18/06/2025
FOUR GREAT RESTAURANTS IN AND AROUND SAINT-ÉMILION. There are just so many restaurants in this gem of a village that you really do need some good advice on where to go so as to avoid the tourist traps. One of the first great local eateries I remember being taken to during a wine-buying expedition in about 2009 is https://www.envers-dudecor.com/en/ and they are still there so must be doing something - or quite a lot of things - right in their pursuit of excellent south-western French country cuisine with just enough high-end flair to make it well worth the money, and it was still cracking on my next visit there 10 years later. 100 metres away but a level below the street in a cosy dining room dug into the limestone bedrock is https://www.lardetbouchon.fr/ where the food and wine are definitely top end, the service superb, and the atmosphere all-enveloping. Venturing a few kms out of town the restaurant at the grandiose https://www.grand-barrail.com/en/ is world class in every dimension and highly recommended, as is the 5* accommodation there. And if you can organise transport, a meal on the outdoor terrace at Caffe Cuisine in summer in the riverside village of Branne is highly recommended (no website of their own but you can find some details here https://fr.gaultmillau.com/en/restaurants/cafe-cuisine and on social media) where you can almost hear the passing Dordogne river (though not actually see it until go out for your post-prandial stroll). Please feel free to mention in the comments any other recommendations you might have.
L'Envers du Décor Lard Et Bouchon Grand Barrail - Château Hôtel Restaurant Spa
