Le Diamant

IBIS Hotel 14,
Place de la Basilique
02100 Saint-Quentin

Tel.: 03 23 67 40 40
Fax.: 03 23 67 84 90

ibis.st-quentin@escalotel.com
http://www.escalotel.com/

31st August 2001

Our last night on our French holiday. The weather was turning grey and threatening rain, and we had almost accidentally landed at the Ibis.

The weather deterred us from exploring fully, and the lateness conspired to make us reluctantly take a table at the Ibis restaurant, "Le Diamant". My experiences at this type of restaurant - part of a chain hotel - had previously been pretty bad.

It is amply decorated with cartoons and caricatures, obviously by the same artist - and these immediately made me imagine that they had perhaps been offered as payment for meals!!

A couple of Pastis while we examine the menu.

Marg chooses the Sole "Quadrillée a l'ancienne" - plain grilled sole. I start with the Gratin de Moules au Cidre, and follow with Brochette de Lotte et Jambon, with a beurre blanc sauce.

Blow me down!

The mussels were gorgeous. The Monkfish and Ham was superb. The beurre blanc - something I normally find cloying - was fresh and clean tasting.

Marg polished off the Sole - quite a compliment. She did not want a dessert, but I could not resist the Omellette flambée au parfum des iles - excellent.

A bottle of Bourgogne Aligoté (for me) and a 50cl pitcher of house red (for Marg) brought the bill to 451FF.

Excellent, and Highly Recommended.

Sandro

P.S.

We recently had an update from the manager of the hotel, Bertrand Pelon. He tells us that the Head Chef, Eric Cadou, works exclusively with fresh produce and specialises in regional dishes and his own recipes. The drawings and caricatures are indeed by a local artist, and were commissioned especially for the restaurant.