Fishy tales @La Chope, Tours

We now seem to be establishing a tradition of going to La Chope in Tours in early October to tackle and enjoy their famous plateau fruits de mer 'Royal' for two people. In order not to break this fine tradition we went for lunch on Wednesday 4th October. As we were five we went for two plateaus plus and extra crab. 

Royal: 1 tourteau, 10 langoustines, crevettes grises, 14 crevettes roses, 6 huîtres, Fines de claires n° 4, 6 huîtres spéciales Gillardeau n° 5, 6 huîtres
Normandes n° 3, bigorneaux, bulots.

For our apéro we chose Rémi Cosson's delicious 2016 Noble Joué – a blend of three Pinots: Gris, Meunier and Noir. Then the plateau started to arrive:    

 

The first tier of the plateau arrives 

 Now the second.....

(above and below)

To accompany the plateau: 2013 VV Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie, 

Gadais Père et Fils  

Wickedly rich chocolate mousse to finish you off....

If you like seafood La Chope is definitely recommended.

Great seafood treat at La Chope, Tours

Lovely table by the window looking 
out onto the Avenue de Grammont

La Chope

On Wednesday having had a quick look at how the 2016 harvest is progressing in Vouvray we headed into Tours for a slightly belated celebration of CRM's birthday. We had celebrated at home on Monday but there should also be a visit to a favourite restaurant. For 2016 it was La Chope. 

We didn't really need the menus as we had already decided when we booked that we were going to share Le Plâteau Fruits de Mer Royal (pour 2 personnes): I tourteau, 10 langoustines, crevettes grises, 14 crevettes roses, 6 huîtres Fines de claires No 4, 6 huîtres spéciales Gillardeau No 5, 6 huîtres Normandes No 3, bigorneaux, bulots. 

Heaven! 

A fine armoury for the task ahead 

(above and below)

The lower deck: oysters, crevettes, bulots, bigorneaux

Upper deck: langoustines, tourteau, crevettes grises  

2013 Riesling Trimbach – this steely 

Riesling was an ideal foil for our plateau.

La Chope does have a good list of Loire whites 

but we were tempted on this occasion to try something else

We shared a generous portion 

of the renowned chocolate (Valrhona) mousse

2010 Vieilles Vignes, Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur lie, Domaine Gadais

Another attractive sample from Christophe Gadais this time the 2010 Vieilles Vignes, Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine with attractive floral and almond aromas, bright citric acidity but also with good weight. Would be a fine partner with grilled fish or a plâteau de fruits de mer. We had the 2007 version of the same wine with a magnificent plâteau at La Chope in Tours back in 2009.     

You're for La Chope!

Really excellent lunch at La Chope, one of Tours' institutions, today. Three of us tucked into a sumptuous and marvelously fresh plâteau royale fruits de mer accompanied by an excellent bottle of lemony 2007 Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Vieilles Vignes (17€) from Gadais Père et Fils in Saint-Fiacre – perfect with the seafood and with enough weight to match even the crab. Of particular note are the plump and succulent oysters from Gillardeau, the 'grand cru' of these bivalves. La Chope is the only restaurant in Tours to have them.

Interior with street reflections

2007 Vieilles Vignes Muscadet de-Sèvre-et-Maine, Gadais Père et Fils

A plateau for three

La Chope was founded over 100 years ago (in 1902) and is famous for its fish as well as its interior full of mirrors. It is also now renowned for its wicked chocolate mousse. We opted for three portions and were stunned by their copious size. Two between three would have done easily.

There is a good list of Loire wines including Jacky Blot, Baudry-Dutour, Frères Foucault, Didier Dagueneau, Charles Joguet, Philippe Alliet, Pierre and Bertrand Dutheil, Couly-Dutheil, Jean-François Merieau.

La Chope is run by Samy and Zara Gicqueau, who used to run the Michelin starred Sandgate Hotel in Hythe from 1995 to around 2002. All in all La Chope is highly recommended!



La Chope
25 bis Avenue de Grammont,
37000 Tours
Tel: 02.47.20.15.15