Saturday, August 30, 2025

La Rochefoucauld-en-Angouleme's AU MOULIN DU CHATEAU is a beef bistro for all (8-28-25)

We decided to forego the hotel's one restaurant a second night and headed over to visit the adorable village of La Rochefoucauld about 20 mins. away and see the glorious chateau and managed to shop as well for the awesome local Charentes shoes/slippers. We spotted Au Moulin du Chateau at the bottom of the chateau and they were so welcoming and the Limoussin beef displayed looked fabulous as well that we could not resist the invite.
The place was quiet when we sat down at 730pm, but completely jammed when we left and many locals had joined the early dining tourists!
Will started with a glass of rose Domaine Le Pive Gris from Sable de Camargue (just outside of Montpelier where the famous rice comes from!) and then we shared a wonderful bottle of Cabernet Franc from the Loire 2023 Domaine Eric Bureau AOC Saint Nicholas de Bourgueil which we shall look for now that we are in the Loire! It was nice and medium bodied with a tad of earthiness but tons of fruit almost screaming Pinot Noir.
Our server said it would be great with our steak/frites, but Will started with a huge Gaufre sale(savory waffle), Creme Fouettee (really light cream cheese all whipped up), saumon fume(smoked salmon), crevettes (small shrimp) and avocat (avocado) while I loved my simple Salade de Chevre Chaud which was a salad with Grilled Pancetta(bacon) and two giant grilled toasts with large circles of fabulous warmed local goat cheese.
The steaks were the famous Entrecote de Boeuf Limoussin, the local cows well-known for their quality beef grilled in an open oven just below us as we sat on the upper floor/mezzanine. The steaks had some fatty parts and gristle, but the meat was generally tasty and the Sauce au Poivre(pepper sauce for 1 euro extra) was divine. The frites could have won an award as they were so crispy and seasoned with salt and pepper perfectly.
We were full and headed back to our hotel only to have a fab glass of Armagnac Blanc before bed.