Bordeaux · Food

The covered market south of the centre, and where people go for oysters and a glass of white before most kitchens have opened. Fish, cheese and produce stalls with a handful of counters to eat at. Go in the morning; it winds down by early afternoon.

Southwest cooking over an open fire at 6 rue Porte de la Monnaie, running since 1968: duck, offal and whole birds turned in front of you. Tuesday to Sunday 12pm–2pm and 7pm–10pm, plus Monday evenings. Book, and arrive hungry.

A small fluted cake with a burnt-sugar crust and a soft custard centre, sold by the bag in every bakery in the city. They are a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack here rather than a dessert course, and they are worth buying warm and eating the same day.

The Arcachon basin is an hour away, so oysters arrive on market counters and in bars by the half-dozen with a glass of dry white alongside. Treated as a snack rather than a formal starter, which is why you can eat them at nine in the morning without anyone blinking.