9/11/15: So we were driving to Marseilles from Monaco, but the traffic was totally insane. We…read morefigured we could eat and hopefully wait out the traffic, so we just randomly stopped here. And then Yelp did the rest.
The location is totally awesome! It's right along the shore, with a small boat dock nearby. When we came, the restaurant was almost empty, but according to the hosts the outside patio was completely booked ahead, save for two tables. Lucky us! From where we sat we were able to enjoy dinner as the sun set over the water, giving us its glowing orange goodbye for the night. Enchanting.
1. Eau 1L 6 EUR: We got some fancy bottle sparkling water. Came in a classy big glass bottle. Well, 6 EUR for water... what can I say?
2. Cafe 3 EUR: Don't remember how it tasted, but I'm sure it was good.
3. Amuse Bouche: It was some kind of mango salad? Was refreshing. Nice touch. 7/10
4. Menu du Terroir 42 EUR:
4a. Tartare de thon frais au Combawa et concombre, pickles de mini poivres rouges, pousses de salade, sauce yaourt a l'huile d'olive perlee au soja: So, it's a fish tartare. Feel free to google translate the rest. The plating was absolutely gorgeous!--I mean, truly stunning. Lots of colors--green, red, purple, you name it. The tartare was not the pounded type, but closer to poke formed into a brick. The fish was fresh, and the seasoning very light. You have to mix it with the surrounding vinaigrette to get more flavor. Overall maybe a little too light for me, but you certainly can taste the fish very well. 8/10
4b. Duo de poissons roti, ecrase de pommes de terre Agata au parmesan, fenouil fondant, tomates grappes et aromates: Two kinds of fish with cheese on top. Now, if you've watched the Food Channel, it's probably been pounded into you that cheese should never be mixed with fish, but here you have it--cheese topped fish. The grilled fish was absolutely perfectly cooked--grill stripes and all, and the skin quite crispy. Can't remember much of the other fish. But both tasted great. The were plated on top of some kind of vegetable medley, which I remember was quite good too. Very nice. 8/10
4c. Divers sorbets maison, fruits frais, tuiles dentrelles: Mmmmmm!--amazing tasting for both the palate and eyes!!! Totally beautiful!--again so many colors and visual textures. They got some fancy fruits in there too, complete with this one fruit that I've seen before but can't name--it's like a super sweet tomato inside thin leaves. I've never seen it in stores before, but my friend grew them. Anyway, lots of amazing fruits and sauces. Underneath it all sits a cookie-like pastry that crumbled easily. Tasted as good as it looked! 10/10
5. Bourride 45 EUR: So, this is their signature dish. The restaurant's named after this specialty from the Languedoc coast, after all, so I expected a lot. And to top it off, 45 EUR!!!--so it's hella expensive. So this version consisted of a whole gargantuan shrimp, head and all, sitting on top of fish. The bowl is filled with a cream-based light-yellow soup, with lots of tiny mussels. Not sure if it's typical for France, but the mussels really are tiny--about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of American ones. The soup kinda resembled ultra thin clam chowder, like the Hog Island version in SF, if you've ever had that, but unfortunately with a ton less flavor! It's served with ultra hard croutons and a special mayo-based sauce. We were told to dip the crouton in the mayo, then dip into the soup to eat. I dunno--the crouton was too dry to taste good to me, but their bread was awesome so we used that instead. Anyway, as I said, it was all sorta underwhelming. Not too much flavor or seasoning. Pretty disappointing, especially given that this is their specialty and it's REALLY expensive. I recommend to avoid, unless you must try this famous dish. 4/10
We really loved our time here and we were super glad we stopped here. It not only saved our night, it filled it with beautiful memories of sunset, beautiful food, and beautiful company. The service was fantastic, and they were really accommodating to our non-French speaking thoughts. Loved this place!
5/5
#french #france #seafood
