In the Colonies across the Pond, I spent a few years as a professional restaurant reviewer and food writer. I have spent the past two years reviewing local restaurants as a hobby. Here's my latest review.
It's hard to give a restaurant less than a sterling review if you had a perfectly adequate meal at a reasonable price. Isn't that what we all expect? But isn't that the point, as well? An adequate meal at a good price should be the average. And in France, it is the average.
So La Menino is an average French restaurant and that's OK by me.
La Menino is about the closest restaurant to the airport outside of Carcassonne that doesn't serve fast food. We couldn't find our TripAdvisor choices, Bad mapping or bad navigation, so we settled for what we could find. The joint was jumping when we arrived for lunch at about 1:00pm. We showed ourselves to the only available table, a table for two, in a room that had seating for about 40. The waitress found us soon enough and, upon learning that we were native English speakers, stopped her perfectly understandable French spiel and sent over her colleague, very pleasant and helpful. No menu, just the deals of the day. 15 euros, all inclusive. The mains were grilled pork; a casserole featuring cabbage, bacon, and onions; and a joint of roast chicken. Cathey and I both chose the pork.
We began at the simple apero buffet - charcuterie mostly for me, salad for Cathey. Nothing special but just enough to make up a plate. The pork was done properly, hot and fast. The chips (fries, for my American audience) were reconstituted but plentiful and hot. Cathey chose the fromage blanc with strawberry jam (homemade, not store bought) and I had a small dish of creamy chocolate (mousse?) with a side of creme anglaise. With a demi of pink (surprisingly good quality) and coffee at the end, the total came to 30 euros...15 apiece as advertised with no ups.
So, the food was proper. The service pleasant and timely. The price was right. All as it should be.
This is France. Average is just fine.