AU MANOIR DE LA BARRE

For nearly 30 years, Arnaud and Cécilia Viel have been running their modern establishment with a strong personality in perfect harmony with the chef's cuisine. Here in Argentan, homage is paid to Normandy through exceptional hand-picked ingredients: local butter and unpasteurised farmhouse cream, scallops from Port-en-Bessin, lobster from Carteret, foie gras from the Pays d'Auge, sand carrots from Créances, sometimes combined with premium items such as caviar or black winter truffles. The food impresses with flawless execution and harmonious flavours. The excellent wine list is curated by Céci

This restaurant, which immediately draws the eye with its appealing half-timbered façade, is a tried-and-tested favourite with diners. Originally from Normandy, chef Xavier Buzieux has been turning out generous, accomplished home-style cooking for nearly 30 years, attentive to the seasons and local producers. Its success continues unabated, thanks in no small part to its droves of regulars and warm and friendly atmosphere.

This bright modern bistro is the HQ of Frenchman Charles Thuillant and Korean Mi-Ra, a globetrotting couple who met in Ze Kitchen Gallery, a mecca of French-Asian cuisine. But it was ultimately in Deauville, where Charles spent his holidays as a child, that they opened their own restaurant. Together, they conjure up vibrant, lively dishes in which Normandy country produce is melded with perfectly judged Asian influences, for example marinated fish in a mango-passion fruit seasoning; wagyu beef, smoked jus, samsang; nodi marini pasta, oyster, wakame, crunchy veggies… Spot-on service and a moder

Located in the heart of the swanky seaside resort of Deauville, this restaurant with a sleek, modern frontage had the great idea of glazing part of the façade so passers-by can watch the chefs at work. Chef Maximin Hellio offers several tasting menus (that you can choose when you book on line), which pay tribute to Normandy’s produce, courtesy of spot-on, creative craftsmanship. Examples include his “Immersion in the Calvados region” or “Journey between the Auge pasturelands and the sea off the flowery coast”. Intriguing food and wine pairings.

In an ideal location in the heart of the old town, this restaurant has three areas: the main dining room with a view into the kitchen, a pleasantly secluded terrace and Le Balcon de l'Odas, a private lounge with a view of the cathedral. Chef Suzanne Da Silva's resolutely seasonal cuisine boldly draws on her origins in the north of France and ingredients from Normandy's terroir: vegetables from a market gardener in the Eure, farmhouse cream, organic mushrooms from a local mushroom farm, bread made by a Meilleur Ouvrier de France in Rouen, and fish from nearby fish markets. She puts it all to go

This 19C, half-timbered brick manor house overlooking the Seine is the HQ of David Goerne, who conjures up indulgent, fiendishly spot-on fare. He invites diners to sample an immersive experience in his vintage kitchen, whose walls gleam with copper utensils, as he rolls out a creative, drool-worthy banquet: terrine of foie gras and eel, caramelised apple and foie gras-spiked ice cream. Goerne’s score reveals a distinct weakness for top-notch, local produce, including Arctic char and caviar, which he assembles with almost disconcerting ease. The offbeat interior is flanked by a panoramic terrac

A short walk from Claude Monet's house, this half-timbered Anglo-Norman residence dating back to 1912 extends an invitation to relax and enjoy the good things in life. Normandy-born chef David Gallienne, who earned his stripes at the Manoir du Lys, crafts precise, refined cuisine, with inventive and colourful dishes that feature unorthodox marriages of flavours and carefully crafted textures. He uses a network of local suppliers, but allows himself forays further afield, paying particular attention to the selection of ingredients, eg farmhouse butter and mussels from Mont-Saint-Michel. In addi