms and suites. Breakfast is served in one of a half-dozen sitting rooms, each one more charming than the last. At that season, a warm fire was burning in the fireplace day and night. The staff is friendly and helpful and they have a gorgeous and atmospheric hot tub/spa room that is a lovely place to pass a relaxing hour.

When I arrived at the Deauville train station, I waited at the bus station for the next bus to Honfleur. There, I had the most unbelievable experience: I ran into my friend from Tokyo, Kyoko!! I had last seen her in April when I was in her country. She had decided to come to France for a week, but it would make more sense for me to run into her in Paris or any place in Japan and not in a tiny town in Normandy. We took advantage of the small world experience and once we both arrived in Honfleur, met in a café for one of the strong apple drinks: either Pommeau or Calvados.

I have spoken about the Bib Gourmands in an earlier post (noteworthy restaurants where one can get excellent meals at reasonable prices), and chose one for my first meal: Le Bréard. There I had a wonderful meal for 48 euros without wine. Starting with the interesting huîtres pochées; bouillon de pomme glacée, algues et cèpes (poached oysters in a warm apple bouillon with cèpes and seaweed). I moved on to the excellent noix de St-Jacques nacrées, bouillon de châtaignes, potimarron aux cinq épices et citron vert (golden scallops in a chestnut broth with 5-spiced pumpkin and lime). This dish was generously garnished with chestnut pieces and was, in a word, spectacular.

For dessert, I could not resist the passion fruit soufflé served with a coconut biscuit and fresh fruit salad. At the bottom of the soufflé was another layer of soft biscuit that had been soaked in passion fruit liqueur making the dish quite bold and flavorful.

Not only was the food great, but the price was right. The chef, Fabrice Sébire, is one to watch.

For my second evening in Honfleur, I chose the new two-star restaurant, Sa Qua Na. This stands for santé, qualité, nature (health, quality, nature) but is also a play on the word sakana which means "fish" in Japanese. The youthful staff and the way the meal was presented reminded me of another favorite two-star restaurant in Paris: Le Bigarrade.

I chose the more copious menu and was served a parade of inventive and delicious dishes. Some of the standouts were the Pascade Aveyronnaise which is a sweet/savory pancake filled with chives and napped with truffle oil. It is from the Aveyron, the chef's native region. To continue with some of the high points: un daurade juste cuite, boulette de canard poêlé, romaine, semoule, jus moussé à l'huile d'olive. In other words, a lightly cooked piece of a firm white fish with a small ball of duck meat served with semolina, romaine, and an emulsion of olive oil. There was a wonderful poached salmon with sesame, fennel, clams and an oyster cream; a curly julienne of raw beef, celeri-rave, seaweed served as a pasta dish with a spicy seafood sauce; agneau de pré salé rôti, pâte de coing, jeunes poireaux; jus de persil (roast lamb with quince, young leeks, parsley jus). This winning dish consists of lamb that has been raised in the salt marshes of Brittany so that its meat is naturally salted because of the salty grasses the lambs graze on.

After an excellent assortment of cheeses, desserts continued in the same vein. I especially liked the succulent pear cake with beaten cream and caramel dribbled with walnut oil.

As the menu is long and complex, a nice touch is that they hand you a small printed copy so that you can follow along as you are served and as you taste.

On my last day, I explored Honfleur and also took the bus back to Deauville and Trouville--two beach towns that are separated by a bridge. Deauville is chic and fancy and Trouville is a blue collar town which I find more interesting. I wandered by the port and through the fish market and wished I could buy the shellfish I was admiring. To quench my desire, I sat down at the famous brasserie Les Vapeurs and ordered a sea food plate with langoustines, jumbo shrimp, periwinkles, whelks and clams: wonderful. A specialty is steamed mussels that they serve with whatever you like, but most people choose frites. It is a great place to watch the day go by while you are enjoying your meal.