When Dan and I arrived in Bordeaux for a long weekend, we ended up with about an hour to kill before meeting our Airbnb host in the Saint-Michel neighborhood.  Bordeaux’s Saint-Michel neighborhood is located just south of the main tourist area.  Saint-Michel is beautiful, charming and eclectic part of Bordeaux, with, in addition to French, a mix of Middle Eastern, North African and Latin influence.

After disembarking the tram at the Porte Bourgogne stop, we walked up and down Cours Victor Hugo in search of a sit down restaurant that could accommodate our luggage.  As a side note, I LOVE planning meals and not having a set place to go with good reviews was really stressing me out!  After passing many, many take out Turkish restaurants we stumbled upon Los Dos Hermanos, what appeared to be a Spanish restaurant with a hand written menu and outdoor seating that would accommodate our luggage – sold.

Bordeaux is located very close to the Spanish border, particularly the Spanish Basque region.  This location makes Bordeaux an excellent place to try authentic Spanish and Basque cuisine.  We easily got a seat outside at Los Dos Hermanos, but there was a bit of a language barrier in ordering…

We started out with Los Dos Hermanos’ sangria.  We assumed Spanish sangria must be great, right?  Not so.  It was super sweet and just not good sangria.  At least it was cheap.  The rest of our meal proved to be much better!  We started with Jamon Serrano (a type of Spanish ham) and Manchego cheese (a type of Spanish cheese)!  The jamon was amazing. Traditional, Spanish Jamon Serrano!  As was the Manchego, which was served with a bit of membrillo (quince paste)!  The portions were also good sized and paired excellently with the sliced baguette on the table.  We made mini open-faced Jamon Serrano-Manchego-baguette sandwiches!  An awesome start to our impromptu lunch!

After the Jamon Serrano and Manchego cheese, we moved on to beignets de courgettes, which turned out to be fried zucchini with lemon.  These were pretty tasty and there were a lot of them.  However, it was the low point of our meal, even though I would order them again! I guess that says a lot about the restaurant!

We rounded out our meal with the filet de porc.  The pork was cut into small pieces and served in an oil that was a bit spicy.  The pork was great and there was a lot in that little bowl, and it also paired well with the baguette on the table!

I would really love to go back to Los Dos Hermanos and try everything on the menu!  This is certainly a good, casual and inexpensive option for trying Spanish food in Bordeaux, especially for those on a budget.  Be sure to bring a language book if you do not speak French or Spanish – there is not an English menu and when we visited, the staff did not speak English.

STEAL OUR TRIP

Los Dos Hermanos: 52 cours Victor Hugo, 33000, Bordeaux, France. Reservations can be made on La Fourchette, but probably are not necessary.  Closed Sunday.

ON A BUDGET

Los Dos Hermanos is a good budget option and an excellent opportunity to try Spanish food in France, especially since Spain is so close by!  Los Dos Hermanos also has a cheap wine list (ask for the Carte des Vins).