“The restaurant is run by Vincent (the Maitre d’Hotel), the chef de cuisine Julien and his wife Masako. Vincent’s front of house welcome is second to none and the cooking is always astoundingly good. Julien (head chef) and his wife Masako (Japanese pastry chef) never fail to please with their fresh, lively and imaginative meals. They now grow their own fruit and vegetables in a potager on site and try to serve fresh produce from there every day. Masako produces genius patisserie and her husband Julien cleverly melds traditional fare with exciting twists to excite even the most jaded palate.

Today was perhaps the fifth or sixth time we have visited the restaurant in the last 9 months and we have never been disappointed. Our lunch on Christmas Day 2010 was astonishingly good and served with a variety of wines and champagnes to accompany the food perfectly. Today we took the menu d’affaire lunch which at under €20 for a glass of wine, water, coffee and 3 courses was ridiculously good value. We were treated to galantines of volaille and eggs on cocotte served with home made red onion chutney to start. The main courses included pork fillet slices served with a delicious sauce and vegetables from the garden and an astoundingly good hake dish served with fresh courgette slices from the potager cooked in a ginger and reduced poultry jus. The fish was absolutely perfectly cooked and the sauce tasted as if it were concocted by a genius! The puddings included tarte aux abricots with home made apricot sorbet as we had never experienced before and a feuillete of the crispiest, sweetest, melt in the mouth pastry. The house wines are delicious and very well chosen by Vincent.

This is a restaurant which deserves to be much better known in the area. We have tried many restaurants in the area over the years and believe that Julien and Masako’s cooking is by far the best. If you visit the Manoir de la Pommeraie I guarantee you will not be disappointed.”