3 Best Restaurants in Carcassonne, Toulouse and the Languedoc

Just outside the upper city walls, this all-white urbanesque restaurant and wine bar, run by three food-and-design-savvy sisters, offers a reality check after the touristic, turreted streets of La Cité. The blackboard menu highlights experimental touches to classic dishes (like sautéed foie gras in a Thai broth) and helps attract a sophisticated, well-traveled clientele. If returning to the crowds leaves you feeling claustrophobic, consider one of the five loft-style guest rooms in the upstairs inn. Also ask about sister Delphine's B&B not far away.

At the foot of the famous Cathar castle of Lastors, this Michelin-starred treat comes as something of a surprise. Headed by the talented Jean-Marc Boyer, the restaurant serves inventive and artistic meals based on local ingredients.

Nestled beneath the château of Roquefère, an unspoiled village fleuri in the Cabardés region of the Montagne Noire, this regional favorite dishes up amazing steaks and bottomless plates of homemade pâté and charcuterie. Cooked over wood fires, many of the meat-centered dishes are accompanied by mushrooms picked from nearby mountains by the genial chef. This place is worth visiting as much for its rustic charm as for its great food. In warm weather, ask for a table on the terrace amid hills cloaked with oak and chestnut trees.