I've been thinking about doing some blog posts about my favorite places around Toulouse for a long time, but I always put it off because I start thinking about how I should take some pictures to illustrate my posts, and since I never get around to photographing my favorite places, I never get around to the blog post.
But it's been long enough.
So starting with some of my favorite places to eat, I thought I would do a little review of Toulouse.
In no particular order:
1. La Sandia,
8 Rue Palaprat, 31000 Toulouse
This is a little Mexican restaurant I first discovered when I went to eat with my colleagues from the Montessori school I was working at in 2011. The food is really delicious, but not much like what I'm used to in California. There are fajitas and tacos on the menu, but the rest of the dishes are from regions in Mexico from which the cuisine hasn't made it across the border. We went there a few weeks ago for my birthday, and the place was packed on Saturday night, so reservations are a must. True, it's more expensive than what you'd pay in San Diego, but for "exotic" cuisine, it's normal (starters around 9€, mains 16€).
2. Flower's Café
6 Place Roger Salengro, 31000 Toulouse
This café/salon de thé is in a small square not far from the Place du Capitole, and is one of two places I know of that serve Spanish style chocolat chaud in Toulouse. The inside is tiny, so on a Saturday afternoon where the weather doesn't permit sitting outside, you might have to wait half an hour or longer to get a table. In addition to their famous pudding style chocolat drink (with choice of flavoring like almond, banana, caramel, etc), they do really great cakes and pies, and have a nice selection of teas. At lunch time they offer salads and quiches, and prices are reasonable.
3. Bapz
13 Rue de la bourse, 31000 Toulouse
The other salon de thé that offers Spanish style thick hot chocolat is Bapz, a cute and cheery British style café run by two twin sisters. Some of our friends maintain that their pies and cakes are better than Flower's Café, but I would say the only objective advantage is that they serve a few more truly British dishes like scones with clotted cream. Bapz is a bit larger than Flower's Café with more eclectic decoration, and has a mix of large and small tables, the larger ones having long benches instead of individual chairs. They do a British breakfast for brunch on Sunday, and waiting 30-45 minutes for a table is to be expected on a weekend afternoon (or arrive just before the rush to get seated immediately).
4. Buger à la Une
17 rue Valade - 31000 Toulouse
My husband has become friends with the owner of this place because he ate there with his Japanese class friends just about every Tuesday night for 4 years. There are now tons of gourmet burger joints in Toulouse, and while many of them are good, Burger à la Une has remained our favorite. B particularly appreciates the fries cooked in duck fat (South West France and all that), but I like that there are several different burger options and all of them are good, though the spicy version could be a bit more spicy. The standard menu is a bit pricey for me, 9€ for a burger, fries, and can of soda or water bottle, but it's way better than McDonalds or Quick so I suppose it's worth it.
5. Le Bruit qui Court
11 Rue Jean Suau, 31000 Toulouse
This is a more traditional French cuisine restaurant, but they've done a nice job of incorporating some modern twists on classic dishes. The three course dinner menus are 29€ or 36€, which I think is an excellent price for value. Wine by the glass is 3-5€ and bottles are 14-39€. If you're looking for a nice place to eat with your in-laws or to celebrate an anniversary without breaking the bank, I recommend this restaurant hands down.
6. Les coudes sur la table
39 Rue des Lois, 31000 Toulouse
This little restaurant is right near the university, and offers soups, salads, pasta, and sandwiches. I don't think I've ever eaten at the restaurant since they offer just about everything off their menu as take-away and I usually go with their sandwich and cookie offer at 5.70€. Like the popular salon de thé, you can have a significant wait at lunch time, so it's best to arrive before 12:15. What I really love about this restaurant is that the dishes change every week and are always delicious and made fresh. Some of my recent sandwiches have been things like beet humus with carrot, avocado and cilantro and lettuce, or fontina cheese, roti and mustard sauce with lettuce and tomatoes. Good deli sandwiches are not at all a French tradition, so I really like the creative and delicious combinations available here (plus they are always on excellent baguette and not the usual crappy bread you get in a lot of lunch places). The cookies are delicious too, although I don't want to know how much butter goes into them because they leave traces of grease on the paper bag.
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