Top 10 student budget friendly restaurants in Toulouse – part one

In the second term of my Erasmus in Toulouse when I felt more settled into French life I ate out around once a week. I mainly chose restaurants through recommendations from foodie friends, though I sometimes found TripAdvisor reviews helpful.

By no means have I tried all the restaurants in Toulouse, I didn’t have nearly enough time and probably would have bankrupted myself! Add to that the fact that new restaurants are popping up all the time throughout the city and it becomes apparent that this is by no means a definitive list – rather a ranking of the best Toulousain restaurants I’ve been lucky enough to visit, judged on value for money (rapport qualité prix), atmosphere and a very English idea of Frenchie-ness (l'équivalent anglais de ‘so British’ en France ;) ) Unless otherwise stated, scores are based on a weekday visit for lunch.

Oh, and in true French style I shall be marking out of 20 :P

Let the first bitesize chunk of the countdown begin!

10. CROUS

Restaurant universitaire, Toulouse UT1 Capitole (photo credit www.crous-toulouse.fr/fiche-detaillee?id=4) 

Value for money: 20/20

Atmosphere: 6/20

French factor: 14/20

CROUS is the university-wide catering service in France. On my campus they offered a variety of food outlets: two cafés, a push-bike selling Sushi outside the BU (Bibliothèque universitaire; university library) and the restaurant universitaire, a large canteen.

Admittedly the quality could be better – think halls food gone French with the atmosphere to match for any of you who have experienced catered student accommodation in the UK! However, it is difficult to grumble when a three course meal (plus small baguette) costs just over 3 €. I went there on average once a week in first and second term.

Like many French food outlets, a major downside to the CROUS is its lack of vegetarian choices. In France it is such a struggle for vegetarians to find restaurants which serve proper meat-free meals rather than the meat course minus the meat. I have experienced this problem first-hand – one of the best friends I met in Toulouse is vegetarian and she found eating out a very difficult experience. Hopefully restaurateurs will soon realise vegetarians like restaurants, too!

9. Foxy

Main course, Foxy

Value for money: 11/20

Atmosphere: 15/20

French factor: 16/20

After walking past this little bistrot for months and a recommendation from a foodie friend I finally managed to visit during my final weeks in Toulouse. (I had tried to go before but when my group arrived it was fully booked. Really, you must always make a reservation before eating out in Toulouse!)

The place was lively; every table was occupied. My meal was an intriguing combination of pasta and a slightly sweet, oriental sauce made with mango and sprinkled with sesame seeds. This was complimented by rich chunks of slow-cooked beef. My friend enjoyed one of Foxy’s many burger choices. Overall it was a good experience.

8. Solaneko

Main course, Solaneko

Value for money: 15/20

Atmosphere: 16/20

French factor: 12/20

Located on the fringes of centre-ville in the St-Cyprien quartier of Toulouse, a friend told me this restaurant was a hidden gem. After a starter of miso soup served with rice, I chose the chicken Katsu with a selection of vegetables in a variety of aromatic coverings for my plat principal. There was also a fish choice which looked rather appetising.

Though I’m not sure the Japanese-French fusion food was entirely to my taste (I prefer traditional dishes) I am certain this place could quickly become a ‘go-to’ restaurant for the right person.

7. The Dispensary

Fish and Chips at The Dispensary - complete with birthday card in the background!

Value for money: 16/20

Atmosphere: 17/20

French factor: 4/20

I went for an evening meal with friends at The Dispensary to celebrate my birthday. Like Solaneko it is located in St-Cyprien so slightly outside the town centre but the place was still very lively. It was the most authentic British/Irish style pub I went to in Toulouse – the waitress who took our orders was from Sheffield! The menu consisted of generously sized burgers which according to my friends were delicious. I chose the ultimate 'so British' dish, Fish and Chips. Although the mushy peas were rather runny and the mustard sauce was a bit strange, the batter was very authentic, the fish was nicely cooked and the chips weren’t bad either. The dish even came with a small side salad, something you wouldn’t usually get in the UK. There was a good selection of sauces and relishes including HP sauce, which is quite unusual in France.

There were quite a few vegetarian choices, something my veggie friend really appreciated!

I had great fun introducing my Erasmus friends to British food, my only regret is that we never went back to try the Full English Breakfast (which is also available in a vegetarian version).  

6. Rajasthan Villa

Photo credit www.lerajasthanvilla.com

Value for money: 18/20

Atmosphere: 17/20

French factor: N/A – it’s an Indian restaurant!

My parents and I visited Rajasthan Villa for an evening meal after reading very good reviews on TripAdvisor.

The restaurant was beautifully decorated but very quiet, especially considering the quality of the food and very reasonable prices (16 € for a three-course meal plus an aperitif, poppadoms and coffee – virtually unheard of for an evening meal in Toulouse!)

Highlights included an aromatic whole trout for my main course and lassi, a traditional yoghurt-based Indian drink. The staff were welcoming and very friendly, too.

If you want to eat Indian in Toulouse, this is the place to go!

Next time I’ll be continuing the countdown by sharing my top 5 favourite places to eat out in Toulouse!

Bisous !

Eating out in France - on a student budget!

Some of the delicious food I ate in Toulouse - clockwise from top: Steak Frites at Café du Midi, Beef belly, creamy polenta and marinated oriental carrots in a mushroomy sauce at Au Bon Servant, Japanese-French fusion food at Solaneko, beef and pasta in a mango and coriander sauce at Foxy and a ham and Emmental cheese galette at Les Cornouailles

One thing I miss about Toulouse (and France in general) is the food. Good quality, local, fresh food is everywhere – in the popular markets, ubiquitous boulangeries and bustling butchers. Although Toulouse is home to chain stores for just about everything, food or otherwise, there are lots of independents managing to thrive throughout the city, something I wish was the case in my country.

  

Of all the independents in Toulouse, most of all I miss the restaurants. Eating out is a truly French obsession. To cater to this, Toulouse boasts hundreds of eateries, each bringing something unique to the table – literally! Competition is strong, pricing is competitive and standards are high. Erasmus students are able to take part in this mainstay of French life for a relatively small amount of money, especially compared to restaurants of a similar calibre in the UK!

Here are a few tricks I used to make my cash go further in French restaurants:

Firstly, go for lunch. Most restaurants will have a lunch formule which will include an entrée, plat principal, dessert and sometimes coffee for a set price. In Toulouse I normally paid around 12 to 20 € for these things depending on the restaurant. Some eateries give you the option of missing out the entrée or dessert, and were usually around 4 € cheaper than the prices above. Restaurants understand that the clientele doesn't have too much time for lunch so service is generally very quick, perfect for when you squeeze in a meal before a 2pm lecture (something I ended up doing quite frequently!)

Secondly, if you want to go for the full authentic experience and accompany your meal with some top notch French wine, avoid buying pricy bottles and opt for a small glass instead. That way you still get to wine and dine whilst paying a reasonable price (around 3 – 4 € in Toulouse) and avoid the undoubtedly bemusing experience of tipsy lectures. Some menus even include a small 50cl carafe of wine as part of the lunchtime formule!

Finally, always make a reservation at least a day before you want to dine. Restaurants are usually full to the brim at lunchtime – so avoid disappointment by booking early! This is especially true if you’re in a large town or city like Toulouse (I once rung up to make a reservation in a smaller town – the waiter sounded a little surprised and when we arrived the restaurant was very empty!)

I am now genuinely too hungry to write any more! I’m off to lunch…though unfortunately I can’t quite justify a return journey to Toulouse right away to put my tips into practice again…

Next time I’ll be sharing my top 10 favourite restaurants in Toulouse – à plus tard!

Goodbye Toulouse

Last week I left Toulouse, bringing my year abroad to a close. My parents came to pick me up, loaded all my belongings into the car (which seem to have multiplied tenfold since I arrived nine months ago) and off we went.

Simple? Far from it. Leaving Toulouse was just like many of my experiences in the city: emotional, slightly late, with organisational skills leaving much to be desired. And like a true adopted Toulousaine, quite a lot of this was my own fault. I’d failed to tell my parents there was a market every Friday in the square directly behind my apartment. This meant the ‘loading bays’ were in use as a temporary carpark for the morning. My parents arrived at 11am, prime market time. And just to make things a little more challenging, the couple two floors up had picked 11am Friday as their time to move out as well (cue what I call ‘lift wars’, or ‘competition-to-see-who-can-monopolise-the-lift-most-successfully’). After a typically Franglais goodbye to my flatmate (involving la bise (très français) AND a hug (really not French)) a good hour after they arrived my parents and I set off on the long drive back to England.

So does that mean adieu to Toulouse? Definitely not, I’d love to go back! Au revoir, then? Hopefully. Provided I don’t have the dreaded law rattrapage (from what I understand, a 3.5 hour long one-size-fits-all resit exam in which students choose which questions to answer depending on which subjects they need to retake – eeewww)! So for now (I hope), my hurried goodbye will have to do.

If that’s the case, at least I can say it was befitting. For me, Toulouse was a city of last-minutes, an often chaotic place under the rule of a very un-British (and as I learned un-German, probably un-lots-of-places) attitude towards organisation. But I’m not complaining. Spending a year there has made me re-evaluate what I value, what I like and don’t like, and how I see France, Europe, and perhaps the world. It has made me realise how different one’s life experience can be, even when compared to another country which on paper shares many similarities with my own.

Toulouse makes me realise there is much more to somewhere than immediately meets the eye. And that the eye in question was often concealed behind the rose-tinted spectacles of a tourist (‘authentic’ restaurants which play only British artists as background music, employ waiters who speak fluent English and have an entirely English clientele? Since Toulouse, La Belle France has lost a little of its magic sparkle I’m afraid…).

Cliché as it may sound, living in Toulouse for nine months has helped me grow as a person in so many ways: resilience in unfamiliar situations, understanding cultural differences and adapting to meet expectations are just three of the skills I’ve improved in order to make the most of my time in the city. And I’m sure these abilities will prove valuable for life.

I think now’s the time to say un grand merci to everyone who has helped make my time in Toulouse so memorable and above all enjoyable! I wish you all the best and hope to see some of you again soon!

Voilà. I’ve not written half as many posts as I had planned, mais c’est la vie je suppose ;) Over the coming weeks I will try and find time to write a bit more about my experiences. In the meantime, if you have any questions about living as an exchange student in Toulouse just leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer!

Bisous !