Finally. I managed to get a reservation at the La Regalade Saint-Honore.This is what a value meal should be. €33 for 3 delicious courses, starting with complimentary terrine (it was chicken liver) and cornichons, and ending with complimentary madeleines. Accompanied by a bottle of inky cahors that stained teeth and lips black for those who were drinking (not included in the price but not expensive either)
The potimarron soup (can't seem to get enough of it) came with crunchy croutons, bits of bacon (not be be confused with bacon bits), two giant grilled shrimps (prawns perhaps?) and something cheesy over which the smooth soup was poured from a pitcher by the waitress.
The foie gras (which I thought was just a slab on a plate) was nestled in the middle of an intensely mushroom-y soup.
My poitrine de cochon with lentils de Puy was an intensly porky affair (in a good way). Although the pork belly (from Eric Ospital whose cured meats I had at Avant Comptoir) was mainly fat, I managed to find some crispy meat morsels which were beyond delicious. And the lentils? That was my favorite part of the dish. Smoky from the addition of lardons, these were not your lentil-soup-mushy-lentils. These were something else entirely and I could've licked the plate clean of them had I not been facing the entire dining room.
Seeing as I completely mis-translated half the menu, mama got a crispy roasted piece of cod topped with some jambon (de Pays? Eric Ospital's jambon Ibaïona? Whatever, it looked good), sitting on a bed of haricots de paimpol (not to be confused with haricots verts, as I did...) and sauced with cilantro. Mama wasn't a fan of the beans but I'm a sucker for creamy, well prepared beans even if they are under-seasoned. Although she did say that once she started eating them with the ham and fish, not separately, they tasted good.
My aunt got a crispy skinned skate with calamari that sat on a bed of squid-ink risotto and was sauced with something...don't know what but it looked pretty! And tasted yum.
And desserts...oooh these were goooooood. Souffle a Grand Marnier was light and airy and seemed textbook perfect or at least how a souffle should look and it was my first time trying one! The crumble aux pommes et poires with caramel chantilly was satisfying in that "its-cold-weather-season-and-this-is-like-pie-but-healthier". Although I'm not sure how healthy caramel whipped cream is.
And my dessert? Probably the best dessert I have had all year. Two pots de creme a la vanille with fruits de passion (why two? I don't know but apparently they sometimes give one vanilla and one chocolate). Basically, a loose custard flecked with vanilla beans and topped with passion fruit. Not only is it visually beautiful but it was so ethereally light. Yes, I went there. I used the word "ethereal". There was no slickness of fat on the roof of my mouth that you sometimes get when you eat a cold dessert thats high in fat. No, this was light, smooth and silky with the passion fruit cutting through the sweetness of the custard. I could have eaten another one of these but 2 was more than enough for this korovka who has let herself go a little in the past month or so.
I'm still not sure if there was another reservation for our table that night (they turned away every walk-in and said everything, even the tables that had emptied, were reserved) or if they just do one-seating-per-table...but we came in at 730pm and left close to 10pm happy stuffed (and perhaps a little tipsy), walking our way back to the Marais, past the Pompidou and Hotel de Ville.
The potimarron soup (can't seem to get enough of it) came with crunchy croutons, bits of bacon (not be be confused with bacon bits), two giant grilled shrimps (prawns perhaps?) and something cheesy over which the smooth soup was poured from a pitcher by the waitress.
The foie gras (which I thought was just a slab on a plate) was nestled in the middle of an intensely mushroom-y soup.
My poitrine de cochon with lentils de Puy was an intensly porky affair (in a good way). Although the pork belly (from Eric Ospital whose cured meats I had at Avant Comptoir) was mainly fat, I managed to find some crispy meat morsels which were beyond delicious. And the lentils? That was my favorite part of the dish. Smoky from the addition of lardons, these were not your lentil-soup-mushy-lentils. These were something else entirely and I could've licked the plate clean of them had I not been facing the entire dining room.
Seeing as I completely mis-translated half the menu, mama got a crispy roasted piece of cod topped with some jambon (de Pays? Eric Ospital's jambon Ibaïona? Whatever, it looked good), sitting on a bed of haricots de paimpol (not to be confused with haricots verts, as I did...) and sauced with cilantro. Mama wasn't a fan of the beans but I'm a sucker for creamy, well prepared beans even if they are under-seasoned. Although she did say that once she started eating them with the ham and fish, not separately, they tasted good.
My aunt got a crispy skinned skate with calamari that sat on a bed of squid-ink risotto and was sauced with something...don't know what but it looked pretty! And tasted yum.
And desserts...oooh these were goooooood. Souffle a Grand Marnier was light and airy and seemed textbook perfect or at least how a souffle should look and it was my first time trying one! The crumble aux pommes et poires with caramel chantilly was satisfying in that "its-cold-weather-season-and-this-is-like-pie-but-healthier". Although I'm not sure how healthy caramel whipped cream is.
And my dessert? Probably the best dessert I have had all year. Two pots de creme a la vanille with fruits de passion (why two? I don't know but apparently they sometimes give one vanilla and one chocolate). Basically, a loose custard flecked with vanilla beans and topped with passion fruit. Not only is it visually beautiful but it was so ethereally light. Yes, I went there. I used the word "ethereal". There was no slickness of fat on the roof of my mouth that you sometimes get when you eat a cold dessert thats high in fat. No, this was light, smooth and silky with the passion fruit cutting through the sweetness of the custard. I could have eaten another one of these but 2 was more than enough for this korovka who has let herself go a little in the past month or so.
I'm still not sure if there was another reservation for our table that night (they turned away every walk-in and said everything, even the tables that had emptied, were reserved) or if they just do one-seating-per-table...but we came in at 730pm and left close to 10pm happy stuffed (and perhaps a little tipsy), walking our way back to the Marais, past the Pompidou and Hotel de Ville.
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