La Brasserie Renaissance is the main restaurant in the Renaissance Paris La Defense hotel. It is…read moreopened for lunch and dinner on weekdays only, and is located on "street" level of the hotel above the lobby. The atmosphere here is a bit on the formal side, though casual dress is acceptable. The restaurant was empty, though, when we arrived around 8, with a few other guests that apparently had the same idea as us. Later in the night a larger, noisier local party entered, but the restaurant was still relatively empty. This, of course, worried me a little. Nonetheless, the service was courteous and ran at a good pace. It was actually quite similar to service you'd expect to receive in the US. But the food... how was is? The food was ok. It wasn't great, nor was it awful... it was mediocre at best.
To start, the wife and I both ordered the Gratinee Lyonnaise (French Onion Soup) 11.50E. I actually wanted to have some foie gras, but they said they were all out. In fact, when I tried to order it for room service later in the week, they were still all out! Oh well. The soup was divine! It was oniony, buttery, and had just the right amount of cheese.
For her entree, the wife ordered the Medallion de veau, sauce forestiere (Veal Medallion with mushroom cream sauce) 27.00E. She said it was ok, but not great. I think she kind of regretted ordering it. I tried a bite, and it was a little bland. For my entree, I ordered the Sole Meuniere, pommes puree (Sole Meuniere with mashed potatoes) 42.00E. I've wanted to try this dish for a long time, as it isn't something we can get here and is much loved by the late Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert. The presentation here looked good and it did actually taste pretty good, but again was bland. I wasn't expecting this because the butter we had with the bread was superb! But oh well... since I didn't get another chance to order this this time around, it remains on my must try list for next time.
I barely made it through my entree and my wife didn't finish her's because the soup was actually an enormous portion. Thus, we also skipped dessert, though there were a few menu items I wanted to try like the Waffle with Chantilly Cream & Hot Chocolate (9.5E). Overall, though, it was a decent meal. The price, however, was obscenely high, especially given the quality of the food, but what else would you expect from a hotel restaurant?