Le Sentier: Hotel Bellevue le Rocheray: Wonderful fish in the Lac du Jour

Hotel Bellevue le Rocheray...a quaint little hotel, right by the lake...Lac du Jour. In the middle of the watchmaking district in Switzerland.

The hotel is called bellevue not for nothing...in French bellevue means beautiful view. And indeed looking into the lake, the view is nothing short of breathtaking. Click here for a panorama (1920 pixels across).

I had once stayed here at this charming little hotel and enjoyed its cuisine several years ago, and being back this time brings back fond memories. I particularly remember a wonderful lunch I had with the Grandmaster of watchmaking Philippe Dufour, which featured a fillet of pike from the lake, which was truly a marvel in cooking...wonderful tasting fish, done beautifully.



I returned again this time with Philippe and my friends, but pike was not on the menu this time. We had a kind of lake trout.

But first, starters...a grilled liver of chicken in an interesting savoury, slightly sweet and a tad acidic sauce which was absolutely wonderful.



The sauce nicely sets against the rich, slightly powdery, but supremely tender chicken livers. And the small cup of salad and caramalized pineapple cubes in the foreground. Nice. Shiok.

For the mains, a beautiful trout from the lake:



Served with a rich buttery sauce, and french fries, it was almost reminscent of the wonderful pike I had, though not quite. The pike was a white fish, and the trout's meat was a bit pink...half way towards salmon. The flavours were also different. The trout was a bit more flakey. But nonetheless delicious.

Highly recommended restaurant if you are in the region. The dining room is often filled with the who's who in watchmaking at the Jura...with the independents like Philippe and Daniel Roth (the man, not the company), and large manufactures like Jaeger LeCoultre and Audemars Piguet just around the corner, their executives entertain their clients in the restaurant. On the way out, we spotted a little poster on the 50 watchmaking greats...and indeed our friend Philippe is one of those featured:





Hôtel ***Bellevue Le Rocheray
CH-1347 Le Sentier
+41 (0)21 845 57 20
+41 (0)21 845 47 20
info@rocheray.ch



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