L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Had lunch on 10/4 where you could pick two appetizers, a main, and a dessert from the a la carte menu. I went by myself and was seated at the bar where you could watch dishes being plated, which was really cool.
Amuse bouche: pork rillettes
Appetizers: Lobster and eel, my server's recommendation
Main: Duck
Dessert: Pavlova
Petit fours: Lemon and chocolate entremets
I think the lobster appetizer was my favorite of all the courses. The tomatoes in the dish were the most flavorful I've ever had. And the sauce was really sweet and citrusy. I don't know if it was appropriate, but I couldn't resist using some of the bread to mop it up. It was a bit awkward to eat around the head shell though.
The bread was great too. Super soft (the milk bread) and crunchy (sourdough and baguette). I wish they had served it with some butter, would've made it perfect.
The eel was really rich and soft, on a crunchy green yam base. I actually thought it was lotus as first, before I asked again.
The duck was okay. It felt kind of chewy and tough. The slices were thin but hard to cut and I wished it had more sauce and flavor. My server had recommended a different main and now I wish I had gone with that but I wanted to have a non-seafood course as well.
The pavlova dessert was really good! It came with raspberry coulis. I was tempted by the chocolate option but I'm glad I went with this as it was really tasty and a good lighter end to a rich meal. Plus I'd never had pavlova.
Petit fours were great as well. I was super full but still wanted seconds. Their citrusy dishes/desserts were all really impressive.
by we_need_to_bake