MAP: Michelin lists 56 places in France where you eat well for €40

French cuisine is renowned the world over, but eating out has become increasingly expensive with the cost of living crisis and inflation pushing up prices.

But Michelin-standard food is available for a bargain price – if you know where to look.

The Michelin Guide has awarded 56 restaurants the Bib Gourmand, an accolade for restaurants where customers can enjoy a full meal [excluding drinks] for around €40.

The guide praised the restaurants on the list for their use of the best local ingredients. Many, it said, were run by chefs with experience in Michelin-star kitchens who had returned to their local regions to show off its very best produce.

See if one of the restaurants is near you

What is the Bib Gourmand?

The Michelin Guide, perhaps most famous for its categories of one, two and three-star restaurants, also releases an annual guide to the best affordable eats.

It features the ‘best value’ restaurants, where diners can get a three-course meal for a decent price – in France’s case, for around €40.

Dynamic Brittany

It is the north-west region of Brittany that really whets the guide’s appetite, with 10 new restaurants on the list, the most of any French region.

The region’s offerings were “particularly dynamic”, the guide said. Options range from the Japanese restaurant Imayoko in Rennes, where “French dishes are skilfully revisited with a Japanese touch”, according to the guide, to the “market fresh cuisine” at La Chebaudière in the port town of Auray.

Dishes highlighted

The guide praises how many restaurants are putting a new spin on French classics, giving special mention to the pâté en croûte “devoured by the inspectors” at Siprès in Lyon, run by chefs Alexis Hostiguian and Alexis Trimbour, and the “tantalising” seafood menu offered at La Plage, in Audresselles, run by chef Solène Elliott.

Family affair

Many of the restaurants that make the list are new ventures run by couples or families. The guide highlights the restaurant Le Voyage d'Ernestine in the village of Alvignac in the Lot, run by chef Célia Picoulet, with her husband and brother.

Still pricey?

While the prices are certainly lower than that of the typical Michelin-star tasting menu, some have pointed out that €40 per head for a meal, excluding drinks, is still expensive for many households.

Commenting on Franceinfo, one reader said “I hope this is a joke, who can afford to spend €40 on a meal?”.

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