Le Parc Franck Putelet, Carcassone

Mr Foodie always has itchy feet at his birthday ( well all year round, can we keep him home!?) so some cheap flights to Carcassone (Ryanair yay) were found and off we went.

Whilst looking for things to do, I stumbled across this restaurant, two Michelin stars, five mins from our apartment and an excellent lunch price – I got booking.

Their lunch menu is €39 each including a glass of wine, an excellent deal. We thought it would be rude not to go.

The old city of Carcassone. Very pretty old town, but full of tourists. About five – ten minutes walk from the old city is Le Parc.

With an adjacent 4 star hotel, the setting was relaxing.

Sitting outside

The weather was perfect for sitting in the garden.

We started with some house cocktails, a wee surprise for the man.

Smoked hay poached eggs with spinach and corn

Braised oxtail boneless raw vegetables / cooked mushrooms

duo crunchy caramel tart citrus sorbet

coffee, sweets and confectionery

A glass of wine

Strong olive oil and chunky salt combined with crusty bread. Local bread which is styled to be pulled apart by both diners as some kind of “family” tradition.

Madeline with black olive, mackerel and chick pea and radish with mousse and squid ink. All light and delicious. We especially liked the savoury Madeline.

Crisp corn, lightly blanched spinach with a perfect poached egg. Smokey cream sauce. Could have done with some more of the bread to mop up the sauce.

Moist, tender and flavoursome oxtail. Topped with thinly sliced mushrooms which acted as a bind to hold the slices of meat together.

Strong chocolate with tart citrus sorbet. Worked well at the end as a palate cleanser.

Strong coffee in an unusual cup.

All in, €112, I think this ranks as one of the best value meals we have ever had. The wine was pleasant and could easily have progressed to a bottle.

An additional €28 for two house cocktails and €6 for a large bottle of water.

Le Parc Franck Putelat
80 Chemin des Anglais, Carcassonne
+33 4 68 71 80 80