Isaki L’Isaki
Grilled and set on a fondue of new onion, with basilico and a tomato-essence tapenade sauce
grille avec une essence de tomate a la tapenade et une fondue d’oignon blanc
I’ve never had fish grilled this well. It beats most Japanese restaurants. The green sauce on the bottom was drawn so precisely that at first I thought it was a decoration on some fancy plate. Not just the presentation, the taste deserves to be called art too. The nicely grilled flesh, balancing lightness and a toasty savouriness, together with the fresh basilico sauce really brings back the feel of the fresh-green season. I’d dare to call it the best dish of the day.
Wild sea bream from Nagasaki Prefecture La Daurade
With étuvée leeks and a lemongrass-scented crème
servie avec une creme et huile de citronnelle et des poireaux etuves
This one was no slouch either. The presentation is stunning, but what on earth do they make this foam sauce with to get it so silky? The bream was nicely cooked too, though it bothered me that it was a bit too mild. Personally I preferred the richer isaki, but that’s probably because I ate the two side by side. Had I eaten them separately, it would have been hard to pick a winner.
Finally the main is coming out. In a way, the main might be the most ordinary thing at this place ^_^
With the Menu Dejeuner you have to choose between pork and chicken. I chose the chicken, but I had a feeling I’d picked wrong. It came out as something different from what I’d expected. Just when I thought I’d gotten fairly used to Italian, French turns out to be an even bigger hurdle.
Chicken from Iwate Prefecture La Volaille Fermiere
Made into a ballottine with eggplant and basmati rice, with a spicy chickpea ragout
en ballottine aux aubergines confites avec un ragout de pois chiche epice
I was expecting grilled chicken, but that’s what came out. Well… the taste was ordinary. The cabbage garnish was actually the better part, nice and tangy.
Select wagyu loin Le Boeuf
Grilled, with étuvée of seasonal vegetables
grille avec des legumes de saison au jus
Beef tasted like beef. No way it could beat a wagyu steak specialist. As expected, the main was the most ordinary thing here. ^_^
Before dessert, the cheese cart comes around.
Cheese isn’t included in the lunch course; it’s charged separately à la carte. I thought it was on the house. They could have told me beforehand… Still, I ordered some for the experience.
Brie and goat cheese, with complimentary dried apricots
The goat cheese was good. I should have gone for something stronger. It would have been even more fun with red wine, but I didn’t have any, which was a bit of a shame. And this has nothing to do with the cheese, but the apricots were really delicious.
Camembert, blue cheese, apricots
Again, such a shame there was no wine..
They give you bread on the house.
I’m starting to get full now.
But you can’t skip dessert, the highlight of French cuisine. Everything so far was just a starter before the dessert.
Marinated fruit Les Fruits
Paired with an oriental-style gelée, with mint sorbet
frais servis avec une gelee a la saveur onentale et un sorbet a la menthe
This is fruit served as a palate cleanser before dessert. It was the only overlap in today’s lunch menu. Fine as a palate cleanser, but a bit weak.
Gâteau chocolat Le Chocolat Caraque
A brûlée topped with pear cream, with coffee ice cream
en biscuit avec une glace au cafe et une creme brulee a la poire
A piece of chocolate craftsmanship.
Fraise La Fraise
Vanilla ice cream pavlova topped with red fruits
en “pavlova” avec une glace a la vanille
It almost looked too good to eat. I didn’t know where to put my spoon first.. But the taste wasn’t as great as I’d hoped. There was quite a lot of biscuit around the ice cream. Trying to keep the balance as you eat, you end up badly short of ice cream. Meh.. Presentation matters, but they should have piled on a bit more ice cream. I think the desserts at La Table de Joël Robuchon were better.
Tea comes after this, but eating like this, two and a half hours had passed, and with no time left I just left. If you ate the whole thing properly, lunch alone would take over three hours. A place like this is one to enjoy slowly after taking a day off. Or go for a big dinner ^_^ Though dinner would easily cost two or three times the lunch..
I finally made it to a three-star restaurant, a lifelong wish. I’m so happy that there’s still so much of the amazing world of cuisine left out there. Riding this momentum, shall I make elBulli the next goal? ^_^ Wherever I eat and whatever I eat, the gourmet life and this blog will keep going.. Look forward to the next visit report~