Gourmet, shaped by history, influenced by the vine, the land and the sea, Bordeaux cuisine is an art. Here are four places to take a food tour in Bordeaux.
Summary
- 1. Old Bordeaux: epicenter of gastronomy
- The Capuchin market
- The Halls of Bacalan
- 3. La Cité du Vin: the vineyards in the spotlight
- 4. The quays of Bordeaux: festive and convivial epicureanism
The Gironde capital is an open-air theater scene, with a striking charm and facing its port and its river. Did you know that the city of Bordeaux is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site? La Belle Endormie is nothing like a ghost town! Many visitors flock each year to discover its architectural, historical and cultural attractions.
Second French city with the most listed monuments, Bordeaux also invites you to travel back in time. Its historic center bears witness to the graceful, whimsical and ornate architecture of the 18th century, where the Baroque movement gave thanks to opulence, grandeur, materials and tormented forms. Other more formal monuments were built in another style: when the fashion was more for severe architecture, using Greco-Roman forms and elements. To visit Bordeaux is also to take a leap back to the Middle Ages, to the time of Gothic religious buildings and cobbled, narrow and working-class streets. On the quays of the right and left banks, when you cross the Garonne by one of the two bridges, the rehabilitated port area immerses you in a bath of modernism and green spaces. And gastronomy in all this? Because today, it is indeed about that!
Indeed, Bordeaux and cuisine is an infinite love story. Yes, the pleasure of the table is sacred! Here again, the Gironde capital invites you to travel and mix. Bordeaux cuisine has its own generous identity, between land and sea, influenced by Spain and the South-West, and always complemented by wine. Awaken your taste buds and discover four places to take a food tour in Bordeaux.
1. Old Bordeaux: epicenter of gastronomy
Photo credit: Shutterstock / Rostislav AgeevOld Bordeaux dazzles with its ocher facades and its high places of Bordeaux delicacies. In the heart of Sleeping Beauty, all your senses are alert. During your gourmet stroll in this district, first stop at a wine shop. And yes, obligated! Because wine is to Bordeaux what the croissant is to Paris. For lovers of great vintages, old Bordeaux has some of the most famous and prestigious wine merchants in the region.
While you’re there, let yourself be tempted by the Bordeaux specialties that go wonderfully with these exceptional beverages. The historic heart is full of good addresses that can be discovered at street corners. Here is the art of taking a gastronomic stroll in Bordeaux while admiring historical splendours! To match your good Bordeaux wine, we recommend, for example:
- grattons, traditional charcuterie;
- Pauillac lamb, raised exclusively in Gironde;
- the Bordeaux rib steak, cooked with embers of vine shoots;
- pan-fried porcini mushrooms and chanterelles;
- Arcachon oysters;
- the Medoc attic, charcuterie made from pork belly;
- Bordeaux lamprey, fish bled and simmered in wine;
- grilled shad, seasonal fish from Gironde.
Otherwise, if you fancy a post-urban sweetness, push the doors of a chocolatier or a Canelé specialist. Impossible not to taste the latter, whose caramelized color and soft heart have become the emblems of Bordeaux. Also bite into a Bordelais cork (petit four à la Fine de Bordeaux), a Guinette (morello cherry confit in Armagnac wrapped in chocolate), a Sarment du Médoc (crunchy chocolate reminiscent of vine shoots), a pearl from the Médoc (combination grapes and chocolate) or a Saint Emilion macaron.Related tickets/activities:Bordeaux
The Capuchin market
Photo credit: Shutterstock / Piotr KrzeslakThe Capucins market, emblem of the historic belly of Bordeaux, is a showcase of Bordeaux gastronomy, where the pleasure of the table rhymes with conviviality. Gourmets bustle in the aisles overflowing with people: much more than a place of haggling, it is a place of meetings and exchanges. So, where to make a gastronomic visit to Bordeaux in a warm atmosphere? At the Capus market, no doubt.
Drink a coffee while watching the morning ballet of barges and taste the counter cuisine. After all, a steak or shellfish at dawn, it’s tempting! Otherwise, more classic when you wake up but just as local: Bordeaux pastries! Succumb to the sweetness of Dunes Blanches (choux pastry garnished with vanilla cream and sprinkled with sugar) and Puits d’amour (choux pastry topped with a mixture of meringue and pastry cream, caramelized and airy).Related tickets/activities:Bordeaux
The Halls of Bacalan
Photo credit: Shutterstock / Nikolay Dimitrov – ecoboTo make a gastronomic visit to Bordeaux and rediscover this good-natured atmosphere, also go to the Halles de Bacalan. The idea was to build a covered market, young and modern, in the style of the halls of yesteryear. Bet won! Here, the gastronomy of the South-West and the art of “eating well” are given pride of place from every point of view. The merchants are exclusively artisan producers, local and passionate, rigorously chosen.
The quality of the products takes precedence over the quantity since you will find “only” twenty-four stands here. Conviviality is the other strong point of Les Halles de Bacalan: it’s alive, it’s bustling, it’s fun and it’s fun! There, you shop to music and each trader invites you to taste their local products.
3. La Cité du Vin: the vineyards in the spotlight
Photo credit: Shutterstock / DeepMeaningWhere to go on a gastronomic tour in Bordeaux when you particularly love wine? At the city of wine: yes, quite simply. The coolest thing about all of this? The epicureans that you are can cultivate yourself while drinking (a little)!
Located on the quays, this place is a real temple dedicated to the mythical drink of the city. The museum, unique in the world, traces the history of wine and offers immersive and sensory experiences. Much more than a simple visit, it is an initiatory journey. Succumb to one of the wine tasting workshops offered on the site. No codified and ritualized rituals, the Cité du Vin teaches you to appreciate and know wine by reversing the usual codes. Each of your five senses is called upon. You can even take a real wine-cultural journey through wines from all over the world, in a unique sound and olfactory atmosphere. Rest assured, children also have the right to their gourmet journey, but without alcohol.Related tickets/activities:Bordeaux
4. The quays of Bordeaux: festive and convivial epicureanism
Credit photo: Shutterstock / Leonid AndronovAlong the crescent-shaped Garonne, whether on the Esplanade des Quinconces, along the Jardin des Lumières and the water mirror, aboard a peaceful boat trip on the river or after a shopping spree at the Quai des Marques, the quays of Bordeaux promise tasty moments of tasting. The opportunity to make a gastronomic visit to Bordeaux while enjoying the waterfront and a warm atmosphere.
For example, enjoy the traditional cuisine of an upscale, relaxed or romantic guinguette or a dinner cruise on the Garonne. Otherwise, opt for the terrace of a brasserie or a restaurant specializing in typical local and seafood products. Perhaps you simply want to have a drink and watch the sun go down on the facades magnified? So toast with a glass of Lillet, whose aromas of wine and fruit exalt Bordeaux aperitifs. Finally, why not take a gastronomic visit to Bordeaux with canned specialties and a good picnic by the river and the gardens? Try the sandwiches with Lou Gascoun, pork liver pâté from the Bordeaux suburbs and Crème Jock for dessert, made only on the quays of the right bank.
Article updated on 7 December 2022
