Where to eat in Bordeaux – Miles
It’s a picture-postcard city with an almost obscene number of restaurants, bistros, cafes … well, you get the idea. So it’s not entirely easy working out where to eat in Bordeaux.
On the previous evening, we’d taken a recommendation from our hotel. After that, we swore we’d never take a recommendation from a hotel ever again. It was seriously disappointing.
So, there was only one way to go and Miles proved surprising – for all the right reasons.
Miles was on the radar of some foodie friends from Australia, who happen to have a holiday cottage about two hours’ drive from Bordeaux. Happily we sat down at a table at the front of this small restaurant for the first sitting of the evening at 7.30pm.
There are less than a dozen tables at Miles, with additional seating snaking around the open kitchen where chefs worked in disciplined silence.
Ordering a bottle of rose from Provence, we identified the dietary requirements at the table and waited for the standard five course tasting menu to begin.
So, there’s no menu – you put yourself in the chefs’ hands and take a leap of faith. And it paid off.
First up was an amuse bouche of octopus salad with dried lemon mayonnaise, mint and potatoes. Fresh, delicious.
Octopus salad
Next we had a fried bao (bun) with sheep cheese.
Fried buns with sheep cheese
The cheese was ossau iraty – from the border region with Spain – and the coating on the buns was slightly spicy. A brilliant start.
We moved to our first starter, a ricotta and chard gnocchi.
Ricotta and chard gnocchi
This was served with carrot, hay purée and a crouton spiced with za’atar, plus a beer and carrot juice. It was an interesting combination of flavours – the gnocchi were a little heavy but still enjoyable.
The second starter was beef with soy sauce.
Beef marinated in soy sauce
Greedy Girl’s dish was missing fresh oysters which everyone else at the table said went brilliantly with the dish. The other elements included hazelnuts, water cress sauce, a brown butter infused with dried bonito and fresh broad (fava) beans.
It was time for the fish course. This was monkfish with a spicy sabayon, asparagus, cucumber and a roasted lemon sauce and lemon.
Monkfish with asparagus
Beautifully presented, the fish was perfectly cooked and the lemon sauce was a wonderful accompaniment. Delish.
Our final savoury course was duck (pictured at the top of this post). It was served with zucchini sauce, a Thai green curry, coconut and pine nuts. The meat juice also featured Vietnamese pepper. A sensational dish.
Finally, we had dessert.
Goat cheese ice-cream
Greedy Girl is not usually fond of ice cream and this didn’t change her mind. It was goat cheese ice cream with rhubarb jam, halva, a buttermilk and rose foam, and a hibiscus and thyme granita. Everyone else at the table, however, lapped it up.
And we were done – our friendly waitress (who spoke great English) gently reminded us our lease on the table was close to expiring and we headed out into the fresh night to find a convivial bar – very easy to do in Bordeaux.
Our hotel had never heard of Miles, but it’s inventive and tasty food at a great price. It’s the work of four talented young chefs who have all trained in fine dining around the world and it’s an exceptional addition to the Bordeaux food scene.
Miles
33 Rue du Cancera, Bordeaux
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