My office privatized Le Zo for a work function the other night, and while I'd like to recommend it fully, I can't give it five stars. The truffle pasta is worth six stars, though. Read on to see why.
The place is swanky, as you would expect given the location off St. Honoré. The service is good, though I did encounter one impatient and snarky waiter. When he presented a tray of verrines and explained what they contained, I didn't hear him over the noise. I asked him to please repeat, and he gave an exasperated sigh before doing so.
On the menu that evening were trays of tuna and salmon tartare, a sushi and sashimi spread, trays of chicken gyoza, and gooey oven-cooked breaded cheese nibs. The tartares were excellent, and the salmon sashimi tasted fresh and buttery. Surprisingly, the sushi tasted old: the rice was cold and firm, as though it had sat overnight in a refrigerator. Not just the texture was off: the flavor was bland, and though there was soy sauce (both sweet and salty--what IS the fascination with sweet soy sauce in this country?), there was no wasabi to add further flavor.
The other disappointment were the cheese nibs, which were extremely hot and greasy, so difficult to pick up with our fingers (perhaps tiny spearing forks would have been a good idea). They didn't have any flavor either. If you're reading this, Le Zo, I'd cut these from your next cocktail menu.
The gyoza, on the other hand, was fabulous. It was surprisingly juicy, given that it was filled with chicken.
When the starters ran out, waiters brought out the main courses. I was headed out the door when I caught a whiff of truffle, and stopped in my tracks. Bowls of risotto passed by, but that wasn't the source. No, the smell came from an amazingly creamy truffle penne with parmesan. It was, in one word, incredible. I couldn't stop talking about it while I was eating it, and when I got home my partner had to tell me, "Yes, I get it" after I described it in painful detail. The noodles were perfectly al dente, the sauce was the perfect consistency, the truffle was real and permeated the whole bowl, the amount of parmesan was also perfect... I couldn't eat anything after the scrumptious truffle pasta. Even though the teriyaki chicken skewers smelled good too, I had to end on a high note.
My recommendation to the restaurant: focus on the overall quality and freshness, and cut out the parts that don't do you any favors. read more
