chez toto, 13 rue auguste brun, latin quartier, noumea

lunch at chez toto was one of those special little lunches that will always be a sweet memory for me...we were on a day stop-over recently in noumea & the french influence was something we wanted more of...especially in the food & wine department!

a local noumea paper was given to us on arrival & after reading through we learnt that in the latin quarter, just 10 minutes walk away, was a little bistro serving authentic french food. 

we arrived just on lunch time and very soon the tiny bistro was completely full with locals ordering, slurping, chatting & eating.  with the menu in french & our waitress not speaking any english we went on gut instinct.  a beaujolais was poured & a basket full of french stick was crunched on.  the assorted meat plate was fabulous consisting of cornichons, duck rillette, salami, terrine, butter & jambon de bayonne (proscuitto).  we also ordered a grilled chevre salad...delicious!  our mains were probably something i would not order again however tasty but big & rich...steak w buttered onions & chips + i had some sort of fish mousse with melted cheese...elastic pants time!

our dining neighbours were an older couple sailing their yacht from nz to bundaberg & had stopped at noumea for a month...chez toto was their favourite restaurant.  they were eating escargot with garlic & parsley butter...they loved them.

noumea itself is a great location to visit & we could have happily spent several days exploring...no doubt returning several times to chez toto for a little bit more of the french life.