la table de Marie - Lagrave

We visited lagrave too midday and missed this excellent restaurant almost. from the parking it seemed to be closed, another restaurant opposite was all lit and we almost went there. I'm glad I tried the door. we had a warm greeting and. a really wonderful lunch. we chose the menu du jour. we had two choices for each cure, excellent well presented food, all fresh domestic cooked ingredients. it could not be fault. we often visit restaurants on lunch and have the menu ouvrier, always good value. this restaurant is far superior for just a few euro more. we will certainly be regular visitors, although it is a 50-minute drive for us.

A wonderful stop on our trip. looked back, all food decisions were made and we enjoyed every cozy minute of our time. a place were the local food.

When we arrived, everything was booked outside, but they accepted us. They only took our orders after we had been sitting for half an hour and waited for half an hour and had to wait another half an hour, maybe more, until the second cure was received after the first. at the end they apologised, but we felt that even those who came after us were served before us. but eating was good.

Had a lovely dinner here the staff are very warm. Has a nice village atmosphere which is a just what you are after when getting out of the major centres.

We arrived at La Table de Marie about 12:45 on a Sunday lunchtime with a good apatite but no reservation. Service was already in full swing but upon asking if they had a table for five the waiter soon removed a smaller table from the...patio area and replaced it with a larger one. Places were set and after saying hello to the other diners we took our seats, mine being a more sturdy one from inside the restaurant to cater for my build.. Iced water promptly arrived and requests for wines, sparkling water and aperitifs taken. We were left a blackboard showing various options to chose from the set menus. After a few minutes, this was France were lunch is an art form not to be rushed, the waiter returned with our drinks and took our orders. One of our party was a vegetarian and when asked if a pasta main course dish could be tweaked for her again it proved to be no trouble at all. Starters consisted of tapas, charcuterie and salads, all were first class. For our main courses one selected rabbit, two of us had large Mediterranean prawns with squid ink tagliatelle, I had confit of lamb shoulder that was cooked to perfection with assorted vegetables and my sister-in-law had pasta with a roquefort cheese sauce. Whilst we were dining, the sun had moved round and one of the other tables was now no longer in the shade: the guests rose to their feet, the table and umbrella were repositioned and they resumed their meal. Yet another simple gesture willingly performed. A selection of desserts were presented to complete our meal and the chef appeared from the kitchen to ask if everything had been to our satisfaction, I replied that indeed it had. I then smiled and said la facture pour mon ami, s 'il vous plaît , the very first phrase I ever learned in French. The bill arrived and at one hundred and twenty euros it was worth every cent. A delightful start to our brief stay in the Tarn region of France.