We wanted to share some of our experinces getting to know the food scene in Montpellier. This will be an ongoing theme. Roberto is currently on a quest to find the best pizza spots in Montpellier. This week’s restaurant is not one we recommend. But it’s not all bad news, read to the end for a list of our three favorite coffee spots.
First up, Bambino Rocco: we want to like this restaurant, it’s in a great location, there’s cute outdoor seating at a lively intersection that’s great for people-watching, the restaurant is close to our apartment, and it’s cozy inside. Two visits months apart leave us disappointed. On our most recent visit we shared an appetizer and two pizzas.
Appetizer: Arugula (roquette/rocket) salad. Arugula has a very strong, peppery flavor - it’s not easy to overpower, but they succeeded; this salad tasted of dressing. There was so much dressing that the arugula was wilted as though it had been sautéed. We ordered one salad to share, the waiter told us it was “very small” making a tiny circle with his hands to illustrate but we stuck to one serving and it was plenty, especially as it wasn’t very good. This same waiter had given us the “it’s very small” ruse before.
On our first visit to Bambino Rocco a few months ago, we ordered a pasta meal to share. The waiter told us it was a very small portion and strongly advised that we should order two. He made a circle with the thumbs and index fingers of both hands to illustrate the serving size (he made a 3” circle, about the diameter of a typical household coffee cup). What arrived were two very large servings of pasta, each serving was easily three times the portion the waiter had indicated. And of course we got a bill for twice what we would have spent if we had stuck to the single, shared serving. The pasta was just okay; it wasn’t terrible but it was very salty. We left angry and feeling like we had been taken advantage of in a typical tourist-trap kind of way. Rather than leave a bad review based on one experience, I followed up with a polite email to the restaurant; nobody ever replied. We vowed to never return, and gave it the moniker “Double Pasta Place”. Because it is so close to our house, we refer to it often, “I’m on my way home, meet me outside Double Pasta Place and let’s go to the book store together.” When I wanted to explore pizzas in Montpellier, I decided to give Bambino Rocco another chance, the pizzas I saw being served to outdoor diners looked promising.
Pizzas ordered: Rustica (suggested by our waiter when we asked which pizza was his favorite), Quattro Formaggi with white/cream base (menu offers the option of tomato base or cream base for this pizza).
The pizza crusts were well-cooked at the edge with nice bubbles and leopard spots of char but both pizzas were soggy in the middle because of poor topping strategy. The crust was flavorless lacking both saltiness and/or yeast flavor, and they weren’t chewy enough.
The Quattro Formaggi pizza was a gooey mess, the cream base was bland and did nothing to highlight the cheese flavors. The best four cheese pizzas have very little of each of the four cheese, a balanced proportion of cheese and crust results in a wonderfully chewy, flavorful pizza where cheese is the star. What we were served was a disappointing puddle, milky and banal with little seasoning and limp, soggy crust.
The Rustica pizza was served with a single large ball of mozzarella in the middle which was exciting and beautiful when served but the ball of cheese was cold in the middle (not just unmelted, it was literally cold to the touch) it was hard to work with the ball of cheese, I couldn’t easily get cheese with each bite of pizza. The bottom crust was flaccid and unappealing in the middle, an excess of tomato sauce contributed to the problem. This style of pizza cooks very fast in a super-hot oven, bulky toppings or excessive sauce will prevent the bottom crust from cooking properly. The speck and greens were delicious and fresh but the rest of the pizza was such a mess that it wasn’t enjoyable.
We left half of each pizza on the plate and did not take the leftovers home with us. The best thing we were served was the complimentary basket of bread which had great texture and flavor, a sprinkle of flaky salt baked into the top added crunch. Wonderful! I’m guessing the bread wasn’t made in-house.
The Montpellier Coffee Scene:
I love a coffee shop. My weekend mornings in Austin revolve around taking Woody on a cargo bike ride to one of our favorite shops and enjoying a coffee (me) and dog-treat (Woody); all the coffee shops we go to in Austin keep a stash of doggie treats behind the counter. None of the shops in Montpellier do that, one place thought it might be illegal in France (but it’s no problem bringing your dog into the coffee shops). My main complaint about the coffee scene in Montpellier is that all the shops open so late. I think the earliest place opens at 8:30 on weekdays! I don’t expect people to open at 5:00 but surely there’s a market for coffee drinks at 7:00am?!
Coldrip Food and Coffee: this place is the closest to our apartment. Most of the staff speak English and they already recognize us as regulars. They make great lattes and matcha lattes and the few times I have eaten here the food has been very good. They were also happy to recommend other coffee shops to try out, which I think shows confidence in their own product and a healthy respect for other shops who work hard at their craft.
Coffee Club: Fantastic lattes here and a super-friendly staff. Two of the employees are really into bikes so we spent a morning showing pictures of our bikes, discussing alleycat races, the Red Hook Criterium, and dogs. They already know I’m a regular and I was flattered to have my picture taken with Woody and added to the wall of customer photos. They have some food, but I’ve only had baked goods here (they were excellent, but I don’t think they are made in house).
Café Bun: I posted about Café Bun on our last visit, they were newly opened then. They have a great space, excellent coffee drinks, and comfortable seating inside or out. Café Bun roasts beans in-house and they also have the distinction of being one of the few coffee shops open on Mondays. Carolyn has gone here to write a few times and of the three shops I have listed this place has the most comfortable setup for people who like to work in a coffee shop.
I (Roberto) wake up very early most mornings. It’s not uncommon for me to be out of bed at 3:00am. That means I have to make my own coffee at home, which is actually an enjoyable part of my morning routine. During our last visit (and for most of this visit) I have been using a Moka Pot and Illy Espresso that comes from the grocery store in a sealed aluminum can. It makes a passable cup of strong coffee, my results improved markedly once I adopted the advice from James Hoffman’s video on how to use a Moka pot correctly. Probably the most important tip was to boil your water before you put it into the Moka pot so that you aren’t heating up your grounds so much when you put the Moka pot on a burner.
I recently purchased an Espro French Press and have ordered a Wilfa Svart coffee grinder. In Austin I grind my own beans fresh each morning (Columbia River Coffee Roasters Thundermuck! and Wondermuck! have been my go-to beans for over a decade) and I want to do that in France as well. The main problem I’ll be facing now is the slightly hard water that comes out of the tap, it’s not ideal for flavor. We have plans to install a water softener in the apartment, but until that time, maybe I’ll switch to distilled water for my morning brew.