Restaurant de l'Aubrac - Laguiole

The food was delicious (filet was great but the service wasn’t particularly good. The restaurant opened at 7.30pm which meant that everyone ordered at the same time so the staff were constantly running around. There were only three or four waiting staff, including someone behind the bar for a full (and relatively large! restaurant.

No fancy menu, rituals or anything else. We where here for the food and specially the aubrac home breed meet. No disappointment. We got what we came for. Best côte de bœuf ever, super carpaccio and nice sides. Cheese are local and perfect. The good point is when you finish to eat, you juste have to go upstairs if you booked before because the restaurant is the ground floor of this local owned hotel. .... Practical. Staff not super nice but food is excellent. The hôtel is average by local srandard countryside standards I ll go back for more beef.

We stopped in Laguiole on our way home from Spain. Beautiful scenery in this rough mountain area (Aubrac) on about 1000m over sea level in earlier times feared by the pilgrims on St. Jacob's path (so cold, windy and dangerous, when on foot). In this rough mountain area we found tasty food at the restaurant de l'Aubrac. The place is unpretentious, but it is filled with the friendliness and enthusiasm of the lady manager and her staff. They proudly explained their regional food to us. It is food for farmers that work in the mountains, and their wives know, how to prepare tasty meals from the products that their robust golden brown cows deliver: milk (for cheese, AOC) and meat. I had Boeuf (beef) Bourguignon that had simmered in red wine and gentiane, tastily spiced with herbs, accompanied by Aligot which is mashed potatoes blended with cheese. With this I took a wine from Marcillac (some 50km south) a good match with the food (ask for local wine from a bit south of Laguiole). And then we had a selection of cheese from Laguiole (an Appélation Controlée) and Roquefort (from the mountains not far from here). This was not highly classified French cuisine, but authentic tasty food well prepared very well prepared for a good price. We also slept in this two star hotel. For two stars well worth it, with excellent beds, a very modern, newly renovated bath room and a nice detail: The key is a cow made out of heavy iron. Some more background information: I became curious and read about the Aubrac. The mountains are rough here, but the people have some high quality products to offer. Their Vache d'Aubrac (cow of the Aubrac) lives on the meadows with its local herbs. It is a tough race that delivers meat and milk. From the milk, Laguiole makes cheese that is a regional registered brand called AOC. Also the meat tastes different, when cows live outside and eat herbs. Then Laguiole is well known for the Laguiole knives highest quality foldable knives and also designs made for eating. I could not resist and bought a foldable knife with a handle made from cow horn (these knives have a price, though). Yes, Laguiole is well worth a stop and the restaurant de l'Aubrac was a trouvaille.

Local food Typical dishes region. A little heavy to digest food, but it is interesting to taste. Service a little slow, and the place is full of guests. Anyone interested in local cuisine will find interesting and unique place.

We had a reservation for four persons and were shows a table in the corner. The waitresses didn't speak any English and didn't even try to communicate. They have quite a list of choices and there are different menu combinations. I took one with soup, appetiser, main dish, cheese and dessert. Interestingly they didn't bring me the soup first, but the salad which was the appetiser. When I later asked why she said she thought I didn't want it and now it is too late because we will soon get the main dish. The amount of the food one gets is on the verge of being satisfactory, but it could be more. One issue was also, that they were rather slow, even though the place wasn't that full. With the main dish two of us also got Aligot, which is a famous local side dish. It tasted very good, and the amount of cheese was well balanced. My main dish included some meat, potatoes and some vegetables. They offer no vegetarian food. The meat wasn't well seasoned, and it tasted just as meat, even with the sauce. They also have a nice list of wines, and the one we tried was also local. Turned out to be very good. It was also interesting how the waitress asked me, whether I wanted cheese, or she should just bring the dessert. So, I order the menu and don't take a third of the items? She then brought a number of cheese sorts and asked which I wanted. I took a small piece from each. I expected more. They were good, but not anything special, and 2 out of 5 were nearly the same. For dessert I had ice cream. They have many different tastes, including a very bitter type made from a local bitter herb. That ice cream is not meant for people, who don't enjoy bitter food. All in all, the food wasn't as good as the fame suggested, though the prices were sure high. And the staff didn't really encouraged another visit.