Bu Pun Su

Are you sure that this is the case? I read somewhere else that the black truffle tasting menu is "only" EUR 425? How's it compare to your other gastronomy restaurant in the US, i.e. JG, Per Se or Alinea? Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures from the trip.

How much is the degustation menu (how many courses) at Gagnaire? Isn't it at least 80% of Arpege's? I agree that L'Arpege is very expensive (slightly above Ducasse collection menu, perhaps only Veyrat can beat this place in terms of price). But last time I ate there, they served me 8 dishes (include the amuse) outside cheese and desserts whereas at Ducasse, I had 4 dishes (with larger portion and solid amuse - their classic langoustine), also exclude chees and desserts. I mean, from that the price per dish is slightly more reasonanle. I just thought since Alonso is ready to be blown away ... maybe the modern restaurant like Arpege or Pierre would be suitable (given money is not really the main issue in this case).

Between those 2, I would pick Gagnaire - the dishes prepared by Pierre are generally very interesting (based on the one I ate in HK). Other choices? I would recommend Arpege (it's OK to blow for the food, but not really wise for the wine). L'Ambroisie is wonderful if you love classical preparation (not much experiements by the chef) of French dishes. Hope you have a great one regardless of which place you pick

I wonder who is the current sommelier at Le Cinq that is actively around the dining room every night? Is it Enrico Bernardo or Eric Beaumard? Does anybody ever try the wine and water pairing there (it sounds awkward) since Signore Bernardo, the 2004 best sommelier, did mineral water and wine matching during the competition? Thanks

Just my 2 cents While what's served on the plates certainly is the most important aspect, often hospitality and good rapport are the ones that could bring some customers to come back to that place over and over again (but not enough to bring the 3* Michelin in this case) Last summer, the host at Can Fabes asked her friend to drive us to the train station in Sant Celoni since no taxi's willing to do so (I guess the distance is too short, but my cousin's in rush to go back to Barcelona to catch for the plane). For me, this kind of treatment would last quite sometimes (along with wonderful food we had there)

Agree with John - nothing very special (I hardly remember what I ate except a decent crepes with orange marnier) I went there Spring 06. While the tasting menu seemed to be a good deal, if I had another chance, I would rather try the ala carte. The neighborhood is quite nice though. Well, it's just me and maybe it's getting better now. Good luck! Aux Lyonnais is slightly better in terms of food, while the rests (places and service), Benoit is above AL

Regarding restaurant reservation After making a hotel reservation, you could ask the hotel's concierge to book the restaurants for you - they would be more than happy to do so. That's what I did before. Many restaurants/bistros now have website that would allow you to reserve online - this should help. Like what others say, there are so many things (From museums to architectures, museums, bistros, haute cuisines, shopping, operas or ballets, even just walk along the city itself is very nice) you can do in Paris - even one week may not be enough . If your main purpose is only for food, I think it's fine as well. And yes, at least one 2 or 3-star michelin restaurants is a must (based on your post in US forums, it would be very nice to try the top places in Europe too). Like what the Michelin guide say - eating in this kind of restaurants is worth the trip/a detour) Some good bistros that often discussed are Spring, Le Violin d’Ingres, Chez L’Ami Jean, Chez Michel, Le Cameleon. I tried Aux Lyonnais and Benoit, and don't really like both of them

Hi Bryan, Your plan trip sounds very fun. Let's see where I should start Language ... don't worry about it. During my experience there, people seem to be very nice and understand that I don't speak French - both on the streets or inside restaurants (I still disagree when many say that French people are cocky or was I just fortunate to always meet the nice ones?) You should be fine with the reservation since Feb-Mar are usually not too crowded. Now, to the more important topics ... the food If you really want a modern ones, Pierre Gagnaire (only try the one in HK, but it's equivalent to my JGNY experience) and L'Arpege (simply the best overall dining experience I've ever had even when Passard's not in the kitchen) are the places to go. If not mistaken, L'Arpege lunch, including tips and tax, is somewhere 130-150 Euros (could be more if they're still in the black truffle seasons). Or I heard that L'Astrance is the new place to go. For the classics options, Alain Ducasse (Almost perfect in every sense and yes their collection menu is better than the NY's truffle menu) and L'Ambroisie (rarely read negative reviews) are the top choices. However, it's unlikely that dinner in these 2 places would not damage one's wallet - expect 200 or more. The legendary Taillevent (don't know about the food) is more friendly in terms of the price with excellent service. How about lunch at Les Ambassadeurs or Le Meurice (70-80 euros)? Personally, I think the 2 or 3-star Michelin restaurants in Europe is very unique, worth the money and the effort. After eating in Paris, (I could be bias) my dinner experiences in NY or Vegas are pale in comparison, I began to understand when many dining experts question the validity 3-star given in the US restaurants. Based on your extensive NY dining experiences, you should be able to handle the ones in Europe as well except maybe some restaurant's decoration is very luxurious and overwhelmed (but hey, that's also the cool part about the restaurant for the 1st-timer). Well. feel free to PM if you have further questions. Good luck, have fun and look forward to your report.

This would be another review (and the last) from my last winter trip to Hong Kong. I have never tried any of Pierre Gagnaire's food, so I was surprised ... a nice one It's just so different than the regular French food I've tasted. Gagnaire is more like a "magician" or "wizard", unlike Passard (the minimalist), Gagnaire seems to put a lot of unusual ingredients into his dishes. Well, most of them are good, but few of them simply do not really work for me. Ok, let me share my experience ... Food and Wine (92/100) Prawn with rasberry ice cream and jelly? Salmon with avocado mayonnaise? Venison with jam and red currant? Sweetbread with ruby red grapefruit? These are some of the combinations that come as a surprise to me. But most of them are really good. The salmon is very fresh and soft, like top quality of Japanese salmon where it's simply melt in my mouth, a tasty venison with wonderful combination of side dishes - harmonious, yet I can still distinguish the sweetness of the currant & the jam, saltiness of bacon and sausages. The desserts are quite interesting where I ate the bitterest chocolate I've ever tried. As of now, I would say I like Pierre's dishes, but not yet love them - I need a few more try. The wine? I only had 2 glasses, but really like the red one - 2004 Gevrey-Chambertin domaine Rossignol Trepet. An elegant red Burgundy with intensely focused taste while the finishing is supported by a layer of tannic acids Service and Decoration (88/100) The greetings is good, they even know my name (I guess since I'm the only solo diner there). The manager - trained for several months in Gagnaire's Paris before returning to HK - gave me some magazines to read just incase I get bored. Guests were also asked if they have allergy to some food. The negative side is that some staffs are good, some are a bit inexperienced (I would say the service is a bit uneven, but still much better than Robuchon Galera) - often I've a hard time to understand their English. The decoration is quite nice with some unique chandelier, but is not too spacious. In general, it's still very comfortable - as usual, most of HK restaurants have a great view (this one is at the top of the hotel). Overall (90/100) I'm happy with my dishes, better than the Robuchon Macau. The overall experience is in the level of my meal at Jean Georges New York (but slightly below Le Bristol). Both the chef and the sommelier formerly worked at Sketch London. The worst part of this place is the price, this 8-course degustation menu costs HKD 1350 (USD 170) - wow (the 6-course black truffle menu is HKD 2000)!, I thought I was in US or Europe. The mark-up for the wine is ridiculous as well, similar to most of Parisian's 3* restaurants. When I asked about the new year's eve menu, it would costs HKD 3888 (USD 500) for 8 courses per head ... I mean, c'mon it's like more expensive than ADNY's last meal before closing. Then I see the menu - only 1 white truffle dish and 1 black truffle dish, no Bresse chicken or Brittany lobster or other luxurious ingredients - really ripped off! Anyway, if you want to see the pictures of the dishes, here they are Pierre Hong Kong

Does anybody know who is the current head chef of La Ferme de mon Pere? Do they still cook Marc Veyrat's old menu? Does Marc Veyrat still help in the kitchen of his old restaurant or he has nothing to do with it anymore? Thanks

Thank you for your kinds help everyone. It helps a lot! Just realized so far that I might not really understand what I ate. The food terms glossary is very good - for the future reference. In some restaurants they seem to used it interchangeably while in fact on the plates, they're pretty much the same = scallops served without any shells. This is why I often confused A few months ago, I saw in Le Louis XV menu that they separate these 2 lobsters in their menu (Basically, one menu is Brittany Lobster ...... and the other one is Blue Lobster from their own tank), I thought they're different. Are French lobster pretty much all blue lobster?

Could anybody help me to distiguish the food terms below? Many thanks 1. Noix de Saint-Jacques vs Coquilles Saint-Jacques (Scallop, that's all I know) 2. Langoustine, langouste and homard (I just know the size difference) 3. Volaille vs Poulet (Chicken, that's all I know) Another things, not sure whether I'm allowed to ask it at this forum 1. Lobster (Brittany vs Blue vs Scottish) 2. Bar vs Seabass (I heard that they're not exactly the same) 3. Chicken (Bresse vs Blue Foot) 4. Beef (Kobe vs wagyu). What kind of beef/steak usually served in French gastronomy? Sorry for the many questions. Any explaination would be very appreciated. Cheers!

The complain? Hmm, let's see if I can recall Some say that La Table is simply L'Atelier (the same cuisine) with nicer tables and chairs since the menu is similar. I guess they expect La Table to offer a unique creation of Robuchon that's not available at other Robuchon's establishment, where in fact it serves bistro-like food as oppossed to haute cuisine. And like you said the wine service is not good. Also people complain about the quality of the wines. In general, I think people's expectations are too high and think that La Table would be something like Jamin in the past, so by the time they ate there, they might be disappointed at the end. I would take note of your good experiences eating there, but maybe still a long way to go as there are many other places that I would like to try in Paris.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience in Paris You're one of the few people who praises La Table de Joel Robuchon (since many simply hate this place). If you don't mind, how much was the black truffle tasting menu there? I ate the degustation black truffle menu at Robuchon Macau (not very keen on it though) - there are 3 memorable dishes, while the rests are nowhere close to spectacular. However, your menu is very different than mine

This past winter holiday, I went to Macau and stopped by at Robuchon a Galera. Here are my 2 cents Food (89/100) I choose to try the tasting menu that happens to be the black truffle tasting one. I suppose it's bit too early since they don't seem to be fully matured yet. Overally, I find the that the food is not very consistent. The memorable dishes are {caviar with cauliflower cream very soft, enjoyable layer by layer with generous serving of caviar), ravioli containing quail egg yolk & creamy spinach (the dish is simply sublime and chewy in a nice way), and milk-fed veal with pak-choy (the meat is tender, with great truffle combination)}. The worst dishes are deep fried fish (very oily) and pan-fried bread stuffed with foie gras (the bread's quality is not so good) - a bit unbelievable they serve them in this kind of place. The desserts are rather weak and mediocre. Wine (95/100) This place probably has the best wine collection in Asia. The list is very thick, whatever you want, it is very likely to be there. The other good things the marked-up price is not too high, comparing to Hong Kong and Singapore for similar level of restaurants. I ordered wine by the glasses. The sommelier Bertrand Despinoy (used to work for Alain Llorca's Moulin de Mougins) gave me very good selections and filled more than 2/3 of each glass. Please see the pictures below for more details about the wine. The value of money is very good. I only spent about HKD 500 (USD 65) for Billecart-Salmon, 96 Corton-Charlemagne, 97 Volnay 1er Cru Les Chevrets and 56 Riversaltes VDN. The best thing about this restaurant! Service (78/100) This is the weakest link of the overall experience here. When I ate, the napkin was already quite dirty even I on purposefully went to the bathroom left it to be seen by the waiters/waitresses yet they did not change it until I asked for a new one. Moreover, they often late to refill the water. In the middle of the meal, the gap between the 7th and 8th dish is very long, 20-30 min ... sigh. The worst part, at the end when I was the only diner left, the waiter named Jack who just came fomr the other room rushed the service. While I still ate one dish, he already put another dish in my table saying this is the sequence. This went until the desserts, you know how it feels when somebody rushed you for food. He even forgot to bring the macarons I requested from the sweet trolley without saying any apology. They should work very hard to improve on this part. Ambiance (84/100) The owner seems to try to put many expensive stuffs for the decoration, but many are actually out of place. The lighting is very deemed, the overall dining room is very gloomy. This restaurant's maintainance is not quite good, many of the decors looked a bit rusty. About 9-10 pm, they put a singer around the waiting area. What the ... ? This part is very irrelevant and make the overall experience worse, especially the song sometimes a bit too loud. When I ate there only 1/4 of the tables are filled, obviously the restaurant is losing money - maybe making money is not their main concerned since the casino is quite packed. Overally, I would give this place a score of 86/100 - a slightly below my experience at Mix Las Vegas. The food needs to be more consistent, this is the 1st time for me to eat Joel Robuchon's food - for the time being I would say that Alain Ducasse and Alain Passard provided me with a much better food and experieces. However, I'm willing to give it another try sometimes in the future since they cooked a few good dishes. The value for money is also quite good, these 16-course tasting menu (with black truffles) costs HKD 1600 compared to Hong Kong's L'aterlier (HKD 1450 about 10 courses if I'm not mistaken) or Pierre (HKD 1350 for 8 courses, no truffle). Unfortunately, the good food and wine is not followed by a good service (sometimes it's casual like when you eat in regular Hong Kong restaurants) and convenient dining room. I heard that the Ho's family is opening a new hotel (the Grand Lisboa). I think they should consider to move the restaurant to the new hotel for a better dining room and re-invent themselves. Here is the link of the pictures Robuchon galera

I am not sure whether this would be the best place to put my review at ADPA this Spring (yeah, I'm both busy and lazy ). Anyway, here is what I think Food We ordered the classic menu of Alain Ducasse - I find that the Brittany lobster and Bresse chicken being the highlight for my dinner (not saying the scallops in coconut curry or the signature dish - langoustine with caviar are inferior). The tasting menu are not that many, only 1 amuse, 2 entrees and 1 main dish plus the regular cheese and dessert. I find the portion is very generous (better be given the price). The cooking is conventional, only 3-5 ingredients per dish, but the execution of each dish is very precise. Everything is cooked to pretty much closed to perfection. No surprising dishes unfortunately ... Wine Ducasse's establishment is famour to have top notch wine collections, both qualities and quantities. Here is not exception either, but this would be a bit irrelevant for me since I'm not willing to spend the wine for the price exceeding my food - the mark up price is very high as expected (about 3-5 times if not more). I like my champagne ('98 Henriot Brut Rose) offering smooth texture and firm structure as well as the white burgundy ('99 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru) with almond and flower-scented, light in palate with tangy acidity. Unfortunately, the head sommelier is bit snobbish - he's not happy when people question or disagree with his suggestions. Decoration Well, maybe this is not very important for most readers here - please see my more details review should one want to know more about the ambiance. In short, elegant and luxurious! Service First class, one of the best one could have but more like in a formal style. Don't expect much of relaxing and very close conversation like the one that I had at L'Arpege. You may talk to differents staffs since they are not specifically assigned for certain tables. Thanks to Phyllis Flick from eG forum for helping me translating the menu. The more details review is here Ducasse Paris. Or if you just want to see the pictures, you could go here ADPA pictures. Enjoy! Actually, I also ate at almost all of Ducasse's restaurants in Paris. I don't particularly like Aux Lyonnais (perhaps due to the heavy sauce for most dishes) and Benoit. In fact, I prefer Spoon (nice fusion for some dishes) and Le Relais du Parc. However, none of them really worth another visit for me.

Vedat, thank you for the details explanation. Wow, you actually know the former president Clinton personally Have you had a meal at L'Ambroisie on the summer in the past 3-5 years? Or do you suggest me eating somewhere else (at the restaurant which is really season conscious) in Paris for summer? My best meal so far is at L'Arpege in the middle of April this year What is your favorite season to eat at L'Ambroisie? Your reviews at Gastroville is one of the main reasons why I would like to dine there for the 1st time. Maybe if I told Monsieur LeMoullac that I'm being refered by you or your review, I would be more likely to have a great experience ... j/k

Hi, I might go to Paris next summer and plan to eat at L'Ambroisie should I'm able to secure a reservation. I see many wonderful reviews about this place, but one thing I realize is that most (if not all) of the reviews are from people eating around winter time when the truffle season is still there. I could not help but to ask, what should one expect to eat at L'Ambroisie in the summer? Is it a good idea or better to go there around Nov - Feb only? Thanks

I did get a chance to have a meal at Calandre at the beginning of summer this year. I would say our meal there is very good - the same level as Can Fabes (95/100) that we had the week before, and only below L'Arpege and Alain Ducasse Paris (my gastronomy experiences are still very limited). I'm glad to come here after having many mediocre meals at Venice (the ones at Florence are not much better either). So here are my 2 cents Food This is the first time I ate here, after a little discussion with the maitre d, we decided to try I grandi classici delle “Calandre” menu. It is a good way to explore the cooking of Max Alajmo. I really love the rissoto, scampi with fried spaghetti and cappucino with black cuttlefish. One think I notice is that this menu involve several dishes with cheese, even from the amuse bouche, so if you're not cheese fans, this menu may not be good for you. Unlike our meal in Can Fabes, here we started out very strong, but it went down the hill as the lunch progress. I am not quite fond of the pasta dishes (very cheesy to the point I don't taste the other ingredients like the spinach and tomato) and the suckling-pork (due to the funny smell). There is no butter served at the beginning along with their bread selection. There are no petit four, sweets or chocolates served after the dessert, I wish they had ones Wine The Italian wine selection is very comprehensive as one should expect. I love the 2000 gravner ribolla gialla - absolutely dry and intense in the center, but soften towards the end. The Lombardy's champagne is also great - delicate and good balance in acidity. It's also the first time for me to see a female head sommelier in 3* establishments, but she's very kind and helpful. Her assistant "washed" our glasses with our wines so that we could smell and enjoy the flavor more - I simply have not encountered this anywhere else. By the way, there are many unique-shape glasses for the wines. Service The service is excellent, the staffs are very friendly and most of them speak good English. Even chef Massimiliano came to our table to greet us at the beginning. They changed the napkin with the new one when you leave the table. Sometimes, the manager served and explained the dish to us. The decoration is somewhat similar to L'Arpege but much more spacious - simple but not too luxirious. If any of you would like to see the pictures of what I ate, please click here - Calandre summer 06. Also, I would like to thank Alberto Chinali from the eG forum for helping me to translate the dishes name. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions

The best way is to take the train to Waregem and then a cab from the station to the restaurant. ← Thanks for the answer. One more question, similar to the above one. What would be the closest train station to go to Oud Sluis? Would it be easier to come from Amsterdam or Brussels? Again thanks

Hi Jon Tseng, Thank you for the reply and explaination For the time being, I don't have any plan to come to UK yet I guess chef Ramsay now is like monsieur Ducasse who rarely cooks at his restaurants' kitchens (I don't know if this is the case as well for Mr. Robuchon) Don't know about Gordon, but Alain is doing a great job so far (at least for his top 3 dining places). I mean they may not be creative but the dishes really represent (classic) French haute cuisine. Sometimes it makes me curious if Ramsay, Ducasse and Robuchon are still really good in the sense to create new dishes, not simply put their names on the food created by their teams So, how much is it actually for the degustation menu at Gordon Ramsay RHR (also how much would it cost at the restaurants you recommended - Greenhouse and Sketch)? Does the food at Sketch really represent Gagnaire's at Paris?

I am just wondering how many michelin stars does GR at Claridge's hold? How much different is it from the GR at RHR? Like Keller's FL vs per se? Thanks

Does anybody know who is the new owner and chef of La Ferme de mon Pere? I just visited Marc Veyrat's official website and we could no longer book this restaurant via this website. I guess this is no longer a rumour after all. When is Chef Veyrat going to open his new Paris restaurant? I heard it's somewhere near the Roland Garros.

Wow, very great pictures! How are the wines at those restaurants? Quality and Price wise? Could anyone give suggestion, what would be the best way to get to the Hof Van Cleve from Bruges - assuming that I don't plan to drive? Thanks

To Culinista or others who have been to L'Ambroisie, What would you suggest people ordering if they go to L'Ambroisie for the first time since there is no degustation menu I suppose? Ordering 3-4 separate ala carte at the 3* restaurants would easily blow up the price? Are we allowed to order half dish and tailored our own menu? Just curious, thanks