Yet another fine meal in the great city of Paris and, better still, in my quartier!
Les Bouquinistes - part of legend Guy Savoy's stable - was one of the first fine restaurants I ate at when I first arrived in Paris 3 years ago. I returned the other night with some friends and find that it is still in fine form although I did recall that there were a couple of things that didn't quite convince me last time.
My fellow diners decided that the wait staff were convinced that I was a food writer (my copious note-taking might have given it away) and so proffered the carte to make my life easier. Here are les entrees (not main course as they are in the US) and les plats.
On arrival we were offered (twice for some disorganized reason!!) an amuse gueule (bouche - whatever) which I absolutely cannot remember (how embarrassing!) but am positive that it contained fenouil (fennel). For my entree, I chose Brittany crab ravioli with roasted bay prawns in a fennel and lemongrass sauce. Sounds delicious and was quite good but not good enough! The fennel and lemongrass broth was a touch insipid and lacking in depth - just a few moments more reducing would have done it and a tad more salt. It was tasty but someone really does need to spend more time learning the art of a good sfoglia (pasta dough). Conversely, the roasted bay prawns were well roasted and perfectly prepared. The ravioli filling was well-seasoned even if the broth lacked some substance.
For the main course I chose the roasted lamb in a garlic, parsley and butter sauce (more of a crust really) with parmesan polenta. I asked for the lamb to be cooked a point (medium) but came out closer to well-done. However, still melt-in-the-mouth. The parmesan polenta - soft, tasty and comforting (and you know what that means) but texture a little lumpy. Having grown up with northern Italian parentage, I know what good polenta should be like. After all, we are not called polentoni for nothing! So, while the parmesan polenta was oh so tasty, its texture was oh so not smooth! Unfortunately, I was so absorbed with my meal and wine (bourgogne) that I forgot to note or taste anyone else's choices. Oops.
No comments:
Post a Comment