Léonce in nearby Florensac had a dedicated following and the unexpected closure towards the '90s was a big blow to the area's fine dining scene. A tip off from a reader that Jean-Claude Fabre was cooking here made an early visit essential and we were not disappointed. In season the Île de loisirs will be stuffed with tacky holiday attractions and the Hotel du Golf offers an oasis from this -- all be it an anonymous international one. Le Caladoc is separate from the main hotel and the simple contemporary dining room works well. You could be anywhere, but in Cap d'Agde that really is just as well.

The essence of Jean-Claude's signature dishes have been kept on a menu offering plenty of choice, with many being available as half portions. At lunch there was a great value (now 25 €) three course offering.

We ordered cannellonis roulés aux piquillos and brandade à la chair de crabe that was endowed with a heavenly seafood sauce incorporating the unctuous dark meat from the crab. Plancha d'encornets au sofragit à la goutte acidulée was mixed with white coco beans. Sofragit seems to be a Catalan sauce that includes peppers, anchovies, garlic, onion and saffron.

Riz "Carnoli" en presque risotto, coulis mousseux aux coquillages et crevettes was a tasty shellfish rice dish. For dessert le cake chaud au praliné coulant with passion fruit sorbet plus a sushis à l'ananas, riz au lait au cœur fruits rouges, crème coco aux perles du Japon, réduction acidulée au safran made an interesting contrast to share.

The wine list offers a good choice of local wines at all price levels and mark ups are reasonable. Try the white viognier from up the road.

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