Pont de Brent

Editor's note: as of 2012, Stéphane Décotterd is now the head chef.

Pont de Brent is situated in a small village just on the main road and next to a bridge; be aware that parking can be a problem. The dining room is cosy and pleasantly decorated, with half a dozen tables in one room and a further room off to the other side of reception. Amuse-bouches were rather ordinary, mainly a series of things on croutons or rather mediocre pastry bases: crab, chicken liver pate, cheese with tiny potato crisps, tomato with radish and olive, tomato with olive and cucumber, a vol au vent with leeks, a couple of cheese straws and (oddly) a pair of French fries (17/20 at best for these). A second nibble was better, a flaky pastry base on which were tiny anchovies with a tapenade and tiny slice of courgettes, tomatoes and gherkin, together with a little lettuce with good dressing. This was decorated prettily with a tomato skin that had the top of the tomato and cut-off skin that was blanched and shaped as flower petals (18/20). Bread consisted of rolls of olive and cereal, and white slices (17/20). Service was capable but by no means perfect e.g. topping up was a problem on several occasions, and at times there were no staff at all in the dining room.

Our starter was each of three langoustines, superbly fresh and perfectly timed, served partly in their shell. This was offered with an excellent mixed leaf salad with a lovely dressing, and a few baby artichoke hearts. The dish was decorated with smears of mint-green sauce vierge (19/20). For main course, we shared a whole John Dory, filleted at the table. This had remarkable flavour, and was served with a diced tomatoes and black olive slices, as well as a selection of fresh vegetables: carrot, courgette, potato, baby turnip, caramelised onion, roast garlic, baby squash stuffed with tomato puree and spinach leaf stiffed with finely diced root vegetables, and the dish was decorated with a deep-fried sage leaf and a couple of sprigs of thyme. There was also a whole baby tomato topped with herbs and breadcrumbs; the vegetables were very fresh and had excellent flavour (20/20). 

Cheese was in great condition: Munster was nicely soft without having gone too far, two fresh goats cheeses were excellent, an aged gruyere tasted very like aged Comte, while there was also the best Coulommiers I have ever tasted (20/20). These were served with rather ordinary walnut bread.  For dessert I had a chocolate mousse in a circular shape, surrounded by a series of chocolate-covered nut tuiles; the mousse was glazed and topped with some gold leaf. The mousse had superb intensity (19/20). My wife ate plum crumble, where the crumble consisted of a biscuit base at the bottom of the dish, topped with plums and served with a scoop of plum sorbet and a scoop of intense almond ice cream and a fresh fruit salad of blackberry, strawberry, raspberry and plum. 

Petit fours were a superb raspberry macaroon, a lemon tart, orange rind dipped in chocolate, a strawberry jelly, a blackcurrant jelly, an almond tuile, a hazelnut tuile, a chocolate tart, a tart with raspberry and mint, a tart of wild strawberries, a mini plum crumble, two coffee éclairs, slices of chocolate with hazenut cream, a chocolate butterscotch, a white chocolate with coconut and a dark chocolate with rich chocolate filling. These were superb (20/20) as was coffee. We had Mas de Daumas Gassac white and a glass of Swiss Gewürztraminer dessert wine, the bill for two coming to CHF 570.