Marché des Capucins, Bordeaux

So, this is the second of my three posts about places to eat in and around Bordeaux. In the first post I was effusive in my praise for a wonderful Brasserie that served steak to die for. My second post takes me to a second typically-Bordelaise eatery that I sought out following some sage advice from Mike (of Please Bring Me My Wine fame). Mike had suggested that if I wanted a quick and tasty lunch I should do what the locals do – head down to Marché des Capucins in the south of the city.

This is a typically bustling market where the locals clearly come to buy their fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and apparently underpants (judging by some of the stalls…!) We found ourselves at a local café (Chez Jean-Mi) that was set up within the market, which served a remarkable selection of fresh-as-you-like seafood along with some excellent charcuterie. I decided to go for a mixed selection which featured six rock oysters, along with a mixed meat platter and some local cheeses.

It was all delicious and tremendous value. The meat selection was good, with a mix of varieties of cold cuts featuring mortadella, parma ham, chorizo slices, some blood sausage slices, amongst other lovely morsels. The cheese platter that we got to accompany it was nicer in a way as the cheeses were all local to the Bordeaux area (or at least they were all French).

The stars of the show, however, were the oysters. Unfortunately my wife still doesn’t really get on with oysters and as such I was left to take care of these little beauties myself. They were delicious. Salty, clean and fresh they were all of a decent size and slipped down very nicely. They were served with a slice of lemon which I gently drizzled over them, this was simplicity itself.

To go with the salty oysters I decided to go with a slightly off-the-wall wine choice. I went for a 2009 Chateau Vari Monbazillac which was had warm, tropical fruit flavous of pineapple and passion fruit. It wasn’t overly complex, but I found the combination of salty oyster and sweet wine was actually very pleasing. I’m not sure it’s a classic match, but I liked it!

As you’ll be able to tell, I very much enjoyed the food and wine here. My only gripe is that although this is an indoor market it seems that people are allowed to smoke here, which I find very disconcerting when I’m trying to eat. Notwithstanding this, if you do find yourself in Bordeaux I would heartily recommend checking out Café Jean-Mi in Marché des Capucins for a nice lunch. The old adage when travelling is that you should always eat where the locals eat – this café certainly fits the bill!