A hot day in Reims. After a morning of not mentioning the war at a tour of the Taittinger establishment I was ready for trad French grub and something not champagne with it. We were tempted to the terrace of the BSM by the eclectic nature of its clientèle – vieillards mixed with baby boomers and English was noticeable by its absence.

It took a while to get served but when you’re on holiday time is less of an issue so this didn’t matter. One woman was holding the fort on the service side of the things while what looked like the patron chinwagged with his mates. The formule of crudités and special for 12.50 seemed a bargain so we went for that. With a pitcher of cheap wine to go with.

Crudités turned out to be a salad bar from which you helped yourself. With a variety of stodge and salad, plus a lump of rustic terrine to hack away at, this alone would have been enough for me on a normal day. But I went easy on it in anticipation of the faux filet. This was a fairly hefty lump of perfectly cooked beef with plenty of chips alongside. None of this was instagrammable but it was highly edible and I finished it to the last morsel. If you want a solid lunch at under £20 a head in Reims you could do worse than go to the Brasserie Saint Maurice.

I’ll also put in a word for Le Sister S, an unpretentious bar a short walk from the Foujita Chapel. This was so unpretentious the barmaid didn’t know what an Aperol was yet had a go at concocting a spritz from our description of it from cheap white wine, soda, lots of ice and some mystery ingredient. Kudos to the guy in the Uruguayan rugby shirt for surprise outfit of the day.

7/10 (BSM) 9/10 (Le S’s)

To see where else I’ve eaten go to the GoogleMap …

Food France Food France French Reims Review