Bites: Toujours Francais

Caroline Stacey
Friday 13 July 2001 00:00 BST
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Le Bouchon, 17 King Street, Glasgow (0141-552 7411). Mon-Thur 12-2pm, 5.30-9.30pm, Fri, Sat 12-2.30pm, 5-10pm.

Le Bouchon, 17 King Street, Glasgow (0141-552 7411). Mon-Thur 12-2pm, 5.30-9.30pm, Fri, Sat 12-2.30pm, 5-10pm. Parisian chef Jacques is putting on a dinner tonight for £22. Normally three courses from his typically French menu – snails with garlic butter, duck liver pâté; rack of lamb, fillet steak with pepper sauce or seabass – come to £15-£20. Finish with profiteroles, crème brûlée or chocolate pudding coulant. The List describes Le Bouchon – one of its pick of Glasgow's small French legion – as being like the restaurant of a 1940s French railway station.

Le Cassoulet, 5 Romilly Crescent, Cardiff (029-2022 1905). Tue-Sat 12-2pm, 7-10pm. The restaurant is fully booked for tonight's five-course dinner, as it is on most Saturday nights. Le Cassoulet, dedicated to the speciality of Toulouse and decorated with pictures of the city's rugby stars, draws the crowds with a menu that might start with confit of duck terrine or cherry tomato and goat's cheese tartlet. Alternatives to cassoulet (£15) might be Welsh lamb with a honey and clove glaze or guinea fowl with morels. Lavender crème brûlée is a favourite pudding (£5), but the cheeseboard (£6.50) competes. Staff, wines and terrific cheeses are all from France, too.

La Cuisine d'Odile, Institut Français, 13 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh (0131-225 5685). Closed until 6 August, then Mon-Sat 12-2pm, closed Mon from September. Probably the best French cooking in Edinburgh, although you won't be able to sample it until Odile returns from holiday. The restaurant is plain and bright with a view of the Water of Leith. A starter might be bacon, potato and lettuce salad, then several tarts: asparagus and gruyère or artichoke, goat's cheese and basil; chicken breast. Expect game – pheasant, pigeon and rabbit in autumn. Bring your own booze and pay only £7.35 for three courses, £6.65 for two.

La Petite Auberge, 107 High Street, Great Missenden, Bucks (01494 865370). Mon-Sat 7-10.30pm. A homely, husband and wife-owned restaurant decorated with posters, open only for dinner, serving traditional French food cooked by Monsieur Martel, served by Madame. Start with fish soup, scallops or foie gras, try turbot with caper and anchovy sauce, seabass with olive oil and tomato or fillet of lamb with tarragon sauce; finish with lemon tart, chocolate mousse or nougatine or cheese. Pay around £25 a head without wine.

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