Best Restaurants In La Bastide Saint Louis, Carcassonne, France

Le Clos Occitan is a gourmet restaurant that reinterprets the dishes of the Occitan tradition in a modern style, using only the highest quality ingredients in their contemporary preparations. The delicate, fresh flavors of the dishes are complemented by tasteful and inventive presentations, like their elegant tiramisu served in a wine glass. Le Clos Occitan is the perfect restaurant to visit when you want to spoil yourself in a rarified atmosphere, with local dishes remixed with Mediterranean flair. Lovebirds should seek out their garden seating for a romantic dinner close to the citadel.

La Roulotte is a small, sweet restaurant with vintage kitsch and nostalgic imagery popping up in every corner. You can look forward to delicious traditional servings of duck and fois gras here, but vegetarians will also find special solace in this menu. La Roulette is engaged in a long love affair with vegetables, prepared in many forms and flavors, so much so that even when a dish here supposedly centers around meat, the veggie components shine through and assert themselves as the true stars of the entreé. It’s no surprise that they have a full vegetarian menu here, and a deeply delicious one at that.

Le Blé Noir (translation: ‘buckwheat’) is a creperie owned by a local Carcassonne family. One of the owners prepares the food, while her husband waits the tables and welcomes you into the restaurant, making you feel like a guest in their own family home. The heroes of this menu are the crepes and galettes (the French typical savory crepes). Whether you’re in the mood for a sweet, caramelized apple crepe with whipped cream, or a hearty lunchtime galette of tomato compote, potatoes, bacon and blue cheese cream, you can expect huge portions and fast, friendly service here. Those looking for something lighter will also be pleased by the selection of fresh salads here. Just remember to book a table if you want to guarantee yourself a blissful bite of these galettes.

Les Mets Tissés is one of the local restaurants best loved by La Bastide’s locals, thanks to its artsy ambience and rich cuisine. The food here combines local ingredients with modern style. Here you’ll dine in among fine paintings and sculptures in a gallery-styled space, combining the best of Carcassonne’s culinary and cultural offerings. Their menu is kept short but always offers delicious contrasting options for each course. Take the most recent starters: a fresh, light salad of prawns, mussels and smoked salmon, or a rich and smokey fois gras with onion marmalade. Portions are abundant, and mains tend toward creamy, plentiful fillets and ragouts. The homemade desserts are their specialty, so be sure to sample one before you go.

As the curious name of this restaurant suggests, the specialties of l’Als’assiette (a pun which combines the French words for ‘Alsace’ and ‘dish’) are the typical flavors of the Alsace region. Here you will have the chance to taste the most exemplary cassoulet, flammekueches, choucroute and tarte flambé, prepared according to the tradition with fresh, local produce. The food and tradition are the real protagonists of this small restaurant, where the staff is friendly and the service is swift.

Attended mostly by locals and renowned for its warm atmosphere, Chez Fred is a simple but welcoming spot serving real French regional cooking. It offers traditional local recipes in a real French atmosphere, closer to an old-school traiteur than a proper sit-down restaurant. That said, their menu is fully equipped with all the classics, and includes a wine list and dessert section which are both well worth a second glance. You won’t ever feel rushed to wrap up the bill for the next group to take your table here: this is a place with a slow, relaxed pulse, so take your time to enjoy your food and catch up properly with your loved ones.