This night out was courtesy of our my very generous in-laws. We went with some of their friends who remembered Bruno Loubet from before, and were full of anticipation.Mr PP and I arrived last, through the rather dreary drizzle, and were immediately whisked off to the table. The restaurant itself is quite comfortable, but a little cramped. Once all the tables were seated around us, we were blocked in and had to disturb at least two tables to get to the loo.
Service was a little slow at first, and I was rather desperate for a drink, but they soon seemed to catch up with themselves, and was smooth for the rest of the evening.
The Menu:
We liked the look of the menu, and there were quite a few dishes that tempted us. For starters, most of us ended up opting for the Onion and Cider Soup, upside-down Emmenthal soufflé. Mr PP chose the Mauricette snails and meat balls, royale de champignon and my namesake ordered Potted shrimps and mackerel, cucumber salad, Melba toast.
Onto the mains, and there was a bit more diversity on order. I chose Hare Royale, onion raviolo, pumpkin and dried mandarin purée and Mr PP went for Pan-fried breast of wood pigeon, cauliflower, almond and quinoa, giblet sauce. Our friends variously ordered Beef daube Provencal and mousseline potatoes, Confit lamb shoulder, white beans and preserved lemon, green harissa, and the fish special.
Our Meal:
I think we were all slightly disappointed with our soup - it was woefully underseasoned and really lacked flavour. Even the soufflé was bland, although it was technically very accomplished. The potted shrimps were better, but for me the star was the snails, which were beautifully cooked and very flavoursome.
The mains were also good, but not amazing. Mr PPs pigeon tasted delicious but I was glad in a way that I hadn't ordered it, as I didn't really like the combination of the constituent parts of the dish as a whole.
The beef daube was fine, and the mouselline potatoes were a beautiful texture but were served at a fairly tepid temperature. The lamb looked rather odd, like a big reconstituted lamb burger, and although I didn't try it, my friend told us it was delicious.
The hare, on the other hand, was fairly special, and my only comment would be that it was so rich, I shouldn't really have eaten it all - but I did. Strong, complex but complimentary flavours combined well in the hare, although the onion ravioli was neither here nor there, despite the excellence of the pasta.
The ladies passed on desserts, while Mr PP and his brother tucked into Rice pudding pannacotta and marmalade and Valrhona chocolate tartlet, caramel and salted butter ice cream respectively. The rice pudding pannacotta seemed like plain old rice pudding to me - but absolutely delicious for all that. Personally, I'm not a fan of marmalade (an adult taste that unlike anchovy and olives I've never developed a liking for) but Mr PP reported that it worked well. By this point, the richness of the hare was too much, and I couldn't even have a taste of the chocolate tart. At the speed it disappeared, I assume it was good. And my sister-in-law was very impressed by the ice-cream.
We finished off with coffees - I can't comment on the bill as didn't see it. As I say, very generous in-laws ...
What we liked:
Great service, nice surroundings, and great company. It's a very busy place, and good for big groups. I can imagine it's not so nice for a quiet meal for two. It was also nice to see Bruno Loubet actually working in the kitchen, rather than it just being his name over the door.
What we didnt like:
The food wasn't top-notch, and some of the dishes did disappoint. And it was a little cramped. Whilst I found that a bit of an issue, I am also cognisant of the fact that, due to the amount we drank, that the tables around us probably found us more irritating than we did them.
Will we be back:
I would safely say no. I thought it was fine, can imagine there will always be other places that are higher up the "To Visit" list.
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