1. Epicure lives up to its name and continues to be a standard for traditional French cooking
2. Word to the wise, avoid making a reservation on Armistice Day 11/11
Absolutely floored by Frechon’s cooking. Every bite, I felt the French flag bursting from my chest. The royal foie gras to start is like jumping into a speedster and going 0 – 60 in 3. It’s melted down to almost a soup-like texture, but still bordering on semi-liquid, and drinking it or taking it in the small spoon they provide is a wave of duck fat that swaths across your tongue.
My personal favorites were the French uni, Scottish Salmon, and the Hen.
The uni completely perplexed me from the first bite. I could not for the life of me figure out where it was from. It wasn’t ensui uni from Hokkaido, nor the plentiful purple or rare red uni from California, nor Chilean uni. I ended up asking of the servers and they stated that it’s from the coast of Southern France. The servers didn’t even know the Japanese word for uni, highlighting the restaurant’s emphasis on pure French cooking. Always a pleasure to be re-introduced to an ingredient you love from another culture’s perspective.
The salmon was buttery smooth, at just above room temperature, but had the full flavor of the fish, with minimal accents from the tandoori spices, which I was expecting to be overpowering. If you were blind-folded and had taken a bite, you would’ve guessed it was sashimi from the tenderness before the warmth hits you and makes you second guess what you just ate.
I’m having trouble describing the hen as I’d like to use the word velvety, but the word combined with chicken makes most people think of Chinese-style wok-stir-fried chicken. I’m just amazed at how smooth and tender it was. The chicken has the same shine as velvet cloth, I’m still blown by how it was achieved through cooking it in a beef bladder.
Some personal notes to myself, next time, order items individually if possible as I recall seeing a royal hare that I’m dying to try. Also, don’t have a rental as you would be missing out on the wine pairing.
Also, if you’re curious as to why you don’t want to come here on Armistice Day, Macron seems to favor a particular restaurant in this area and had brought several European leaders to it for dinner on that day. It so happens that it’s juuuuust close enough to Epicure where armed French forces will have secured the area and won’t let people through without good reason. You can imagine how silly it must’ve been to hear some bumbling tourist in broken French trying to explain that he had a reservation inside the secured area.
Nulleparttousjours on
Looks fantastic, great post
ClimbAndMaintain0116 on
How much was this experience?
[deleted] on
Went there during Nov. not impressed. I prefer more creative spots like Kei.
kytran40 on
Did you find the taste of bresse chicken much better than regular chicken? I just recently learned about that breed and wish I knew earlier so I could try some while I was there.
ButtMcNuggets on
Really appreciated your detailed post. The salmon sounded odd to me at first but now I’m intrigued.
Extcy_2014 on
Looks amazing thanks for posting. Have been debating between Epicure and Le Cinq for my next Paris trip. Knowing they have the bresse hen in bladder + royal hare leaning me this way.
chefpatrick on
this is my #1 ‘want to try’ restaurant in the world. glad you got there.
10 Comments
[deleted]
looks amazing
Two things to start off with:
1. Epicure lives up to its name and continues to be a standard for traditional French cooking
2. Word to the wise, avoid making a reservation on Armistice Day 11/11
Absolutely floored by Frechon’s cooking. Every bite, I felt the French flag bursting from my chest. The royal foie gras to start is like jumping into a speedster and going 0 – 60 in 3. It’s melted down to almost a soup-like texture, but still bordering on semi-liquid, and drinking it or taking it in the small spoon they provide is a wave of duck fat that swaths across your tongue.
My personal favorites were the French uni, Scottish Salmon, and the Hen.
The uni completely perplexed me from the first bite. I could not for the life of me figure out where it was from. It wasn’t ensui uni from Hokkaido, nor the plentiful purple or rare red uni from California, nor Chilean uni. I ended up asking of the servers and they stated that it’s from the coast of Southern France. The servers didn’t even know the Japanese word for uni, highlighting the restaurant’s emphasis on pure French cooking. Always a pleasure to be re-introduced to an ingredient you love from another culture’s perspective.
The salmon was buttery smooth, at just above room temperature, but had the full flavor of the fish, with minimal accents from the tandoori spices, which I was expecting to be overpowering. If you were blind-folded and had taken a bite, you would’ve guessed it was sashimi from the tenderness before the warmth hits you and makes you second guess what you just ate.
I’m having trouble describing the hen as I’d like to use the word velvety, but the word combined with chicken makes most people think of Chinese-style wok-stir-fried chicken. I’m just amazed at how smooth and tender it was. The chicken has the same shine as velvet cloth, I’m still blown by how it was achieved through cooking it in a beef bladder.
Some personal notes to myself, next time, order items individually if possible as I recall seeing a royal hare that I’m dying to try. Also, don’t have a rental as you would be missing out on the wine pairing.
Also, if you’re curious as to why you don’t want to come here on Armistice Day, Macron seems to favor a particular restaurant in this area and had brought several European leaders to it for dinner on that day. It so happens that it’s juuuuust close enough to Epicure where armed French forces will have secured the area and won’t let people through without good reason. You can imagine how silly it must’ve been to hear some bumbling tourist in broken French trying to explain that he had a reservation inside the secured area.
Looks fantastic, great post
How much was this experience?
Went there during Nov. not impressed. I prefer more creative spots like Kei.
Did you find the taste of bresse chicken much better than regular chicken? I just recently learned about that breed and wish I knew earlier so I could try some while I was there.
Really appreciated your detailed post. The salmon sounded odd to me at first but now I’m intrigued.
Looks amazing thanks for posting. Have been debating between Epicure and Le Cinq for my next Paris trip. Knowing they have the bresse hen in bladder + royal hare leaning me this way.
this is my #1 ‘want to try’ restaurant in the world. glad you got there.