Auberge de la Cour d'Henon - Cissé

As we drove up to this place we both said, 'this doesn 't look good '. A scruffy old building sat on a roundabout on a main road next to a factory, for a moment we weren 't going to bother. So glad we did, appearances can be deceptive. The food was simple, honest French cooking, the sort of thing you love to stumble across when pottering through the countryside. The starters were tasty, fish soup and a chicken mouse, the latter was a little over seasoned, but still had great flavours. Mains, steak and a fish dish, were perfectly cooked, followed up by a decent cheese board and some nice apple tart to finish. The service was excellent and the atmosphere was laid back on a busy Tuesday lunch. All for under 50 euros including drinks, great value. Well worth the stop off, I will be coming back next time I am in the area.

We always request a visit here when we visit friends in the area. As usual the food and service were excellent. The hors d'oeuvres starter had a fantastic variety of flavours on the plate and my main of Duck was delicious. This restaurant has a lovely atmosphere the sound of people enjoying their meals.

Be aware that this restaurant is not in Cisse, nor particularly close to it. In fact it's just off a roundabout on the D347; keep an eye out for signs indicating where to turn off. It's on the edge of a trading estate, but that's not it's fault, the restaurant was there long before the estate. We had the fixed price menu with two starters. Despite arriving fairly early, around 12.30, we were still almost the last to leave. That isn't a reflection on slow service, if anything we'd have liked more time between courses. So if choosing this menu option, aim to arrive around noon, or in the evening. Portion sizes were good. The toast accompanying the mise en bouche and foie gras was not burnt, but it was far too overdone for us. Concentrating on crunching through it blurred the flavour of what one was eating. The sandre for our second entree was outstanding, good size and plenty of flavour. Main course we had capon, very nice, nice sauce, and unusually for a French restaurant, a good selection of vegetables. Our desserts were disappointing; the vacherin was insipid, and my choice was not available, so I thought I'd risk the buche; which was as suspected, basically a very average swiss roll dressed up with a fairly average chocolate covering. Somewhat shocked to be asked to provide proof of identity when paying by cheque; a first for us, having eaten at hundreds of French restaurants over the years!

We found this by accident whilst travelling back after the lovely market at Neuville Poitou. Lovely choice of entrees and mains. We had smoked salmon entree. Warm goats cheese salad

An very enjoyable meal with good service. Reasonable prices and a good variety of menus/dishes. Would recommend to those staying at the Chateau d'Avanton