Bordeaux, France: Food and Travel Guide

Hello from Bordeaux. We are here in France's most famous wine city and we can't wait to explore all of the awesome food here as well as a couple of the wineries. And if you're new here we're Alex, Momet and Bindi and we travel the world looking for the best food spots as well as most dog-friendly places. Let's go eat and I guess drink. Bordeaux feels like a fairy tale. In this video we're going to take you through some of the best restaurants, wineries and places to visit in For our first meal in Bordeaux we headed to a really cool local spot called Darwin. Darwin is more than just a place to eat. It's an entire little village tucked inside Bordeaux's right bank with everything from restaurants, coffee shops, an urban garden, a skate park and plenty of other spots showcasing local producers and creators. We ate at Magazine General, a huge dining hall space where everything is organic and prepared on site. The menu was full of tempting options. I went with the roast chicken which was honestly pretty big and served with some delicious mashed potatoes that soaked up all the chicken juices. Momet got a goat cheese burger which he didn't realize was actually just a patty of fried goat cheese not goat cheese on a burger but it came with a side of fries so no complaints from him. One can't miss spot here in Darwin is the micro winery where all of the wines are organic or biodynamic and are being aged on site. We were super lucky that we happened to be there on a day when they were preparing new wines to be bottled and got to taste something right from the vat. When it was time for our next meal we headed to Sacrebleu, a bistro serving up great plates to share and natural wines. We went with a steak which was cooked to a perfect medium rare, super tender and full of rich beefy flavor and served with a huge bowl of roasted potatoes. To balance that out a bit we also got a plate of the roasted mushrooms. These were great because they were not overcooked and mushy they still had bite and flavor and were topped with a salty crumble and fresh herbs to really bring out that earthy flavor. The next morning we were ready for some more wine tasting but first coffee. Good morning from Bordeaux. We always have to check out some good coffee spots as well as breakfast spots and this morning we're going to a place called Cafe Aereu. It has good reviews so we just want to check it out. Cafe Aereu ended up being such a great find. Their brunch menu had familiar dishes but they were done in a way that really elevated them and made them unique and special. I got some eggs that were cooked to my favorite jammy consistency served with a light ricotta cheese, fresh asparagus, some herbs and greens and some mustard seeds that brought just a little acidity. This plate looked beautiful and I was honestly amazed with how tasty it was. Momet got pancakes that were no less impressive. They were fluffy with just a bit of brown around the edges topped with a perfectly balanced berry compote and some fresh whipped cream. That cafe was so good and they were so friendly. The pancakes I got were so fluffy and so soft. They were seriously so delicious. And actually they have the best coffee that we've had anywhere in France. It was so good. Yes so we got two to go. And after that amazing breakfast it was time to taste some of that famous Bordeaux wine. We are here at Chateau Parc Clermont in Passac-le-Lignon which is a chateau that's been producing wine since the 1300s which is amazing and also the grounds here are so nice. Really really beautiful. It's so beautiful. Very excited. We just finished up our tasting here. So we had a white bottle and two reds and the white was very fresh very easy to drink especially on a day like this. It was perfect. And then we had a 2021 as well as a 2016 red bottles and you can definitely taste the difference when it's aged more. And even the guide was telling us that if the 2021 aged a little bit more maybe like five more years it would be better but it was still very good. While we enjoyed that tasting our next one was even more special. We headed to Chateau Les Camerons Bruyants which is by far the fanciest wine estate and facility we've ever visited. They're incorporating original artistic and design elements into all aspects of their grounds their cellar and their process and most importantly their wines are amazing. We tasted two wines including their 2016 vintage which sells for almost 200 euros a bottle and was honestly one of the best wines we've ever tasted. Of course it was then time for some more food. In the mood for some French classics we headed to the highly recommended Brasserie Bordelaise. Given the very central location and the size of this restaurant we were a little worried at first that it might be a tourist spot but the food proved us wrong. It was classic French brasserie dishes which were executed perfectly. The standout was Mamet's amazingly tender beef cheek which had been cooked in local red wine sauce. We were dining with friends and I think everyone was a bit jealous of his plate. That's not to say the other dishes weren't good. My bovet was perfectly seared and tasty and the atmosphere was lively and friendly. Our next day would take us over to Pomerol and Saint-Emilion for some more tastings but first we had to fuel up with another brunch. There is another breakfast spot here that we are excited to try so I was looking at the menu I'm not totally sure how it works. It looks like there's a vegetarian menu and a meat menu but it looks like actually quite a big brunch. It might be a little bit too much food but it sounds very good. I can't tell if it's small dishes or if it's like one plate. Yeah let's see. It turns out what was listed on the menu is actually one large plate. The way it works is that they have a vegetarian plate and a meat plate and you either get just the plate on its own or pair it with a hot or cold drink and a cake for a full brunch. We shared one of each and honestly these were so good. They both had perfectly runny eggs. The vegetable one was loaded with seasonal favorites like squash and peas and a ton of creamy burrata cheese. The meat option had some seared duck and potatoes and they both made us so so full and happy. So we just had brunch at Horace. It was really good. The dishes were gigantic. We're both very stuffed. So fun fact we did a walking tour here and our tour guide told us that if you see these along the city which are almost everywhere this is a little door to store your wine. Back in the day when they realized that storing your wine under your house in a cool space made the wine last longer so they started building these little doors so you don't have to We were then off to Pomerol, home to some of the most sought after and expensive grapes in the region. We visited Chateau Maisers which is a completely biodynamic property. They are doing all sorts of natural things here to create the best possible wines including playing music to the vats that the wine is aging in. Our tour went really in depth into how they use natural methods to manage pests and treat their soil which gave us an appreciation for how much really goes into what can seemingly be a simple bottle of wine. And finally we visited the tiny but fairy-like village of Saint-Emilion. We're now in the town of Saint-Emilion which is on the right bank of Bordeaux and this town is just filled with little cafes and shops and wineries. It's super cute. Our next stop is at Covent de Jacobin so this is a winery here in Saint-Emilion that I believe used to be a monastery. Oh interesting. While we only did a tasting here and not a full tour we did get to take a sneak peek at the barrels and still learned a lot about the history during our visit. We were really impressed with the wines here. We felt that the quality for the price point was excellent and they even have some really old bottles for sale which can be difficult to find. Since we arrived back in Bordeaux outside of the normal French mealtimes but were very hungry, we opted for a kebab at Aslam Berliner which definitely did not disappoint. These were delicious stuffed with so much meat and fresh vegetables the perfect thing to round out our day. We found Bordeaux to be just as dog-friendly as anywhere else in France. While dogs generally aren't allowed at chateau visits, if you contact them ahead of time some can make arrangements to just show you the parts of the properties where dogs are allowed. There are also plenty of wine bars in town where you can taste the local varieties and bring your dog along with you. Thanks for watching we hope you enjoyed the video. Before wrapping up we have a quick update to share with you. While we love creating this content we've found that filming and producing a new video every week has become a bit unsustainable. So in order for us to keep putting out high quality content we're going to be switching to a bi-weekly publishing schedule. Don't worry we're still going to be visiting amazing places and eating delicious food. Our next video will be out on June 8th and we'll be taking you through some of the best eats in stunning Cinque Terre, Italy.