FoodNet

The gourmet's guide to Europe

1903

Page 39 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1903. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
come the new director of the Boulogne Casino, and amongst the departments which he has galvanised into Casino life is the restaurant. One of the pro- Restaurant prietors of Maire’s, in Paris, is now the lessee of the restaurant, and gives his personal atten- tion to its management. The banquets which are given there are quite good examples of big dinners, and as a change from the table d'hote meals of the hotels a breakfast on the terrace may be safely essayed. In the town, in the Rue de la Coupe, there is a The Royal Oak, little tavern, the Royal Oak, kept by Rue de la Coupe an Englishman. The Royal Oak is renowned for its hams and its Welsh-rabbits. The bullet at the Gare Maritime is an uncertain quantity. I have known it at periods to be an Gare Maritime example to English railway refreshment Buffet rooms, but at other times it drops down to the unappetising level of the usual station buffet. There is a petit salon leading out of the large room which is a pleasant place in which to dine, and a letter or a telegram to secure this room and a specially ordered little dinner or breakfast is a precaution I always take if I entertain one or two people while waiting to catch a train at the other station. This is one of the dinners which a manager provided on one of these occasions : — Salade Boulonnaise. Consomme Royal. Filet de Sole en surprise. Tournedos Princesse. Dessert. The salade is a savoury mixture in which moules play a leading partSalade Boulonnaise. The filet de sole was surprised to find itself inside a potato baked with its jacket on. The confectioner’s shop of Caveng in the Rue Victor Hugo must be mentioned' f only because more French Provincial Towns 67 little cakes and other confectionery find their way from that shop across the Channel to little English children than from any other shop in caveng’s, Rue France. There is a comfortable tea- Victor Hugo room adjoining the shop, and a salon behind it. Tea is not the only liquid served in this annexe, for an Englishman who wants a whisky and soda or a glass of wine can get either of them there. The Boulogne Clubs The English club of Boulogne no longer exists. Its numbers dwindled to twelve, and then two of those twelve quarrelled, and the club dissolved itself. A card with a good London club in a corner and the payment of five francs secure entrance to the Club Prive of the Casino. A good deal of money has been spent in putting in good order the golf links near Wimereux. AFTER DINNER In the summer time the theatre of the Casino caters for the needs of the Boulogne public, and gives them in turn comedy, operetta, and “ Music Hall ” per- formances. The stock company takes holiday should any Star with his or her own company pay a visit to Boulogne. In the winter the town theatre, just off the main street of the town, is open, but the perform- ances are not too well patronised. A carnival ball, however, at this theatre is well worth seeing, be- cause of the extraordinary mixture of people who form the dancers. The best sight that Boulogne has to show after dinner is a Bal Populaire in the grounds of the Casino, a ball at which the fisher girls in their distinctive costume form the majority of the dancers, 68 The Gourmet's Guide to Europe Wimereux, Hardelot, Le Touquet