The World's Largest Cheese Board at La Cloche at Fromage
Despite our name, CheeseWeb, it’s not often I actually write about cheese here. Two weekends ago, however, Andrew and I had a super cheesy experience at La Cloche a Fromage, an incredible cheese restaurant in Strasbourg, France.
I’ve always loved cheese. In fact, as a child, I would much rather sit down with a block of cheese than a bag of potato chips. Moving to Europe opened a whole new world of cheese possibilities and our first expat experience in Holland inspired the name of our blog.
So, when I stumbled upon a review of La Cloche a Fromage, while looking for a nice place to eat in Strasbourg, and I read it’s listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest cheese board in the world, I knew we had to try it. With over 70 varieties of cheese,we definitely weren’t disappointed.
La Cloche a Fromage is located a few blocks from the main square and cathedral of Strasbourg. As you near the door, you can already begin to smell the mouth-watering aroma of cheese.
The menu is a cheese-lover’s heaven. Each item features at least one kind of cheese. For those desiring even more cheesiness, there are a variety of fondues, raclettes and cheese tasting menus. On our visit, Andrew opted for a traditional raclette and I opted for a three course menu, the main course being a 14 cheese tasting plate.
After we ordered, our waitress appeared with a rather barbaric looking contraption and plonked it down beside Andrew. She proceeded to plug it in and turn on a lamp-like heating element. Neither of us had ever had a traditional raclette, only the more modern frying-pan style ones, so we weren’t entirely sure what to do with it. Luckily, the ‘cheese master’ arrived with half a wheel of cheese and instructions.
The cheese was mounted under the heat lamp and allowed to begin melting. Meanwhile, Andrew was served potatoes, sausage and pickled vegetables he placed on a plate, under the melting cheese. He then used a scraper to scrape the melted cheese onto his plate. Delish!
Andrew's Meltingly good Raclette
While he was figuring out how to eat his dish, my first course arrived – grilled figs with goat cheese. Gorgeous!
Grilled figs with goat cheese
The cheese master returned to explain the 14 cheeses of my main course. The names flew past in a blur but I took much longer sampling and savouring each delicious morsel. Although I enjoyed them all, the blue cheese was mind-blowing – the best I’ve ever had.
My main course of 14 cheeses
Fourteen cheeses were starting to push even my cheese limits, so I was grateful for a light dessert of fresh strawberries in balsamic vinegar. On the recommendation of our server, we enjoyed our meal with a bottle of local Pinot Gris which worked perfectly with the various cheeses.
We were both a bit worried how we’d feel after our cheese indulgence but I’m happy to report that although we were quite full, neither of us suffered any ill effects.
If you’re a lover of cheese, La Cloche a Fromage in Strasbourg is not to be missed. If you can’t make it for a meal, you can visit the cheese boutique and take some cheese home with you.
La Cloche à Fromage
27, rue des Tonneliers
67000 Strasbourg , France
Stay tuned for more stories on our trip to Alsace, France coming up. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter and to receive our posts by email so you don’t miss a thing, over the summer. If you enjoy CheeseWeb, show your support by becoming a fan on Facebook.
4 comments
simon says:
Jul 12, 2011
Looks fantastic. I’d love to try it. For information, La Prieuré de St Géry also has a pretty good selection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonlitton/5427026437/in/set-72157625876950957
Also, when I was in the States recently I noticed lots of references to “Blue cheese”, without specifying exactly which kind it was (stilton, roquefort, gorgonzola…). Is this a generalisation, or is there a specific variety that goes by the name of “blue cheese”?
Alison says:
Jul 12, 2011
Hi Simon, I’ll have to check that place out. We have a pretty good little cheese shop here in St.Josse as well.
As for Blue cheese, what I had was a roquefort. I think in the States and also Canada, it’s only recently blue cheeses have become mainstream and there are a lot of people who just would not consider eating ‘moldy’ cheese. Places probably clarify on menus that it is blue cheese so people don’t order it without realizing and then being horrified. It is still also illegal in North America to sell raw cheeses so we miss out on a lot of the good stuff
Mack Reynolds says:
Aug 30, 2011
Sounds really good. The way they plated it looks really classy too. Looks like a really elegant experience. I have never heard of that cheese-melting contraption, but it sounds and looks really cool, especially because you’re melting cheese for sausage. Can’t go wrong there!
Alison says:
Aug 30, 2011
It was fantastic and I highly recommend trying a raclette… melted cheese, meat and potatoes… you can’t go wrong there