Sacré bleu!
You’ve been dining out in France all wrong.
But don’t worry. MailOnline Travel has caught up with French chef Justine Bordet, from London’s Cord by Le Cordon Bleu, and Didier Agueh, the French brand artistic director and executive host at Park Plaza Hotels, to find out exactly how to eat out in France.
Here they share clues you’re at a tourist trap restaurant, the key steak-ordering mistake – and why receiving butter with your bread in a French restaurant is a bad sign.
The worst faux pas
Ordering from the wrong menu
Didier says a ‘common mistake that tourists make in France’ is ‘confusing the different kinds of menu’. He explains: ‘In France the “menu” usually refers to a set menu where everything on it is included.
‘If they just want to pick one dish, they need the “a la carte” menu, which has a list of dishes that can be ordered as separate items, rather than together as part of a set menu.’
French food experts have shared the key mistakes tourists make when dining out in France. LEFT: Justine Bordet is the senior sous chef at Cord by Le Cordon Bleu. RIGHT: Didier Agueh is the brand artistic director and executive host at Park Plaza Hotels
Although snails are ‘considered more of a novelty’ in France, Didier says they should be ‘cooked in garlic butter, parsley or thyme’ if tourists do want to try them
Eating bread without the proper etiquette
While ‘it’s normal for bread to be brought to the table when you’re eating out, there are some customs to keep in mind when it comes to eating it’, says Didier.
He explains: ‘In France, the bread is intended to be enjoyed with your main course or to mop up the sauce at the end of the meal. For this reason, you’ll rarely be served butter alongside the bread – you will know you’re in an authentic French restaurant if they keep to this custom.’
Justine warns that tourists should never order crackers with cheese as ‘cheese is eaten with bread in France’. However, she adds that cheese is served with ‘half-salted butter’ in some regions of France.
Ordering snails
Didier says: ‘Snails are one of the first things that come to mind when you think of French food, but the truth is that they are considered more of a novelty than something that is eaten often. Lots of French people don’t eat them at all.’
Justine agrees, adding: ‘Tourists think the French spend their time eating snails, frogs’ legs and foie gras, but it’s exceptional and less common than it sounds.’
If you are tempted to order snails, Didier explains: ‘The best way to enjoy them is when they’re cooked in garlic butter, parsley or thyme – if that isn’t an option, go elsewhere!’
Not saying bonjour
Justine says tourists often make the mistake of ‘not saying bonjour when entering a public place’ such as a restaurant.
Didier explains that tourists will need to be clear if they ‘like steak well done’ as it’s usually served rare in France
Expecting a well-done steak
Didier warns: ‘The French like their steak rare, so keep this in mind when letting the waiter know how you like yours cooked. If you like your steak well done, it may be cooked medium rare, so always be clear and make sure the waiter knows you don’t like it even a little bit pink.’
How to spot a tourist trap restaurant
Open all day
Didier says: ‘Set meal times are still followed in France and authentic restaurants are likely to adhere to these. Lunch is served between 12:30pm and 2:30pm and dinner between 7 and 10pm across all sittings. Eating early is not very French and restaurants that open before these times are likely designed to cater to tourists. If they open later for dinner, it’s a good sign that French people dine there.’
Long menu
Justine says: ‘Certain restaurants appear traditional and authentic, but they’re tourist traps. The longer a menu is and the more options it has – you should generally avoid it.’
The dishes you should try
Justine recommends sampling bouillabaisse, a seafood stew, in the south-east region of France
Justine explains: ‘It all depends on the region and the season. France is really vast and varies a lot in terms of gastronomy in one region from another.
‘Most French specialities are shared dishes. The French attach great importance to sitting around a table for a while and sharing a typical, well-cooked dish with friends or family.’
While the chef says it ‘would be impossible to list all the delicious specialities’ in France, she recommends a few regional dishes that tourists should add to their bucket list.
Brittany – galette bretonne (a savoury buckwheat pancake) and kouign-amann (a sweet, round pastry).
Bordeaux – la mouclade (steamed mussels served in a saffron sauce) and cannele (a rum-flavoured pastry with a custard filling).
South-west France – cassoulet (a meaty stew with sausage, pork and beans) and poulet Basquaise (chicken cooked in a pepper sauce).
South-east France/Provence – ratatouille (stewed vegetables), bouillabaisse (seafood stew) and l’aioli (garlic and olive oil sauce).
Auvergne – la truffade (a pancake made of thin potatoes and cheese) and l’aligot saucisse (mashed potatoes, melted cheese and sausage).
Drôme – gratin dauphinois (potatoes baked in cream).
Savoie – la raclette (melted cheese) and la fondu savoyarde (cheese fondue).
North-east France – la choucroute (sauerkraut and sausages) and la tarte flambee (pizza-like dough topped with cheese, bacon or mushrooms).
Justine also recommends trying ‘les cuisses de grenouille’ (frog legs), adding ‘don’t be afraid, the flesh is very similar to poultry’.
Tourists should also sample beef bourguignon, French onion soup and French veal soup, according to Justine.
