L'Ostal

Rating: 13
Author: Gault&Millau

63000 CLERMONT-FERRAND

13/20
Chef's Restaurant

BOOK

4 PHOTOS

Chef: Quentin Brunet
Cooking: French | Healthy cooking | Modern
Services: Access for people with disabilities | Pets allowed
Style: Romantic

Budget (€)

Indicative price per person (excl. drinks)

49 to 125

Gault&Millau's review 2026

Emmanuel Hébrard has left his Ostal, a volcanic table if ever there was one, in the hands of Quentin Brunet, former chef of the Polypode, a contemporary address in the city center. Here, the chef has achieved an interesting convergence of the two restaurants, taking on the sophisticated spirit of the former chef and his own desire for originality, which he has grafted onto the Auvergne recipes of his predecessor. The fusion isn't as obvious or natural as we'd hoped: langoustine, horseradish and seaweed, well done but out of place; a potato and fish roe, very neo-bistro, rather out of keeping with the prices charged. Quentin Brunet's technique is in fact very serious, displaying fine exercises in precision, notably on the smoked eel crackers or the rye, smoked wild boar and beet tartlet. His signature dish of hen's egg, buckwheat and shiitake gives a glimpse of his potential and ambitions, a strange and very successful fresco, full of texture and a fine gourmet taste, like a destructured Breton galette, evoking a peasant Auvergne. The duck, scorzonera and hazelnuts is a real standout. Fermented milk, chestnut and nashi is a fine winter dessert, both fresh and round. The cellar isn't as well-stocked as it used to be, but it still has some fine racks, particularly of Auvergne wines. Impeccable service and good commentary on the wine.