No Diet Club, Bordeaux Food Tour Review
- Ava Lyn
- Jul 23
- 3 min read
One of the first things we typically do when we visit a new city, is to see what food tours are available. It is our favourite way to see what the locals recommend and also get a nice compact understanding of the cuisine and the influences. We did the same in Bordeaux with No Diet Club. There are 2 tours available but we went with the city one this time.
Bordeaux is the jewel of south-west France, best known for its wines and architecture. But the food culture is equally enticing, especially if you have a sweet tooth. We start our tour at Marche des Capucins, also affectionately known as "The Belly of Bordeaux". The market dates back to 1749 in its original location near the Basilique of Saint Michel before finally taking root on Rue Elie Gintrac in 1869. Marche des Capucins remains the city's main food market and our tour was Sunday was a perfect time to people watch as locals jostled in and out to get their weekly produce.
Our guide shows up with a Dune Blanche, a delightful treat that was created in 2008 by Brice Lucas, which is essentially a chouquette stuffed with whipped cream, dusted with icing sugar and crunchy pearl sugar. It is crispy, pillowy, smooth and so easily to have multiples. Whilst there are multiple branches now, the Dunes Blanches original branch sits in Brodeaux city and these little treats are made fresh throughout the day.
Our first stop is Poulette for mussels and fries. This is a charming little bistro nestled within the market famous for its mussels and fries. There were several to choose from and we went with the ever popular white wine and garlic pot as well as the curry pot. Simple, hearty and delicious. We then moved on to La Pena De l'Ostal for some charcuterie. It is a Basque specialty shop and it showcases some of the finest produce from the Pays Basque region. After our 2 savoury dishes, we were told by our guide that we were done with the savouries and had a series of bakeries and sweet treats for the rest of the tour and we moved on from Marche des Capucins.
Caneles. No one does it better than Bordeaux and throughout our trip around the region, we have tasted some of the best Caneles. These delicious morsels are flavoured with rum and vanilla and baked in fluted copper molds to give it a crisp, caramelized crust and a soft custard center. There are several bakeries in Bordeaux that are famous for their caneles, including La Toque Cuivree, Baillardran and Cassonade. We tried all of them and personally gravitated to the Cassonade one (and also one that we had at a farmers market randomly near Blaye).
We also got our escargot pastries, an artisanal cookie from Pepite Cookie as well as a vegan friendly sorbet at Jolly Chocolat. Our favourite of the 3 was Pepite Cookie. It is a family run cookie bar, homemade with a nicely crispy exterior and soft gooey center. It is evident that the Bordelais do love their pastries and desserts very much.
As we ventured around the city, we learnt about how Bordeaux's food scene is evolving. The locals are coming to accept innovative eateries and more restaurants that serve different cuisines. Much of France has deep pride around their culture and their food, and rightfully so considering french cuisine has been at the pinnacle of defining fine dining and many fine dining chefs have trained in France at some point in their career. However, it is also refreshing to see an openness in Bordeaux, blending heritage and diversity and evolving.
Would We Recommend?
Yes! It is a fantastic way to get oriented around Bordeaux if it is your first time. It is also a great way to speak to someone local and understand the history of Bordeaux as a port city and how that influenced the cuisine around. Whilst we wouldn't consider ourselves to have a sweet tooth, it was nice to indulge and never felt like too much. The quality of the food provided on this tour was high and with a small group of 4, our guide gave us plenty of attention.
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