You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October, 2007.
Update (Nov. 3, 2008): This post has been edited and some parts rewritten. See my About page for more details.
Never mind the mixed reviews that you read about the place. I think the half the people who dined here liked it and the other half thinks it’s got too much of the Ducasse influence. I personally enjoyed the evening and love, love, love Hotel Crillon. I have a thing for things and places with history. Coupled that with food from the talented Jean-François Piège, and a memorable evening is made.
Again, I half-filled my tummy with bread. Who could resist butter from Jean-Yves Bordier, really?
The amuse-buche – my favorite was the truffled butter on the far right.
L’s Oeuf Coque ‘Sans Coque’/Girolles/Amandes/Ecrevisses was one of the signature dishes. The fried ‘coque’ was filled with beautiful running yellow egg yolk.
My entree of Caviar Golden d’Iran/Nage Corsée/Langoustines – another signature dish. Hubby had the same thing except his caviar was from Aquitaine. It reminds me of a dish at Ducasse, but the soft yet firm texture of the langoustine just pops wonderfully in the mouth with the salty caviar. We both loved it.
My main dish of Turbot/Galette de Bretagne/Cèpes de Châtaigner. The texture of the turbot was done just right – tender and slightly springy. The only drawback was the galette wrapped around it. I never like the carbs and fish pairing, especially if it came with potatoes. Somehow, I find the carbs clashes with the light taste of fish.
The two side dishes above came with Hubby’s main dish of pigeon. I love the baby greens! (Yes, I am one of those people who will snitch a bite or two from your plate if I fancy something.)
Hubby’s Pigeonneau Désossé/Foie Gras/Jus à l’Olive. When it was served, I didn’t pay much attention to it as I do not like pigeon. But Hubby gave me a mischievous look, turned the pigeon around and all I could do was “That is sexy.” For me, it was the star of the evening.
Almost too sexy to eat.
The cheese cart – it has great Comte aged for more than a year, if I remember correctly.
Below are two of the mignardise offered………popcicles missing!!!!!!!
Hubby didn’t see anything he liked on the dessert menu and asked if the kitchen could just give him a scoop of sorbet. Of course, doing that would be an insult to the dessert chef. Instead, a lovely sorbet medley (or whatever you want to call it) was served. We were surprised with the presentation, thinking the sorbet would come in a fancy dish. Here, they perched deliciously on a thick block of ice.
My dessert of Pacquette Chocolat topped with bananas. I still have great memories of this dish. Normally I could never finish my dessert after a big meal. But, I didn’t even leave a crumb behind with this dish.
The tisane cart. Yes, very Ducasse. But what is wrong with that?
We were also given the menu and a gift of brioche on the way out – very, very Ducasse. Ok, so what.
PS. The wine for the night is from Domaine de la Vougeraie, Gevery Chambertin, Les Evocelles 2002. The label was peeled and given to us in a Les Ambassadeur card – very Le Cinq. Yea, stop saying it’s very Ducasse. ;- )
Update (Nov. 10, 2008): This post has been edited. See my About page for more details.
We ended our trip in Bourgogne with dinner in Dijon at Le Pre aux Clers. Our wine guide had remarked that the restaurant has “interesting food.” That was exactly what it turned out. The chef was very creative. Mixing ingredients that seemingly don’t match. Some came out well, and some are just interesting.
The only drawback was most of us were already too French-foodified. Meaning, our palates were screaming for rice and rice and rice. I think our digestive systems were about to break down from all that heavy dining and drinking. Reservation was already made. We went back to Place de la Liberation. And those who came from abroad showed good spirit by staying awake for dinner.
The two amuse bouche. L particularly liked the presentation of the bend spoons.
Salade de Truffes Fraîches, Petites Croutons – I had thought this would be a light salad, instead the odorless summer truffles came drenched in oil in equally oil-drenched toasts. Interesting dish.
Hubby’s Assiette de Jeunes Légumes de Saison, Consommé de Tomates Tiède, Sorbet Tomate, Copeaux de Foie Gras. We all like this dish.
Carré de Veau Poêlée, Jus à la Chicorée, Gnocchi de Pomme de Terre aux Truffes. The single gnocchi on top was an interesting addition.
Tourte de Canard Sauvage au Foie Gras et Epinard, Sauce Salmi. A little dry but L enjoyed it.
Hubby and I shared the Volaille de Bresse Rôti et Son Jus, Fricassée de Cèpes. It was also the first time that Hubby enjoyed Bresse chicken. This was probably also the only non-interesting dish on the menu.
The chickenb oyster which I still think is inferior to the tiny strip of meat in between the chicken wing’s two bones.
We decided to cancel the dessert because by then the family had given up politeness for sleepiness. The two kids konked out again, and the others were equally tired and their taste buds couldn’t make out any of the food they were eating. I felt like I was torturing them with food. So we called it a night.
Reminder: Don’t book late dinners for jet-lagged relatives and friends.
Update (Nov. 10, 2008): This post has been edited. See my About page for more details.
On our second day in Bourgogne we had lunch at Hostellerie de Levernois after the wine tour. We were surprised to be famished after eating so much food the night before. That said, I really like the garden at the place. I originally wanted to book the hotel for the family but it was all fully booked for the week that we would be there. Dommage, but at least the food was not bad. My only complaint was the waitress that we got. She wasn’t that friendly and while we were browsing the menu, she came and took L’s away!!?! The hotel has a ‘gourmand’ restaurant and a bistro. Unfortunately, the restaurant was open only for dinner and fully booked for the week (sigh!), so the bistro it was. The menu was super simple. Three choices for each category.
The hotel’s lovely garden. The kids had fun running around after lunch.
The lunch wine. 
My entree of Soupe de Tomate (cold), Samosas au Chèvre (with ham inside) – the soup was very refreshing. This could have been a simple light meal in itself, but of course, I have to have the main dish and dessert, right?
M’s main dish of Pôlée Lyonnaise, Pomme de terre sautées that the waitress wrongly informed M was pork fat. Instead, it’s pork belly sauteed with tripe. It was very tender. The only drawback was the innard-y smell.
Hubby’s main of Souris d’agneau braisée, Courgette du Jardin – if I remembered correctly, he said, “Pas mal.”
My main dish of Dos d’Anon Meunière, Piperade aux Basilics – love the fish.
My dessert of Tartelette aux Fruits Rouge.
Love the coffee spoon.
I was ‘cleaning’ my archive when I stumbled across these pictures. I remember stopping by Ladurée for a quick lunch before conducting a mystery shopping for a class. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about Ladurée. There are some things that I like, but there are stuff that I think other pastry shops do better. Plus, the service staff here is just @#$%&*@! Then again, to be fair, I like the historic feel of the place. The day that I was there I was snapping pictures of the shop when the table nearby made a snarky comment about Japanese tourists who snap pictures of everything. Pretending to not understand French, I turned around and snap her picture. She glared. I snapped another with the flash on. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Like a friend who once said,”Don’t lick me. I can be bitter.”
Morel omelette – pas mal.
This is one of the few pastries that I like at Laduree – Rose Saint Honore.
Peugeot pepper grinder. I only found out later that that is Peugeot’s original business.
For our first night in Bourgogne, we had dinner at Le Jardin des Remparts which is near Beaune’s ancient city wall. The restaurant itself is in an old and absolutely charming house. The service was very cordial. When the two kids konked out from jet-lag, they offered to let the kids sleep on the sofa on the second floor. Food was equally good. I can eat here again any time.
The amuse bouche included this bowl of popcorns………………..I ate half of it. Weird. I normally do not like popcorn. 
One of the wines for the night……………………………it was definitely 20 years too young, but we ordered it to celebrate the belated graduation of J. 
Seaweed butter on the right – didn’t like the strong seaweed smell.
Roasted tomato with cream inside and chili chocolate chip – another interesting amuse bouche.
Mixed mushrooms and summer truffle salad – I love the mushrooms but the summer truffles are definitely one of the worst truffles I have ever had. Tasteless, odorless, but crunchy like cucumbers.
J’s escagots came de-shelled – he found it a bit too buttery.
My main dish of pork belly can be summed up in one simple word – delicious!
Truffled mashed potatoes – came with the pork belly. Didn’t touch it because I didn’t like the truffle and do not like potatoes unless they are fried.
Hubby’s main dish of lamb which he loved.
Mignardise – I forgot what those muffin-like things are but they are the softest and moistest muffin-like thing I have ever tasted! In fact it was so good that we unashamedly (there is no need for shame when food is this good anyway) asked to doggy-bag the rest. The staff was also kind enough to pack sandwiches and pears for the kids as mid-night snack or breakfast.
Another mignardise that I didn’t taste. By then, my tummy was about to explode. Must be the popcorns!
My dessert of poached pear and fennel jelly – this was the only disappointment of the night. The poached pear was over powered by the fennel jelly…………the combination just didn’t match.
P ordered some cheese to drink with his wine while I sat and try to digest all that food since lunch at Stephane Derbord…………………………..next time will have to remind myself to stay away from the amuse bouche and bread & butter!
This is yet another restaurant that we dined before leaving for the Bourgogne trip. Not much to say except it’s got good caviar and seafood in general. Other than that I wasn’t impressed. Thus, not much photo.
Bellota ham – an odd choice for a caviar place, but I was craving for them.
Ashtray…..
Fish soup – not bad.
Blini – the size of a pancake.
Pirojki – the meat filling was a little too dry. Actually, the first time I had pirojki was in the early 90’s when I was in college. I was working on a group project at a Russian friend’s house when her mom offered us a plateful of pirojki that she had just made. It was so splendid that I must have ate half the plate! To date, it is still the best pirojki I have ever had.
M’s lobster salad – delicious. Hubby also ordered King Crab salad, and J and P had the Sanka Menu which came with an entree of caviar and main dish of smoked salmon that they both claimed is one of the best they have ever had.
Finally back in Bangkok, and it feels weird to be back after more than four years in Paris. I am not sure how I will adjust to the sudden change. It’s always weird to be back home again after years of living abroad. Somehow, I feel out of place in a familar country. Or maybe it’s the side effect of graduation. Whatever. Time will tell.
I have been meaning to upload my trip to Bourgogne (with the family who came for my graduation) once I landed in Thailand, but the heat has been weighing me down like a blanket of steel. Anyways, the trip was a blast – we literally ate and drank our way through the region. Our first stop was at Dijon, where we dined at the unforgettable Stephane Derbord. The hotesse was very gracious and friendly, while the staff were also very accomodating.
J’s entree of fresh oysters topped with cream – he liked the oysters but not the sauce (can’t remember what the sauce was. It’s been that long.)
Hubby’s entree of tomatoes stuffed crab that was simply delicious even if they came with a weird cucumber and mint drink.
The weird cucumber and mint drink.
The children’s filet de beouf which the chef accomodatingly omitted the mustard sauce.
My main dish of pan-fried poulard de Bresse with pork belly. I am normally not a fan of Bresse chicken, and didn’t understand the brouhaha surrounding them until now. In the past I did find the meat tenderer than ordinary chicken but they were not as flavorful and juicy as some of the free-range chicken found in Asia. However, this dish blew me away. The meat was not only tender but full of good chicken flavors (for lack of better description)……………….or maybe it was the addition of the pork belly? Either way, it’s the best Bresse chicken I had so far. That and at Alain Ducasse.
M’s langoustine which she enjoyed a lot – the langoustines were sweet and had that springy crunch found in fresh seafood.
J’s main dish of cannelloni stuffed with fish – not sure what he thought of it as I was too blown away by the chicken to pay attention to whether he liked his dish or not.
L’s pan fried escalope of foie gras – succulent!
By now, everyone was so stuffed that we could hardly touch the mignardise.
But my dessert of La Buche Chocolat Guanaja et Crème Glacée au Caramel was so good that everyone started eating again.
PS. Haven’t figured out how to type those French accents without a French keyboard. So, some of the spellings may be weird.
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