I have fallen head over heels with the Loire Valley. I recently came back from a wine focused tour over in France and spent a lot of time around the area, falling completely in love with the city of Angers – it’s a love affair I never wanted to part with. When it comes to food however, France, particularly around the Loire Valley is very behind compared to the UK, but it’s slowly catching up. That said I’m not sure it actually needs to catch up. It has its own charm, sense of cuisine and completely different way about doing things. It’s true, the pace is slower – but I prefer it like that. There’s no rushing, good conversation, simple food and delicious wines. However there are some exceptions.
That exception is Le 14, right in the centre of Angers. It’s not a bad restaurant by any means, but neither is it great. Also this may look like a rather short review, but they only serve one thing and there is only so much bruschetta I can eat. Tripadvisor reviews actually led me here when I came across one reviewer branding it as “the greatest bruschetta ever“. Firstly I must clarify this isn’t really true Italian bruschetta. It’s a cross between bruschettta, a warm open sandwich and pizza. As for the decor inside this unique concept restaurant I have to say – it looks great. Very eclectic, adorned with figures, ornaments and toys. Service is charming too. Almost every restaurant in the Loire Valley region props a chair up by your table to stand the hand written chalkboard menus on. It’s all very rustic and I love it.
So what bruschetta did we order? Toasted bread topped with chicken, tomato, ham, courgette and chives – plus lots of cheese was first out. If I’m completely honest it was all rather bland, incredibly under seasoned and something I could have made at home myself. I’m really not a fussy eater but this felt incredibly gimmicky. Slightly better was my bacon lardon bruschetta with mushrooms, Roquefort cheese and crème fraîche. This time round it had a bit of smokiness to it, more seasoning and slightly more enjoyable. Though it still wasn’t satisfying enough to keep me interested for long.
I kind of liked the idea of this place when I heard about it, hence the visit – but unfortunately it’s a little more style over substance I felt. If they served proper bruschette the Italian way I could really see this place working – slathered in tomatoes, lashings of olive oil, basil and parmesan shavings. As it is however the place just hasn’t quite done it for me. I’d rather grab an open baguette from the local boulangerie around the corner and save myself the service charge.
5/10
