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La Tomate, 6, Rue Four des Flammes, 34000 Montpellier, France

La Tomate, 6, Rue Four des Flammes, 34000 Montpellier, France

6, Rue Four des Flammes, 34000 Montpellier, France

+33 4 67 60 49 38

We tried to get into this place three years ago, at the height of the holiday season and with no reservation. Fat chance. Back in Montpellier again in early October, we took the precaution of booking, though it was probably unnecessary. It looks exactly like a restaurant in the Languedoc should - I’m a sucker for a red checked tablecloth, me. The waiter brought a bottle of chilled tap water immediately, none of that paying extra for bottled water nonsense. The back of the menu has a la carte, but the front has a range of fixed price menus. The €16.90 caught our eyes, and although there were five courses, for that price we felt confident that the portions would be small, more like a tasting menu, really. Hah!

I started with the soupe de poissons. When I saw the tureen – with ladle - the waiter placed by my bowl, together with the tray of grated cheese, aoli and a small mountain of croutons, I thought he’d got the order wrong and had brought two servings. But no – along came L’s starter of crepes crevettes, in a dish straight out of the oven and plenty for supper for one. The soup was almost perfect – just a little too salt for my taste – the crepes fresh and satisfying and we could have stopped eating there and then, but we had four more courses to go, I had to have frogs legs, because it’s traditional, innit, and fortunately this was a very small course. Six or eight grilled grenouilles and one lettuce leaf – easy. L’s shark was also alone on the plate. My main course - Cassoulet au confit de canard came in a casserole dish large enough for two, L’s filet steak with green pepper sauce and hot fresh chips was also a massive portion. We did our best, but half the chips and a third of the cassoulet went back to the kitchen. I hate doing that. The cheese course was small and tasty, a camembert and blue, and then he recited the dessert menu.

L’s tarte citron and my fromage blanc with blackcurrants were both home made, not oversweetened and, naturally, huge portions. With a bottle of red the whole thing came to €48.50 – about 35 quid.

We managed to fit in two more visits before we left, both for lunch. The €8.50 three course lunch is even more of a bargain than the dinner, the starter of pickled herrings and waxy potato salad - well, I'm still dreaming about it, actually. Proper French Provincial cooking, produced by someone who knows what they're doing.

Quality of cooking; service, ambience, generosity of portions and of spirit, value for money – 10 out of 10 all the way.