March lunch at Newtonmore's Letterbox Restaurant

 Letterbox Restaurant, Main Street, Newtonmore 

View from restaurant onto Main Street, Newtonmore

 Netta – my special guest

We profited from the restarting of weekday meals at the Letterbox – an early sign of spring – by enjoying lunch there today, which was made even better with the 20% lunchtime discount during March.

During the winter the Letterbox is just open for dinner at the weekends but now we are in March the restaurant is open for both lunch and dinner. Unlike many restaurants all the food is freshly prepared on the premises, so no question of heating up pre-prepared dishes. 

CRM and I both took a glass of very agreeable 2015 South African Sauvignon Blanc. 

The Letterbox is definitely recommended for either lunch (cash only) or dinner (cards accepted).  

   

 Tagliatelle with mushroom, pesto and cream sauce

 Tagliatelle with salmon and Parma ham

Haggis in filo pastry and vegetables

Desserts: 

 The chef going through the dessert menu with Netta

 Apple and plum pie

 Choux bun with cream, strawberries and chocolate sauce

Cheap, good value lunches

Hotel de la Gare, Montrichard – lunch there 'an institution'

A proper lunch remains an institution for the French, particularly in rural France. None of the grabbed sandwich on the run that is characteristic of London and, often, Paris – no proper sit down meal probably of four courses. I'm not talking here of the three-hour lunch in a Michelin starred restaurant. No, these are places that serve a four-course lunch (Monday-Friday) including wine and coffee for around 12€. The good ones are crowded out with French workers, who spend an hour – hour and a quarter over their meal.

Visiting with Henri this week we stopped at two of these places this week between visits to producers – La Gourmandine, 1 Route Amboise 37400 Lussault-sur-Loire (tel: 02.47.23.23.99) and Hotel de la Gare, 20 Avenue de la Gare, 41400 Montrichard (tel: 02.54.32.04.36).

The formula is often the same with a first course buffet – crudités, paté, rillettes etc. Then the main course – a choice of two or three plats du jours – cheese, dessert and coffee. In both places there were unlabeled bottles of red on the table. The buffet at the Gare had a remarkable choice including soused herrings, shrimps and prawns. The main course was slightly better at La Gourmandine while the service at the Hotel du Gare was the more friendly.

The hours are very precise: noon to 1.30 – perhaps 2pm but that's pushing it. All in all remarkable value, especially as sterling now looks a little less sickly against the euro.

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Following a request some time ago, I'm now linking places with their location on Google maps – just click on the name.