Ambassade de L'lle

08-04-2009
Andy Hayler  0 

Today we began with langoustine sand scallop ravioli with grapefruit, lemon coulis and pepper foam. This was a very well-balanced dish, the pasta having lovely soft texture, the grapefruit and lemon giving a little acidity with being too sharp, and the pepper foam giving a gentle spicy note (8/10). Fois gras with morel mushrooms and green asparagus had particularly carefully chosen morels and a creamy sauce, the asparagus a welcome colour and earthy flavour contrast to the richness of the fois gras (8/10).

Roast skate wing was served with artichokes and pink pepper, resting in a jus made with a blend of spices. Spices are little used in French cuisine (Olivier Roellinger made his name by breaking this taboo) and often when a French chef uses them it can result in a rather odd vaguely mild “curry” flavour, which does not always work well. Here the distinct spices came through clearly, and the skate itself (not the easiest fish to cook) was very tender (8/10). Navain of lamb was cooked with spring vegetables, a simple, classical dish (7/10). A passion fruit mousse in a tuile was a refreshing finish to the meal (6/10).

Here are notes from a meal in March 2009
Regular readers will know that I am a fan of bread, and so I always have a soft spot for restaurants that make their own bread rather than just lazily buying it in. Here both the brown and white bread is made from scratch and was excellent, fresh and with good texture and correct seasoning (8/10). After the obligatory vegetable crisps we started with a tartare of red tuna with caviar and vodka, served on a bed of good beetroot – an unusual combination but one that worked (7/10). Next was a superb soft and warm foie gras mousseline served in a soup bowl and covered with intensely flavoured lobster broth, topped with a tender langoustine. This dish was a triumph, each element excellent in its own right, the combination of tastes working together (9/10).

Next was grilled John Dory with cumin seeds, celeriac and artichoke. This was prettily presented and the cumin was an interesting idea that worked nicely with the fish, but the piece of fish itself was significantly overcooked, an uncharacteristic slip of technique here (4/10).

We then tried the pressed duck. This is a dish made famous at Tour d’Argent in Paris. The carcass of the duck is crushed in a specialist duck press, and the blood used in the sauce to accompany the duck breast. The Challans duck was lovely, carefully cooked and showing off its inherent flavour, while the rich sauce made from the duck press was a dark and delightful experience; providing some much needed balance to the dish were slices of sweet and sour turnips, the sherry vinegar of their dressing providing just the right amount of acidity to cut through the rich taste of the duck. A second serving of the duck was the leg, with a simple green salad with hazelnut dressing (9/10). One of the friends we were dining with had tried the pressed duck at Tour d’Argent and pronounced the version tonight better.

Stella’s Dover sole was filled with a salmon mousse and wrapped in a buckwheat pancake, with on bed of spinach. The fish was good though cooked a fraction longer than ideal, but the pancake didn’t really add anything for me and the spinach was tender but rather over-salted; I suspect the chef whi did the seasoning smokes, which is my theory on the usual cause of over-salting in kitchens (5/10). Cheeses these days are supplied from Lyons rather than London (very wise) and were in excellent condition (8/10).

Desserts continue to be (relatively) the Achilles heel of the kitchen in my view, though they have improved since Antoine Danthu (winner of the Lacam trophy for pastry in 2008) took over as pastry chef. The tarte sablée à la Châtaigne et Citron confit, Sabayon au Lagavulin is a little tuile dome over a casing of sable pastry filled with chestnut mousse and lemon confit. Inside is a whiskey sabayon. This is a clever dish, though personally I would liked to see a greater proportion of lemon taste to the chestnut (7/10). I love crepes suzette, but thin crepes lose their heat really fast, and on this occasion when they arrived they were rather cold; this was not the case the last time I had them here, but perhaps making them at the table, as well as adding some theatre, would be safer in terms of ensuring their temperature. On a previous visit they arrived hot, so this was really just a slip.

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