Review : Les Trois Mâts, Les Sables d'Olonnes, France

We were hungry and the restaurant was busy, so we took it as a good sign that it was going to be a good evening.  Seeing a set menu for €14 per person sealed the deal - we were going to have dinner at Les Trois Mâts.  On the quay overlooking the river in Les Sables d'Olonne, this restaurant has a large sunny verandah which was crowded at 8pm on a quiet Tuesday evening.  We were shown to the last table on the verandah where we could watch the little ferryboat cross between the two harbour walls.

The set menu for €14 contained a host of what we would consider expensive luxury dishes : prawns, oysters, mussels, steak and fish and I was looking forward to a treat at a really reasonable price.

I ordered an assiette de Crevettes to start - a plate of 10 fat prawns in their shells arrived with a pot of mustardy aioli and a large bowl for the mess I would make. It's astonishing that I could have so many prawns as part of such a cheap set menu and soon there were heads and shells flying.  I had fish again for my main course, a boned fillet of pollock, called Lieu in France, with creamed leeks and rice.  Dessert was an easy choice - Ile Flottante which came as a cloud of delicate poached meringue, caramelised on top with brown sugar to give great texture, floating on a lake of Creme Anglaise.

The Hubs fared just as well with Terrine de Campagne to start, local Vendee ham with mogette beans for his main and a chocolate cake for dessert.

Add in two bottles of beer, a glass of wine and an espresso and the total bill came to €45. No, not each, that's for two of us.  Stunning value for perfectly cooked food.  I think we might return before we leave...

Restaurant Les Trois Mâts, 27 Quai René Guiné, 85100 Sables d'Olonne, FranceTel : +33 2 51 95 09 78