Ranked by TableJourney editorial score.
Chicken braised and finished in a sauce of cream and melted maroilles, the washed-rind cheese of the Avesnois. Powerfully savoury, and always served with frites.
Maroilles is reported to have first been made in 962 by a monk at the Abbey of Maroilles, southeast of Lille, and it won AOC status in 1976 and AOP in 1996. It is a washed-rind cheese with an orange crust and a smell that arrives before the plate does. Northern kitchens use it as a sauce base rather than a cheese board, and chicken in maroilles is the most common result. Every estaminet on Rue de Gand has a version, and the differences come down to how much rind goes in the pan.
3 editor picks for Poulet au maroilles in Lille, ranked by editorial score. All Lille signature dishes · Poulet au maroilles across every city.
Chez la Vieille on Rue de Gand in Lille is the maroilles house of the strip, a cluttered estaminet where the cheese turns up in almost every course.
OrderMaroilles croquettes first, then the chicken in maroilles sauce.
TipSame family runs four estaminets in Lille. This is the one to pick if maroilles is the point of the meal.
Estaminet La Vieille France on Rue de Gand in Lille seats 65 and cooks the northern canon, carbonade, blanquette de veau, potjevleesch and pot au feu.
OrderCarbonade flamande, cooked long in brown beer.
TipClosed Tuesday and Wednesday at lunch. Sixty-five covers fill up, so a weekend evening needs booking.
L'Estaminet Lillois on Rue de la Barre in Lille pours around twenty regional beers and cooks carbonade, potjevleesch and chicken in maroilles.
OrderThe welsh made with pain d'épices instead of plain bread.
TipClosed Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday is dinner only and Sunday is lunch only.
Poulet au maroilles makes more sense with someone from Lille explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.
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