Le Suisse - Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Very unwelcoming, staff seemed to be unsettled and unhappy we felt very uncomfortable we drank our drink quickly and left. With all the other fabulously friendly and fun bars and cafes to chose from in Saint Jean de Luz I would not be in a rush to return unfortunately, but maybe we just got them on an off day.

It was a bit late in the evening, when we arrived from a day trip to Pau, so we just felt for a glass of wine and a small bite, before returning to our hotel. The 'P 'tit Suisse ' on the Place Louis XIV just looked right for us. It is called 'Bar à Vin et Tapas ' and is next to the brasserie 'Le Suisse '. It was too cold to sit outside and nobody was there anyway, so we went to the rather small interior, which felt more like a bar. We asked for a glass of red wine, which was an Irouleguy from the only wine growing area in the French Pays Basque, and for a glass of white wine, that happened to come from the 'Côtes de Gascogne '. Both were good. As a bite we selected not being too hungry at first two 'Piperades ', a typical Basque dish, consisting of green peppers, tomatoes sautéed, onions, topped by 'piment d 'Espelette '. It was just a small tapas like amount, but excellent. We also tried some 'Jambon de Bayonne ', which came warm in a small iron pan and plenty of bread on the side. Since it got almost 9pm, when the kitchen closes, we couldn 't order anything else, although after the first tapas my wife and me were quite in the mood to try more of their special dishes from the Basque country, not easily seen in regular restaurants, like: Xamango, a kind of Basque shepherd 's pie, Taloa, a 'galette de mais ' or a 'Txistorra ' sausage from Navarra, a type of chorizo.

This review is actually for Brasserie Le Suisse which is next door to Le P 'tit Suisse. They are obviously related businesses but the brasserie serves more complete meals. It was rainy day in early April and there were not many people about. We decided to go into this brasserie as their menu, which was displayed outside the restaurant, indicated that they served oysters. We ordered a platter of 12 oysters from 3 different regions in France. They had clearly been shucked to order and were fresh and delicious. Our waiter, who spoke English, recommended we share a baked sea bass (called bar on the menu), which we did. it was ample for 2 and was served with a Basque topping, potatoes and ratatouille. It was simply sensational. We were going to skip dessert but the waiter recommended that we share a Gateau Russe, which is a famous local dessert. It was like a nutty, nougatty slice and was quite light and again, totally delicious.This meal will stay in our memories for a very long time.

Classic Brasserie well located on the main square, like others.

Great reception for snack on the terrace with a very good white.