The restaurants reviewed in this report are the following.
Chez Michel
La Table d’Aki
Chez l’Ami Jean
Le Dome
Ledoyen
CHEZ MICHEL
The service is crappy, but this is one of the great classic bistros.
Amuse: We started with bigourneaux with mayonnaise and very good dark bread. They were good, but they had forgotten to bring them. Our first courses arrived without wine and the amuse.
The “Croustillant de Pieds de Veau et Salade de Pois Chiche” gets a kick from the lemon peel and cumin. The firm abalone in the shell with a vinegary sauce made from its own liver, “ormeau de Tregar Roti Ail et Persil,” also features tiny fried onion rings. Homemade “pate en croute de gibier a plume” is truly superb too. The pate is made from grouse, partridge, hare, and some foie gras to render it more decadent.
For main courses, “St. Jacques Poelees et Puree de Topinambours” features fine pan fried scallops, but the real plat de resistance is the “Lievre a la Royale et Parmentier d’Epaule.” No shortcuts are taken in this dish, which contains a thick piece of foie gras, parsnip puree, and some sliced white truffles.
Don’t miss the very Breton Kouign Amann for dessert. It is crisp, buttery, and fulfilling.
Beer: Duchesse Anne Triple beer. It is excellent.
Wine: 2009 Fleurie Maison Foillard. The wine is quite dark, but perfectly balanced and very fruity. It is smooth, with good concentration, but light in its feet. The strawberry, blackberry, and blueberry fruit is ripe, but not jammy. It has 13% alcohol. 93/100
Ranking: 4.5/5
LA TABLE D’AKI
The wine list is not good; BYO for a 35 Euro corkage fee.
Lunch is good, but not as good as dinner.
But he cooked langoustines for us upon request. It was the best dish: “langoustines fricassee with epinard.” The foamy sauce is from its own stock. The very very fresh langoustines are served with crisp spinach.
The two fish dishes were good, but not the best I have eaten there. Firstly, we had “panache de poissons en petite nage de legumes anises.” This featured Saint Pierre, Bar and Cabillaud with julienned vegetables. (He is probably using there the fish he has not finished the previous night.) The second was “fricassee de sole aux endives a l’orange,” and this was better.
The dessert we shared was actually very good: Apple strudel with raisins.
We drank a half bottle of 2010 Girardin Puilly Fuisse, which was nice, clean, round, and well made with a steely finish. 90/100
Ranking: 4/5
CHEZ L’AMI JEAN
“Potage de cochonailles” featured fried innards, chorizo, boudin noir, Andouille, and saucisson. This was very good, but this time we did not have the great five years aged beef-bresoala.
The chef sent tiny scallops in the shell, “petoncles,” braised in white wine and parsley, which was excellent.
Next we had very fresh “ris de veau roti braise ail et thyme,” with capers and bacon, and equally tasty wild pigeon, “palombe,” with bacon, foie gras, and chestnut/potato puree on the side in a casserole which was brought to the table when we had eaten half of the palombe. We saw some grouse brought to the adjacent table which was not on the menu.
“Riz au lait grand maman” with caramel beurre sale and nougatine is always a delight.
Avoid ordering wine by glass. The Chablis they serve for 15 Euro is a shame, because the Chablis is mediocre. Order a bottle, such as the 2007 Fitou, Les Milles Vignes, Cuvee Atsuko. It was indeed the right match with game. It is full, but not overextracted, warm and spicy, with 13.5% alcohol. 91/100
Grade: 4.5/5
LE DOME
This is a dependable seafood brasserie. They serve smoked salmon on toast as an amuse. We had excellent, briny and deep tasting Belon no. 1 oysters and oursins Irlandais. (It is hard to find sea urchins from Brittany nowadays.)
As an appetizer, the monkfish liver, “foie de lotte poele, un ragout de celeri et epinards” is very good. The fresh monkfish liver is creamy and not iodized or fishy.
The “medaillons de lotte braisee aux truffes, cuisine bourgeoise” was a tad overcooked. They were accompanied by celery root, carrots, leeks and potatoes. Ask for a big sole fish for two when you reserve.
We had two good desserts: “moelleux chocolat, caramel et beurre sale a Coeur, glace chocolat” and “tarte au citron meringue.” You can also consider their specialties, the millefeuille or the apple tart for two.
Wine: 2011 Francois Cotat Sancerre “Les Monts Damnes.” It has a floral aroma. It is an expansive, lush, and not too grassy Sauvignon, with pear and apple flavors. The finish is long, with saline minerality. It has 14.5% alcohol. The 2010 is better than 2011, but the 2011 is very good too from this reliably good producer. 92/100
Ranking: 4/5
LEDOYEN
This is now one of the best restaurants in the world, definitely in top ten. Monsieur Simiand is a great host and Monsieur Frederique, a true gentleman, is most trustworthy in helping one design the menu.
Amuses: liquid ginger balls, jelly of apple and verveine, a truffled dried mushroom with cheese, and foie gras meringue with citron.
They also serve crisps of shrimp with squid ink and with horseradish.
Breads are great at Ledoyen and the brioche is too dangerous because it is irresistible.
They brought a third amuse which is actually an entrée on the menu: “Gratinee d’oignons a la Parisienne contemporaine.” It was onions in different textures (confit, liquid center), all sweet, and gratineed with bread crumbs and parmesan.
Then the feast began. First we had “Rape de truffes d’Alba, carpaccio de langoustines juste raidies.” This dish had barely cooked langoustines, a jelly from the head, and shaved truffles, which were firm and aromatic in 2013. This is a classic dish, reminiscent of Ducasse’s San Remo shrimp with gelee and caviar.
Another no miss is “Jambon/Champignon aux spaghetti, truffe blance rapee par le maître d’hotel, jambon de Paris.” It is square shaped, holding jambon and ceps inside, with a classic intense sauce that contains mushroom jus. The dish is gratineed, with shaved truffles on top. I think this dish should be consumed with black rather than white truffles, because it overwhelms the white truffles. It is a very fulfilling dish.
Veal sweetbreads are a masterpiece here: “Ris de veau en brochette de bois de citronelle rissole jus d’herbes, salsify.” This is 20/20.
Another masterpiece is the smoked eel: “Toasts brulee d’anguilles reduction de jus de raisin.” This is a red wine dish because the reduced squid ink jelly and jus de raisin (verjus?) sauce, with a smokey flavor, asks for red wine. This dish is served with squared potatoes with horseradish.
If you are there in November, don’t miss the “Grousse d’Ecosse facon Royale, pates a la chataigne.” The internal organs of the grouse are used in the classic superb sauce “Grand Veneur.” There is a touch of dark chocolate in the sauce. The dish is accompanied by chestnut pasta, with chestnut and apricot purees. This is another 20/20 dish.
Overall, we should not have gotten eel because the last two dishes are too strong. It would have been better to choose either the eel or the spaghetti.
There are good desserts, but it is hard to resist one of the world’s best non-chocolate desserts: “croquant de pamplemousse cuit et cru.”
We finished with nice petit fours with the coffee, including red fruit balls, pistachio macaroons, passion fruit balls, and coconut balls. There were also chocolates: “white chocolate, candied chestnuts, etc…”
They offer Quing Aman to finish, if you can eat anything else!
We had a glass each of Phillipponat Cuvee 1522 and a glass of 2006 Pierre Monsuit, besides the following bottles.
2001 Josmeyer Pinot Gris. This wine has a ripe tropical fruit nose, with pineapple, pear, and grapefruit. It is lush, opulent, and elegant, with some residual sugar. It is quite complex, balanced, with a touch of minerality in finish. 93/100
1998 Clos Rougeard “Les Poyeux.” This wine has a mineral, iron, wet cloth, and herbal aroma. The tannins have melted. It is on par with a Grand Cru Saint Emilion. It has soft spices and earth in the finish, great structure, and is light and intense at the same time. It can age effortlessly for another 10+ years. 95/100
Ranking: 19/20