Review : le bouche à oreille, Les Sables d'Olonne, France

We rarely go out for lunch on holiday, preferring to laze around the apartment and pool during the day, unless it's dull or we're planning a little excursion.  The morning was damp and drizzly so I made an executive decision to head out for lunch as I was planning to make dinner that night.  Naturally, the moment we parked the car, the sun came out and we realised that we were not slathered from head to toe in SFP 50, so we needed to find somewhere shaded for lunch, stat!. After doing our usual promenade involving checking every restaurant menu along the harbour and saying "naah", we returned to a restaurant with an enormous shaded sun terrace and a perfect view of the boats puttering their way past us.

le bouche à oreille (which loosely translates as word of mouth) is located on the quai in Les Chaumes, overlooking Les Sables d'Olonne and connected to Les Sables by a little ferry boat which takes you across the water in less than a minute for the princely sum of €1.  I'll admit to being shallow and being attracted by the gorgeous signage and pretty colours on the menu first.  Luckily, the menu lived up to the design and we had a wonderful lunch.

We ordered from the set €14.30 two course lunch menu.  I had Salmon in a Beurre Blanc sauce which was served with sauteed potatoes and green salad.  The Hubs had the Assiette Normande : turkey cooked in a creamy mushroom sauce with more sauteed potatoes and salad.  And bread, don't forget the French love of carbs (very handy for mopping up that delicious sauce though).

The dessert menu offered a little more choice and we were soon prevaricating over what to have.  Being able to read The Hubs' mind comes in handy at times like this and I knew it would be the chocolate mousse or creme brulee.  I wanted icecream to cool me down so I opted for a scoop each of coconut and speculoos icecream.  Truth be told, they were both delicious so we shared our desserts in a most equitable fashion.

Our bill came to €37.60 which included two set lunches, coffee, two Coke Zeros and a litre of water.  Great value for a long and leisurely lunch.


Le Bouche à oreille, 11 quai George V, 85100 Les Sables d'Olonne, France
Tel : +33 251 959030