Valras-Plage is a lovely, but quite touristy village on the Mediterranean coast. Which means you will find loads of mediocre restaurants serving microwaved or deep fried food. What a refreshing change to have found the restaurant Le Sépia! The chef Yann Nicolas sets great store by serving the freshest, mostly local products in this cosy and welcoming restaurant.
Le Sépia
You can find Restaurant Le Sépia on a side street off the boulevard that stretches along the Mediterranean Sea. As it wasn’t summer yet, Chéri and I made a reservation for a table inside the tastefully decorated restaurant. The closer we looked, the more maritime details we spotted. However, this was done in a subtle way, whilst still giving the restaurant a maritime feeling, without the casually suspended fishnets hanging on the ceiling.
Local
We opted for the 35 euros menu called ‘Pied Marin’, which gave us a choice of three options for every course (three in total as well). Foodwise, we stayed with the marine theme. Our amuse bouche, a single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre, was served in a beautiful shell. As a starter, Chéri chose the grilled Poulpe de Roc salad with beautifully tender pieces of octopus. I had the “Entrée du Moment”, which consisted of a locally caught sea bream carpaccio. The main course was the same for both of us, with, again, Valras-caught little fillets of whiting. Served with locally grown potatoes and bits of dried ham, it was pure delight.
Birdcage
When we entered the restaurant, I had immediately spotted a decorative birdcage filled with an interesting looking selection of cheeses. So, I had no problem skipping my dessert this time in exchange for a plate full of intense flavours. Chéri opted for a revisited version of tiramisu. I always love it when courses are presented in a completely different way, and Le Sépia’s tiramisu sure was something else! We both enjoyed our desserts very much. As we did the rest of the dinner. We highly appreciated the personal approach that the talented chef Yann Nicolas and his wife Isabelle took towards each dish. The dishes looked and tasted terrific, and Isabelle took the time to explain each course, including the origin of the products.
