This is the story of four childhood friends, Elza, Mara, Pauline and Camille, who set themselves a major challenge back in 2021: buying and running a five-story family-run hotel (La Pension Canal), along with the attached restaurant. There’s a dining room with high ceilings, vintage floral print tiling, pale green paneling, bistro furniture, a long communal table, all with a bodega feel. And Mediterranean influences on the blackboard dinner menu: Moroccan salad with fried sardines, eggplant chermoula, and a more indulgent bluefin tuna, shiitake mushroom, cilantro and cucumber tartare. For us, dense and tender Parmesan croquettas; heady steak tartare, with a dash of Banyuls reduction, figs, Parmesan and arugula; and an excellent Lebanese rose, honey and lemon flan for dessert. At lunch, there’s a small rotating menu for the main course, featuring dishes like Indian chicken or homemade gnocchi with gorgonzola, hazelnuts and pears. // Adrien Nouvaire
FEELING THIRSTY? A very short selection of wines, but which are well chosen, organic and local: a Collioures white from Le Clos Castell and a red from Casa Blanca (€4-6 a glass), a 2013 Banyuls from the Domaine du Traginer for your dessert course (€8), Alouette, a Roussillon red from the Domaine de l’Ausseil and Danse Encore, a white from the Domaine du Possible (€18 and €25 a bottle).
PRICE: Menu €17 (lunch), tapas and plates €4-15.
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