L'Odalisque — Restaurant in Limoux

Friends took us to L'Odalisque, telling us that it's the best restaurant in Limoux. As the yellow plaques outside the door of the restaurant indicate, it consistently wins awards. It's a reservations-only restaurant; you can't simply walk in and ask for a table.

The table d'hôte meal four of us chose was amazing and reasonably priced for such an outstanding meal. For entrées, the choices were filet de merlu (a filet of hake) with vegetables (asparagus, peas, carrots, broccoli, potatoes) in a sauce that the menu described as "crustacean" sauce — made from the reduction of shells of seafood like shrimp and crab; or chicken pieces cooked in a sauce that Karin, who chose it, called Moroccan, with coriander and cumin and ground peanuts. For salads, there was burrata with freshly made pesto and salad greens, a tapas platter, or a seafood salad. Among ourselves, we chose all three. With these items came a glass of wine. Some of us chose a local rosé and others a local white wine.

The dessert menu was pretty large. I chose a pavé with vanilla flavoring and a scoop of chocolate ice cream on the side, and my dining companions had a lemon pudding-tart (I forget the exact description). The latter was spectacular.

All this followed by cups of coffee that were part of the fixed-menu price….

The meal we had, at a surprisingly reasonable price, lived up to the expectations we had after our hosts told us what a good restaurant L'Odalisque is and after we saw its...

Update 2025: The wine pairing menu is tempting. Unfortunately, the main course—veal fillet—was almost impossible to chew, laced with tendons. That shouldn't happen.

Actually, you could have guessed that you also need a reservation for lunch. So we came back a day later and got a nice table for two.

The many awards at the entrance promise a lot of enjoyment. And the menu keeps the promise. Either a la carte or one of the numerous menus. the latter is optionally available with wine accompaniment.

Speaking of wines. The prices are very fair for the high level and they are all available by glass.

We ordered the L Odalisque menu with wines and were very full with the three courses. The flavors help too. Highly...

Our favorite place for an in-town treat.

We finally indulged ourselves in the top-end homard (lobster) menu at L’Odalisque and it was quite the blowout. Three courses of homard: lobster roll on brioche, lobster montgolfière (hot air balloon crust over a bowl of lobster bisque and lobster chunks) and the main event of a whole lobster with squid-ink pasta. We were stuffed but somehow made room for their yummy desserts. We’re also learning this summer about the wines from Faugères, yum.

Reservations are a must. Lots of locals dine here.

Two items of note. (1) The exposed stone walls make for a very loud room. (2) The portions are generous, so...