Kelly's Profile
[London] Late May itinerary critique and specific dish suggestions, please
Family emergency has led to trip cancellation. I am gutted. And can only hope that the my-work-partner's-work-and-child-care stars all align at some time in the not-too-distant future. Sigh. Whenever we do get to bring this itinerary to life, I'll be sure and report back.
Most authentic Vietnamese in Denver?
A craving for xiao long bao sent us back to Lao Wang today at lunch, but they'd run out of food - so we hopped two doors down to Pho Duy. Are their bun dishes a "secret handshake/knowing wink/off the menu and by special request" thing? Because there was nothing on the menu we got but pho (and a couple of items like goi cuon)...
I got the pho with rare beef, brisket and tendon, and thought it was okay. I was a little disappointed because the plate of herbs they brought had only bean sprouts, lime and basil - I had to ask for sawtooth and rau ram.
Will be looking forward to a Pho 95 comparison!
Most authentic Vietnamese in Denver?
Yes, it's precisely the fact that I *don't* remember the name of the dish that is causing the problem. :o) Will check out pho 95.
Most authentic Vietnamese in Denver?
In Denver for a few days and have already hit Lao Wang for xiao long bao and dan dan noodles, and will be making time for tacos/tamales and Vietnamese. Thought I would throw myself on the expertise/familiarity of folks here to see if I can track down a dish that I had and loved in Hanoi a few years ago and have never seen anywhere in the US.
It's a noodle soup - rice vermicelli, grilled pork skewers AND grilled pork meatballs, and tons of herbs. The ingredients make me think of bun cha, but it's definitely a hot soup instead of a cold salad. I dream of those grilled meatballs still...
Can anyone steer me toward the dish of my dreams in Denver?
[London] Late May itinerary critique and specific dish suggestions, please
Thanks for the input, and the foie gras rec at St J (shockingly, it will be my first time there, even though our offices are in Old Broad St).
I'm actually not *too* worried about the Indian lunch - she's brought me to Dishoom and Ndali before, so I might steer her toward Chor Bizarre (just for fun) or Moti Mahal. She's a vegetarian, so I wouldn't push her toward places like Tayyabs or Lahore, and I was utterly unimpressed by Cafe Spice Namaste.
I've been to Pollen St Social after loving Atherton at Maze, and was sadly unimpressed. Just...meh. But mileage always does vary, doesn't it?
[London] Late May itinerary critique and specific dish suggestions, please
It's been way too long since I've had a long enough business trip to London to really dig in and EAT, but I'm planning on rectifying that at the end of May. Hurrah!
Here's what I've got booked:
Thursday
Lunch: St John Bread & Wine
Dinner: Roganic
Friday
Lunch: Colleague is choosing an Indian restaurant. I'm not holding my breath
Dinner: Texture
Saturday
Lunch: Tayyabs
Dinner: Sedap
Sunday
Lunch: Proper Sunday roast - but where? In a frenzy of indecision, we're currently quadruple-booked at Bull & Last, Red Lion & Sun, Harwood Arms and Hawksmoor Seven Dials.
Dinner: Koya (under the assumption we'll want something LIGHT post-roast)
Monday
Trek out to East Ham for a chaat crawl and late lunch at Thattukada before grabbing the Eurostar home
Any and all input welcome - especially on the Sunday lunch. We've never been out to Hampstead - is it worth a trip for a pre-lunch gambol on the Heath if it's nice out? Not that it will ever be nice out again, says the sodden Belgian...
I'm feeling pretty good about the itin overall, but if recent experience at any would lead you to warn me away or steer me elsewhere, I'm all ears.
We'd obviously go for the tasting menus at Roganic and Texture, and I know what I like at Tayyabs, but are there dishes at St John B&W, Koya, Sedap and Thattukada we shouldn't miss?
If kyleoh and JFores don't pick up on this post, I'll issue another one with a specific plea to them in the title. :o)
Many thanks in advance!
Celler de Can Roca - reality intervenes
The only purpose of this post is to hold my naivete up for public flogging. :o)
I just called Celler de Can Roca to see if they had space for us for lunch on any of six dates in mid- to late-April...and was told that the next free table was in...wait for it...January 2013.
I feel like an idiot. :o(
forget camembert, take up tunworth instead
Hear, hear! Tunworth was one of our most recent NY discoveries, and we squirrelled away a round of it in our bag -- it made the return to Brussels much more pleasant (as did the wedges of Spenwood, Cornish Yarg, Montgomery Cheddar, Isle of Mull Cheddar (what is life without comparative studies?) and a FABULOUS stinky washed rind gem from County Cork called Milleens Dotes). UK farmhouse cheeses are extraordinary.
{London] NY Times article on Indian restaurants
Mark Bittman singled out these four restaurants in an article on "no-fuss" "Indian" restaurants in London:
Cafe Spice Namaste
Sitaaray
New Tayyabs
Chor Bizarre
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/travel/in-london-great-indian-food-without-the-fuss.html?ref=travel
Tayyabs gets lots of Chowhound love, but I don't recall -- and the search function confirms -- seeing anything about the others. Any thoughts/recent visits?
The colleague who brought me to Dishoom a few weeks ago loves Chor Bizarre, so we might end up there next week.
A Vegetarian Travelling with Omnivores - Primarily Belgium and Paris
Yes, Toucan does have veggie-friendly dishes; I just don't think it's a particularly good restaurant. :o)
And Antoine's shifted from beef dripping to vegetable oil about 5 years ago, according to one of the staff.
A Vegetarian Travelling with Omnivores - Primarily Belgium and Paris
Les Brassins is tasty, but not particularly near the Horta museum (maybe a 25-minute walk?), and isn't terribly veggie-friendly -- I think they have a vegetarian pasta, and a chevre salad, but the latter comes with smoked salmon. Toucan Brasserie is closer to the museum, but I find it quite average for what you get. A few other options in this area (I've lived here for 12 years, so it's my 'hood!):
Mamma Roma - the pizza place mentioned above (rue du Page, a 3-minute walk from the museum). We're there at least once a week. :o)
Orientalia - a very good, though not at all fancy, Lebanese restaurant. Vegetarian heaven. It's on chaussee de Charleroi, not even 2 minutes from Horta (walk out the door, turn left, turn left at the next corner and it's down a block on the right hand side). Avoid the Lebanese restaurant on Place du Chatelain (La Chatelaine du Liban) - it's much more expensive and not at all good.
Pain Quotidien - yes, it's now an international chain, but before that it was (and still is) a Brussels institution, and I think it's very nice. Always a few vegetarian sandwich/salad options, and it's just opposite Toucan (so about a 5-minute walk from the museum)
Denver trip report: Rioja, TAG, Euclid Hall, Bittersweet, Fruition, La Sandia, Jus’ Cookin, The Truffle
You're absolutely right - see aforementioned jetlag. :o) Root Down was just packed solid and no tables available every night we tried!
Lunch in Denver ???
Where will you be?
I don't know much about the Italian scene in Denver, but I just referenced two excellent lunches in Larimer Square (Rioja and Euclid Hall) in a recent post:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/827762
Denver trip report: Rioja, TAG, Euclid Hall, Bittersweet, Fruition, La Sandia, Jus’ Cookin, The Truffle
Back from our annual holiday trip to Denver, and I’m pleased to report that we ate well. I was saddened to see that Root Down had temporarily closed its doors; but it sounds like they will be reopening in LoDo sometime this spring? I’ll get there someday…
Here are some capsule comments (please forgive the gaps; I should have written these immediately, and the time lapse plus jet lag have done my memory no service):
Rioja
One of two Must Go’s for us while in Denver (the other is Chick-Fil-A!). I love love love the fact that in mid-December, we were lunching on the terrace in shirtsleeves. We have an admitted soft spot for this place, and thoroughly enjoyed our meal: the requisite pork belly with chick pea puree, succulent as ever, and the heirloom beet salad with cucumbers, mint and chevre (excellent) for starters, followed by the skirt steak (one of the beefiest pieces of beef I’ve had in ages) and the lamb burger. But the unexpected highlight was the lemon-yuzu sabayon tart, which stands at the top of my 2011 dessert list. Tangy and bright, with a crumbly cornmeal crust, and perfectly set off by pine nut ice cream and a TOTALLY sour lemon granita. Delish.
$100 for two, including two cocktails and four half-pours of wine
TAG
First of all: Continental Social Food? WTF? How pretentious is that? Second of all: MEH. Or perhaps worse than meh. I will admit that the French onion soup dumplings were more-ish. My mother also said she enjoyed her chicken/dried cherry/pear/arugula salad. But every thing else was a major disappointment. Who puts hiramasu sashimi, yuzu, pop rocks AND TRUFFLE OIL in the same dish? My Kobe beef sliders were 100% flavour-free, and the duck fat fries with sugar instead of salt were revolting. The potstickers were gluey, and the wok-charred edamame were serviceable at best.
Don't remember how much the bill was, but whatever it was, it was way too much. Never again.
Euclid Hall
Am only moderately embarrassed to say I ate here twice in less than a week. And am not at all embarrassed to say I had the Duck Duck Goose poutine both times. :o) I love the fact that the staff is generous with tastes of everything on tap; of all we tasted, I liked the Boulevard Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale best. Other dishes included the sausage sampler (kielbasa (meh), hops/cheddar (surprisingly good), weisswurst (good, with an unexpected hit of caraway) and boudin noir (the winner!)), the pickle sampler (I wasn’t all that impressed), the braised/grilled cabbage stack (undercooked and with an achingly sweet currant sauce), apple-caraway-cabbage slaw (a much better cruciferous choice) and the brat burger (very nice). But that poutine…ain’t nothing even remotely subtle about the combo of duck gravy, cheese curds, a fried duck egg, foie gras and fries, but holy hell, it was yummy.
$70 for two people at lunch (including two beers per person)
Bittersweet
The big letdown of the trip; we took my partner’s daughter and her vegetarian boyfriend there for a special dinner (Root Down was our first choice, but alas…). Unfortunately, they’d removed their vegetarian starter option and the server could only make the inane (and IMO totally unworthy of a restaurant of its supposed calibre) suggestion of a tossed salad. He gamely chose to go pescatarian for the night and settled for the arctic char gravlax, which he said was good. The rest of us opted for Italian sausages and gnocchi; “bacon and eggs” (pork belly, brioche French toast and poached quail eggs); and foie gras and a savory pancake with quince reduction. Sausages were okay; I felt the bacon and eggs were let down by cold and out-of-proportion brioche chunks; and my foie gras might as well have had Mrs Butterworth’s poured all over it – sickeningly sweet. Mains (vegetable shepherd’s pie; pork cheeks with kale and polenta; duck confit with foraged mushrooms) were workmanlike but by no means flawless. Desserts (chocolate chocolate chocolate something and a pecan tart with lavender ice cream) suffered from the same unrelenting sweetness that had characterised my starter. All in all, totally NOT worth the money. I will say that the 2006 Vega Escal Priorat was very, very yummy (though expensive for what it was at $53).
$250 before tip for four people, including pre-dinner cocktails
Fruition
I’ve been angling to get here for the past two years, and finally made it. Did it live up to my (very high) expectations? Probably not – though it certainly didn’t fall as short as Frasca did last year. That said, it was a very, very nice meal, and I would like to go back in summer/fall to taste more of Fruition Farms’ own produce offerings. I found the service here better than anywhere else we’ve been in Denver – straightforward, unobtrusive, knowledgeable and genuinely excited about the food and drink on offer. The ambiance of the room was very nice, and we enjoyed the breads and seaweed/sea salt butter while we perused the menu. For starters we chose the cassoulet with homemade duck sausage and the bay scallops/sweetbreads/Meyer lemon gnocchi/marrow jus. I was 85% delighted with the scallops (I felt both scallops and sweetbreads were slightly overcooked, but loved the bright citrus spark of the gnocchi and the earthiness of the jus) and 100% delighted with the server’s rec of a 2010 Cour Cheverny to go with; it had a touch of unexpected funkiness that went well with the sweetbreads and also picked up magnificently on the lemon notes. Mains were the massive pork chop (fantastic, though I can’t remember the sides) and the “crock pot” veal cheeks with chestnuts, foraged mushrooms, potato purée and Brussels sprout chiffonade. The veal was delightful, though I felt slightly cheated by getting only two cheeks (similar dishes in Paris will get you four, a real turnaround in the usual transatlantic portion control contest!). The wine rec came through again, as a 2006 Chianti paired excellently. I couldn’t resist trying the Fruition Farms’ Shepherd’s Halo brebis for dessert; I thought the cheese was excellent, but really couldn’t be bothered with the accompaniments (pistachio-olive oil cake, candied pecans and something else) – just shoved them to the side and wolfed down the fromage.
On a very nice end note, after a spirited (no pun intended) post-prandial discussion of Belgian beers, digestifs and Calvados (which they do not offer), our server comped us to glasses of Stranahan’s whiskey, which we’d never had before. I’m not a whisker person at all, but found this delightful.
$145 for two people, including four glasses of wine.
La Sandia
Met a friend at Park Meadows mall for lunch, and although my premium margarita was no more than workmanlike, I LOVED my pork carnitas tacos. Warm corn tortillas: excellent. Tender, flavourful pork: savoury. Habanero salsa: explosive. Smoky charro beans: Damn near stole the show.
I’d been to Richard Sandoval’s Tamayo in Larimer Square once before and thought it too fussy, but was really, really pleased to find this so close to my sister-in-law’s house, otherwise stranded in a desert of over-cheesed Tex-Mex. We will definitely be back.
$35 for two people.
Jus’ Cookin’
Laugh if you will – I did – but my partner’s 72-year-old cousin took us to this place out in Lakewood. It is a total time warp, taking me back 30 years to trips to my grandparents’ favourite restaurant, where the waitresses knew everyone and the menu ran to liver and onions, pot roast and pot pie. That’s exactly what this one did, and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t really satisfying! I will not dwell on the iceberg lettuce salad with thousand island dressing, but my pot pie had a fantastic crust and was loaded with massive chunks of chicken and fresh veg. An amusing, totally-not-tongue-in-cheek retro experience.
$40 for three people.
The Truffle
Totally delightful, if miniscule, fromagerie near Cherry Creek. I went in to purchase cheeses for our New Year’s Eve Dinner and ended up tasting just about everything in the place. I’d wanted to go all domestic, but a lot of the best regional cheeses were out of season, so ended up with a mixed bag, including a raw milk goat’s cheddar from Basalt, CO; a pasteurized soft rind goat’s from Vermont; a bleu de Basques; and a FANTASTIC German washed-rind cow’s milk the shop calls Anton’s Hot Love. Next time around I want to get to St Killian’s in Highland and compare.
I regret not getting to Beatrice & Woodsley for cocktails. Next time! And our Fruition server also recommended Potager, Twelve, ChoLon and Masterpiece Deli, so we’re adding them to the list for next year, in addition to Lao Wang Noodle House, The Red Claw, US Thai, Pho 95, Row 14, Trillium…
Dishoom, Covent Garden, London
Funny, I wouldn't consider this a southern Indian restaurant at all. For specifically southern cuisine, I'd opt for a lunch at Quilon in St James Park. Or, for a far less convenient location, Thattukada (Thattakuda?) in East Ham - check Jfores' posts for more on this place.
Dishoom, Covent Garden, London
Well, keep in mind that my expectations have been blunted after 12 years in the Indian-cuisine desert that is Brussels :o) And I'd actually read up on C'hound just before going, which caused me specifically to avoid said naan. But in all honesty, I thought it was excellent.
Dishoom, Covent Garden, London
When it comes to Indian in London, I'm a Lahore Kebab House fan from way back (and love Quilon and Moti Mahal when I'm feeling posh). But this week, my work schedule prevented an East End lunch venture - so a friend brought me to Dishoom.
I was DEEPLY skeptical going in, because it looks like the kind of generic restaurant that offers an 8.95 ploughman's lunch and an upstairs function room. But it smelled good, and the man at the tandoor gave me a cheery smile. And then we started eating:
Bhel puri - a bit more tamarind tang than purely citric zing, and fantastic - ticked all the boxes of fabulous crunch with the constantly shifting interplay of herbal coriander, sharp chili and a touch of unexpected sweetness from pomegranate seeds. FAH-BU-LUSS.
Mutter paneer - put Lahore's in the shade. Mellow heat and perfectly textured cheese.
Lamb boti kebab - I'm not prepared to say these big chunks of grilled lamb are better than Lahore's chops, but if not, they come damn close. Garlic, ginger, chili - perfectly cooked with a lovely toothsome sear on the outside.
Black dal - totally outclassed Lahore, and came very, very, VERY close to Moti Mahal's makhani dal.
Gunpowder potatoes - I've been longing for these room-temp tangy potatoes since having them in a bar in Delhi. SO good.
Naan (which I didn't try) and roti, which didn't fit my perception of roti qua roti - it was a single layer of thin, almost tortilla-like bread rather than a multi-layered flaky thing - but was nonetheless tasty.
Raita - excellent. Good yogurt, chopped cucumbers, a bit of cumin and garlic - what's not to like?
Mint and tamarind chutneys - also very good.
Mango and fennel lassi - while not quite on a par with the mango lassi I had the day before at the Indali Lounge near Baker Street in terms of luxurious creaminess and depth of mango flavour, someone had had the brilliant idea of stirring in a spoonful of fennel seeds. GREAT combo.
*And* it's in central London. I am ever so happy.
"Nice" dinner in central London w/3-year old?
Also had a really nice (early) dinner at Bocca di Lupo with our then-2-year-old in April. Staff couldn't have been friendlier, and I'm a huge fan of their Italian small plates.
Trip report - Tintilou, A la Biche au Bois, Chez l'Ami Jean with a 2-year-old [Paris]
I shall hold on to your words as a lifeline of optimism, Cherie - because my little one is the fussiest d*mn eater you can imagine! The boy won't even eat pasta if it's not plain, and heaven help you if you try to get a vegetable other than raw carrots down him.
But then, of course, he throws a wrench in my stereotyping by waffling down hare and venison. He's also a fiend for espresso (black, please) and wine -- no glasses are safe around him!
I hope someday it will all even out...my Welsh corgi had a much more adventurous palate, all things considered. :o)
Trip report - Tintilou, A la Biche au Bois, Chez l'Ami Jean with a 2-year-old [Paris]
All of these places have been commented on pretty heavily, I know, but I did just want to share how tickled I was with our experiences dining with a toddler.
TINTILOU – If it’s good enough for John Talbott, it’s good enough for me, so off we went for a maman-fils lunch.
The good news: I thoroughly enjoyed their 25 euro “bento” formula – a poached egg with pumpkin espuma, a feuilleté de lièvre, cod with riz noir/mussels/green beans/preserved lemon (the last was an inspired and tasty touch), a ginger cream with pomegranate seeds and a madeleine, all served at the same time in lovely little covered dishes. Ideal for busy businesspeople and mothers worried about their young one’s tolerance levels, and nicely accompanied by a glass of Jurançon sec.
The better news: They could not have been nicer about having a toddler in their midst. The stroller was whisked away to an unobtrusive corner; we were offered a banquette table which was then further improved upon by a chair drawn up to the side so I could be close to Rhys; 10 seconds after we sat down, a stack of children’s books and some paper and crayons appeared on the table, followed shortly by a glass of fresh orange juice; they asked what the young one might wish to eat (nothing, thank you, except for my wild hare strudel, which he unexpectedly gulped down); and they were charmed when he insisted on sniffing the wine and pronouncing it “very yummy.”
The bad news: There were only two other tables occupied! Please don’t let this place go under, because I’d really like to go back again…
A LA BICHE AU BOIS – Hadn’t been here in years, but figured it would be a good, simple, early dinner on Friday night given its proximity to the flat. It’s not setting any gastronomic flames alight – the terrine maison was a bit dry and the cassolette de biche was rather one-note-ish, but with cheese and dessert tossed in for 30 euros a person, it’s a hard deal to beat. I would have been disappointed if we’d made a special journey – but for a five-minute walk, it was fine. And again – though this time the place was PACKED, it was another child-friendly experience: banquette table, poussette stowed away in the kitchen, no less, and an endless supply of aperitif crackers for the little one. Who turns out to like venison, by the way.
CHEZ L’AMI JEAN – I know. Everyone and their mother has already been here. But oh dear Lord, THE FOOD. G. kept it restrained with a simple platter of saucisson sec for a starter, and I went for the boudin blanc, which was divine – served with spiced pumpkin purée, smoked herring foam and a veal jus spiked with piment d’Espelette, it literally melted in the mouth. Then G. went for the axoa – gorgeous soft veal with onions and peppers and a Robuchon-esque potato purée – and I had the dos de chevreuil – lovely rare venison with a massive slab of seared foie gras, poached spiced pears and a pan sauce flavoured with juniper and thyme. We topped it off with the requisite riz au lait…and burn me for a heretic, but we shouldn’t have bothered. Creamy, yes, but just…meh. I should have had another boudin instead. I am dying to go back here for a full-on-please-M.-Jego-will-you-cook-for-us extravaganza, and I can only imagine what it would be like to be a regular – of which there were plenty at Sat. lunch – but I was still deliriously happy with our “quick” lunch.
And AGAIN, lovely with kids – paper and crayons provided post-haste, the hostess kept coming by to chat with Rhys, etc, etc. Given the cramped quarters and cult status of the restaurant, I would never have expected it. It’s nice to be wrong sometimes.
Side notes: We stayed in a flat in rue Traversière in the 12th, and were very impressed by the range of good boulangeries in our immediate 'hood. I'm finicky when it comes to baguettes, and Jacques Bazin, Le Pain au Naturel and Blé Sucré all had delightful versions. And Bazin gets special marks for an insanely good kouign amann.
Lunch on Friday in 11th/12th with a 2-year-old
We are heading to Paris on Friday morning for a weekend a l'improviste; the fact that we'll be there for lunchtime AND are staying in a flat near the intersection of Ave Ledru-Rollin and Ave Daumesnil puts me within shouting distance of several restaurants I've been dying to try:
Septime
Le Tintilou
Qui Plume la Lune
Le Repaire de Cartouche
While it's no guarantee I can get a table at any of 'em, I'd love Hound thoughts on which would be the best for a 2 year old. Okay, "best" might be a stretch, but is there one that would be more tolerant of a kid's presence than others?
Fortified with crayons and cars, my son is usually good for the length of a decent lunch, but he's still prone to the odd holler (MOMMY! LOOK AT THAT!) and dropping of the aforementioned distractions on the floor.
I just don't want to offend anyone, so would prefer to avoid hushed and pristine temples, IYSWIM.
Secondly - has anyone been to la Biche au Bois recently? I haven't been for years, but figure it might be nice for Friday dinner once my husband joins us, as it's close to the flat.
Thanks!
Please help fill in the blanks for London, England
Grilled lamb chops at Lahore Kebab House, umpteen cheeses at Neal's Yard in Borough Market.
-----
Neal's Yard
6 Park St, London, England W1K 7, GB
Please look at my restaurant list and offer feedback
Please, please report back! Your itinerary is exactly what I'd love to do on our next weekend in Paris in mid-November...if only we weren't handicapped by having a 2 year old in tow. :o)
What's good in the Islington neighborhood of London?
Thank you for a lovely list - I don't get to spend much time in Islington, but I 've been fond of it from my first visit; it just has a nice vibe. And the Charles Lamb is simply fantastic. Is Masha the pub dog still there?
Rioja = seriously fantastic!
I'm a huge Rioja fan - we make a point of eating there at least once during our annual trips to Denver - but I have to agree that the tortelloni did not impress me, and that the use of truffle oil is disappointing at best.
The signature pork belly, in contrast, is divine. I believe I may even have ordered as dessert on one visit. :o)
They do have a dessert menu, and the cheese plate is definitely on it. I'm surprised to hear it was "odd," as I think they take great care in matching fairly interesting cheeses with equally interesting accompaniments.
-----
Rioja
1431 Larimer Street, Denver, CO 80202
Help! EARLY dinner TODAY near the Gare du Nord - where oh where?
Just got an email from my colleague - he is in the Eurostar taking particularly sardonic pleasure in seeing all of the noses of his elegantly clad fellow travelers (waifish things, on the way back from Fashion Week) quiver in disgust at the pungent cheeses he purchased at St-Quentin. Thanks again, Parigi - he was delighted with the tip.
Trip report: C'est Mon Plaisir, La Cerisaie, BON [Paris]
Oh dear, didn't make it to the restroom, so I can't tell you!
My favourable review should probably be taken with a grain of salt -- my expectations were the lowest of the low, so I may be rejoicing at something that in another context would have been simply, marginally edible. :o) It was competent, let's put it that way: the nems crevette/coriandre were nicely fried, not greasy, with plump shrimp and a bracing hit of coriander; the emincé de veau, gingembre, shitakés, piment basilic was better than I've had in a lot of Thai restaurants; and a basic vegetable stirfry with sesame and ginger was perfectly cooked, with beans, carrots, and baby bok choy all retaining their true flavours.
That said, the nibbles they passed round as we entered (terrine de foie gras on toasts, gougeres, etc.) were pedestrian at best. The foie, in particular, was slippery rather than silky. Not pleasant. :o)
Trip report: C'est Mon Plaisir, La Cerisaie, BON [Paris]
A quick debrief on the last couple of days in Paris. Thankfully, a professional conference didn't prohibit sneaking away for two "for fun" dinners.
C’est Mon Plaisir
John Talbott's favourites list pushed me toward this bistronomique place on the Ile St-Louis. The room is tiny (20 seats) and attractive, but just a wee bit too brightly lit to be truly lovely. After an amuse-bouche of poached chicken roulade that seemed about as obligatory and pleasure-less as Thanksgiving with the in-laws, dinner consisted of two high points with a sag in the middle.
Started with a creamy crab soup with roasted fennel, sausage, hazelnuts and raisins – don't ask me how this worked, but it was divine. The interplay of flavours was simply remarkable.
But after this soupy splendour -- having read on John's blog that fish was one of the restaurant’s strong suits -- I was doubly disappointed with the main: cod with lomo d'Iberico, Tarbais beans and Sherry vinaigre. It was just dull, stodgy and underseasoned; bah! Nothing to redeem it.
Except, that is, the cheese plate, which cheered me up no end: gorgeously well aged Valencay, Coulommiers au poivre, bleu de Serzac and Langres. The Coulommiers was one of the best cheeses I've ever had, full stop. We drank a respectable but not inspired 2007 Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, and the total for 3 people was 129 euros. Such were the starter and the cheese that I’m willing to give them another try. And it IS just across the street from the Berthillon mothership…so the meal could be followed by extraordinary ice cream.
La Cerisaie
When a friend took me here in 2006, the food was so chortlingly good I swore I'd go back. Better late than never...
I hate the fact that double seatings have arrived in France – especially when circumstances conspire to force the early seating upon me. In this case, though I was grumpy at having to give up our table at 9pm, the sacrifice did get me back to the gare du Nord in time for my Thalys.
My friend. had a soupe de poisson with a lovely rouille to start, and I had an oeof cocotte à la crème de truffes d’automne. A’s soup was perhaps more shellfishy than fishy, but I don’t count that as any kind of a bad thing. My poached egg was perfectly cooked and arrived in a little glass jar atop a sort of bread pudding luxuriating in a bath of truffly cream, with a generous shaving of truffles atop. The sole complaint: it could have used a touch of salt, and there are no saltcellars on the tables. Alas. Mains were lièvre à la royale (hare stewed in a wine sauce thickened with its own blood) and canard sauvage aux coings. A’s hare was gamy and earthy; my duck was perfectly cooked and flavourful, with the aromatic quince setting it off nicely.
Everything went very, very well with the excellent Faugeres the waitress steered us to – a gently spicy bargain at 28 €. A. made the better dessert choice, with stewed reines-claudes, while I completely lost my head and ordered a baba à l’Armagnac. The over-the-top booziness meant I could have set my breath afire if I’d had a match.
Many, many, many tourists (well, as many as you can fit into a 20-cover place), for those that like to keep track of such things.
BON
This doesn't really count as a review, as we'd hired the place out for a client dinner, and a buffet at that - not a true representation of the kitchen's skills, I always think. But I do have to say that my snide and snooty expectations were totally surpassed - the Asian-esque dishes were really GOOD. And the Champagne and wines were excellent. For Philippe Starck fans, the space itself is a treat. I don't know that anything will ever take me to this corner of the 16th again, if if it does, I'd actually be pretty happy to go back.
And one last note: I sent friends to Josephine Chez Dumonet for dinner, and received a flood of ecstatically grateful tweets in return. They said it was among the best meals they've ever had - the food, the chaotic service, the ambiance - it all added up to a huge hit.
-----
La Cerisaie
Boulevard Edgar Quinet, Paris, Île-de-France 75014, FR
Help! EARLY dinner TODAY near the Gare du Nord - where oh where?
Whoops, Parigi, looks like you're right! From lefooding.com: de 11h45 à 14h30 et de 18h45 à 22h30 (non-stop du mercredi au jeudi). Hurrah!
Help! EARLY dinner TODAY near the Gare du Nord - where oh where?
Thanks, Parigi - I don't think Casimir is open all day - my partner was there a couple of months ago for dinner and had the earliest seating he could get, at 7pm. I shall pass on the market idea and the poulet fermier tip to my colleague
The only other place I could think of is Saravanaa Bhavan -- but as he's a Londoner, his craving for Indian food is met more easily than mine on his home turf!
