If you’re looking for food inside the old city walls of Bordeaux — note to prospective guests: unless you have serious parking karma, take a taxi. The locals are even more ruthless than Parisians when they get behind the wheel, and you. Will. Not. Find. A. Spot. I did, but then again, I’m good at that. Not much else, though, including restaurants — that’s Karin’s job.
She cottoned on to La Tupina after it was voted the second (?) best bistro in the world by the International Herald Tribune (what do they know? In this case, spot-on.) The decor is already nifty, built around a huge fireplace where they roast god-knows-what, and two cozy dining rooms worth of tables wedged tightly together.
Service is stellar, and the food was amazing. Some of the dishes I recall were a foie gras poélé au raisin, and a gigot de 7 heures (Karin loved the beans, I went for the pepper fries.) My only complaint is that the duck was cooked an infinitesmal smidgeon too long — well compensated by the fact that it was so excellent. All with a bottle of some sort of Irouleguy recommended by the waitress (note: the moment an otherwise already competent staffer doesn’t hesitate an instant when pushing wine, consider listening to her. She may be right.) French restaurant tip: you need to specify tap water when ordering a pitcher. On the other hand, we were allowed to take deep whiffs of the 80 euro/glass cognac precariously perched on shelves overhead — notwithstanding the fact that I’d always be iffy ordering booze more than twice as old as I am.
Best food we had in Bordeaux, two thumbs up, check it out.
La Tupina
6, rue porte de la monnaie
F-33800 Bordeaux
+33 (0) 5 56 91 56 37
http://www.latupina.com/anime.html
