Simone — Restaurant in Rouen

We made the mistake, travelling to Rouen of not making a reservation at our restaurant of choice, the very highly regarded Tandem … “desolé, mais complet” but asked them for a recommendation… they suggested Simone, and we walked 60m around the corner and asked for a table. Greeted graciously, we were fortunate, very fortunate we realised, to secure a table for three. In three weeks in France, Paris, Reims, Strasbourg, Chantilly, Fontainbleu, Chartres … this was the best meal we had. Just outstanding.

Simone is a good, classy but unpretentious restaurant with a very fine chef and front of house - and from the other customers and the accents recognised locally as a very fine place to dine. The chef rotates the menu of three courses weekly (it’s stated on the menu stand) and has two items per course, entrée, plat, desert plus an assiette de fromage. The limited number of items per course allows him to lavish attention on each, making them sophisticated and perfect (I’ve learned to be wary of long menus.) Our entrée were a sophisticated salad with perfectly cooked fresh crevettes (prawns) and a carpaccio of beets. The mains were a precisely cooked fresh cod and a blanquette de veau cooked in cider. The deserts were equally wonderful. We ordered wine, but also a magnificent bottle of Norman cider.

I cannot praise this restaurant highly enough. I’d also note that in New York, London, Tokyo, Washington DC their prices for all three courses wouldn’t cover ⅔ of a single course. This restaurant is an absolute jewel. Rouen should be...

Perfect. Very small menu and everything is delicious. I had the shrimp salad, the shrimps are hyper fresh, the salad also and the dressing is light and delicious. Cod is the best cod I’ve ever had, super fresh, the crustacean sauce is delicious, with lots of fresh crunchy veggies. Delicious wine. Very good value considering the quality and quantity. Excellent service, 1 young man mans the entire front of house, and he does so with ease and grace. ...

Awesome. Fabulous. A superb meal in a cozy setting. Only 4 stars for the atmosphere because it is well lit and cozy (tight). But wonderful. It is still a good date night location.

And reasonably priced. Under 50E for two plates and an appetizer. Bottles of wine were moderately priced.

Over a month of traveling in France, this was the BEST fish my wife had and the BEST veal I have...