9/7/15: As we quickly found out in France, most good restaurants require reservations, even if it's just a casual cafe. At this point we were really tired of getting booted out of restaurants after being asked, "Booking?," over and over. And again and again. So after being kicked out once more we called this place and they said come on over!--really!? And here we were. Clearly fancy schmancy, but I think at that time they were just starting to seat people, and French seem to all come late and all at once, and hence our good fortune to find a seat...
No doubt, there was a clear effort to make this place the trendy kind of fancy. The lighting was ultra dim, and as your eyes start to adjust, they plop a large blackboard in your face. What?--what's this thing? Ah... the menu. It was actually pretty funny--they would seat people at this huge table, community seating style, and then they put this huge board on top of the table between parties, using the hanging lamps to prop them up. Never seen anything like it. Well, the French people seemed to enjoy it.
We each got the Decouvre notre formule degustation en 4 mets , their 4 course prix fixe, for 55 EUR each. Below I've included individual prices for your information, but they were all part of the set, except of course the wine:
1. Bordeaux, Cotes de Francs, Chateau le Puy, 2008 - J.P. Amoreau 60 EUR: I know 60 EUR in the world of Bordeaux wines really isn't that much, but to me that's a lot of money to spend on drinks. But this is France, and I can't come all the across the world to the country making the world's most famous wines without having a real Bordeaux right? So we bought it. And savored it, the sweet liquid gold that it was. It was great. I can't give you tasting notes, but I just know it was damn good. 8/10
2. Bread: Excellent, as expected for any bread served in a high-end French restaurant. Crusty and delicious.
3. Amuse-Bouche (complimentary): Unfortunately I've completely forgotten how this tasted, except that it was good.
4. Tataki de thon rouge, puree choux fleur, wasabi, concombre 15 EUR: This is fish tartare wrapped in cucumber. Quite refreshing and the tastes complimented each other well. Not heavily seasoned so you could taste the fish nuances well, but my gf thought it might be a tad bland. I liked it though. Looked beautiful too. 8/10
5. Salade de tomates de plein champs, nectarines, mozzarella 13 EUR: Nectarine and heirloom tomato salad. Very fresh and the tomatoes were particularly special. Wonderful salad. 8/10
6. Filet de merlu, poche? a l'armoricaine, salade de courgettes, curry 23 EUR: This is fish served with grilled squash and specially prepared zucchini. I can't remember how the fish tasted, but the accompaniments were really what made this dish. The grilled squash on top of the fish was great, but those little curled up green things (see my pictures) were thinly sliced zucchini rolled up and mixed with toasted nuts. Those zucchini things were AMAZING! And they looked really cool too plated. 8/10
7. Creme tendre au chocolat manjari, tuile gruecamo?, nuage cafe 9 EUR: This was some kind of chocolate mousse on top of a candy sheet. Something was on the bottom but I don't remember what. The candy was too hard to eat, but there was a softness and crunchiness juxtaposition that worked really well. 6/10
The food was great. Service was awesome (they spoke English well!) And... they welcomed us after many chased us away. Thank you Racines. What more could you want?
4/5
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