Gordon Ramsay au Trianon & La Veranda

[John Talbott]

Just as a point of information - how do you get from Versailles proper to the restaurant?  I am thinking of making a day of it - a bit of Versailles in the morning (stately home and/or gardens) - then this restaurant - then back to Versailles.  My husband has a bad leg - he's good for walking about an hour or so - then he needs to rest.  So I thought sightseeing/lunch/sightseeing would really work out nicely.  FWIW - we had a wonderful day a few years back doing the Chelsea Flower Show and Gordon Ramday RHR for lunch in London - and a similar day at Versailles and Gordon Ramsay sounds like it might be wonderful too.  BTW - the Chelsea Flower Show this year is May 20-24.  I won't be in the neighborhood but - if you are - it's a lovely place to spend a day - and a lunch at GR RHR puts it over the top IMO.  Robyn

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There are three stations, Rive Droite (SNCF that departs St Lazare) that's an easy walk down the Bvd de la Reine to the hotel/restaurant; Chateau/Rive Gauche (RER C from St Michel, Alma etc) that's slightly to the southeast of the Chateau and a longer walk to the hotel but ideal for the Chateau and Chantier (SNCF from Montparnasse) quite a hike to both the hotel and Chateau. Get your hands on a Michelin Red Guide and you'll see their locations.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Caramba! Simon is stealing from us. http://francoissimon.typepad.fr/simonsays2...non-palace.html

[tupac17616]

Simon's female companion is about as adept at eating tagliatelle as my 1-year-old niece

[julot-les-pinceaux]

I thought this was him.

[tupac17616]

Hah. I stand corrected. Stylish little silk scarf he's got there.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Gay or European, uh?

[Ptipois]

Caramba! Simon is stealing from us. http://francoissimon.typepad.fr/simonsays2...non-palace.html

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Holy Moly! And he is, too!

[John Talbott]

Caramba! Simon is stealing from us. http://francoissimon.typepad.fr/simonsays2...non-palace.html

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Holy Moly! And he is, too!

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It's kind of scary to see the meal go by again, even with a shakier camera.

[julot-les-pinceaux]

It's kind of scaryto see that headless Anton Ego eating my dish!

[tupac17616]

It's kind of scaryto see that headless Anton Ego eating my dish!

[Fibilou]

What I can't understand is why they seem to be getting so defensive over it all.

As in Mr Simon's opinion, clearly it's crap and as France is full of knowing gourmets they will steer clear with bargepoles so they will not have to be offended by the lack of imagination or pizzazz. Leaving only us poor, uneducated ignorant Tourists to suffer Gordon's copycat 70s style cuisine. And as we are so ignorant, then the French can all rub their hands with glee thinking about the poor fool non-French ignorami chowing down on 2nd quality food.

Or, more likely, are they so frightened that their precious fabled food industry is about to be tested ? What a disaster for French Cuisine to be challenged by a man from the Land of Deep Fried Mars Bars if the restaurant is popular with the French. How embarrasing if they are faced with the fact that.....

.......the French are not the only nation that can cook

Edited April 29, 2008 by Fibilou (log)

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Of course the French are the only nation that can cook. Don't be ridiculous. They're also the only nation who can love, by the way, and the two are connected.

Serioulsy though, and as Pti underlines on her blog, Simon can't even say that it's not good, and the post on his blog is actually to say that la Véranda is a great place. But because indeed it would be impossible to say that Ramsay is a great chef, he makes it a story about how only suckers would go the gastronomic restaurant. Now I don't know, I haven't been, but it clearly has the look of a critic whose content you can forecat precisely without having been to the restaurant -- so I am dubious.

[Fibilou]

Of course the French are the only nation that can cook. Don't be ridiculous. They're also the only nation who can love, by the way, and the two are connected.

[robyn]

Fibilou - The 70's were great. A time when many men - like my husband - actually learned how to dance! And - especially when it comes to Europe - it was a time when a lot of the post-WWII ruins and lousy economies started to disappear - and the place started to become what it is today. A transitional period as it were. Between not so good and a whole lot better.

John - Thanks for the information. I do plan to get the Michelin Red guide(s) as necessary - but they won't be available here in the US in English until May. Robyn

[John Talbott]

John - Thanks for the information.  I do plan to get the Michelin Red guide(s) as necessary - but they won't be available here in the US in English until May.  Robyn

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It doesn't really pay to buy the whole 2008 edition just for one map; look in any old one at a bookstore or library.

[robyn]

John - Thanks for the information.  I do plan to get the Michelin Red guide(s) as necessary - but they won't be available here in the US in English until May.  Robyn

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It doesn't really pay to buy the whole 2008 edition just for one map; look in any old one at a bookstore or library.

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I'll be getting the Michelin red guide to Paris for restaurant information. So if I find myself in a certain part of the city - and I'm hungry - I can see what's in the neighborhood. Without a guide like Michelin - I might miss a decent place that's 2 blocks away. I think the maps are usually pretty good too. FWIW - the red guide costs peanuts compared to the rest of the trip! Robyn

[julot-les-pinceaux]

The Paris guide is good, with pictures and more text than the France guide. But it is strictly Paris and does not include Versailles.

[robyn]

The Paris guide is good, with pictures and more text than the France guide. But it is strictly Paris and does not include Versailles.

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I already have the Green Guide to Northern France and the Paris Region (which includes Versailles) - so I should be ok. If the Paris guide has more pictures - does that mean it covers fewer restaurants? One thing I always liked about the Michelin guides in France was that they covered just about every restaurant you might find. Robyn

[julot-les-pinceaux]

Pictures are for starred restaurants only. But all Paris restaurants that are in france guide are in Paris one as well.

Also the guide is not supposed to cover bad restaurants. So not really every restaurant ;-)

[PhilD]

I was there and I loved it too. I too will report in detail later (blog post, Flickr set…) but Julot's pictures are a good rendition of that lovely meal.

Since I can't edit my older post, I'll just mention that my blog post on the Ramsay lunch is here.

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We have just had Sunday lunch at the Veranda and can agree with both Ptipois and Juliot that it is very, very good.

My partner started with stuffed calamari salad with fried tentacles - very delicate, deep fishy flavour, and a light herby salad. I had a special of lamb confit ravioli, on a goats cheese fritter. A deeply satisfying dish.

For the main course I had the roast chicken, beans cabbage and pomme pure. It was all wonderfully presented, really deeply flavoured, the chicken simply melted in the mouth, and the vegtables were perefect. My partner had the Rouget with Mediterranean vegetables, a simple dish but perfectly executed with everything tasting perfect.

For dessert we shared a passion fruit Ile Flottante, which was deeply flavoured and very moreish. Even the coffee was wonderful, an incredibly smooth flavour with some good petit fours.

The bill for two starters and mains, one desert, coffee and petit fours, Evian and a bottle of Chablis came to €183 - very good value for cooking of this standard, good service and a very pleasant room.

The French critics may have harshly reviewed it but that has not put off the great and the good. We were sat at the next table to Jacques Chirac and his family (wife, daughters and a husband). They all seemed to be really enjoying the menu, with two starters each followed by mains.

[Sacha Novak]

First off, please let me say I am very dyslexic and this is my first restaurant report. Please forgive me for any spelling mistakes or unreadable content. I use google to check on words I know are badly wrong but a few still get through. Plus it was my first weekend with my new camera so some of the photos arnt great.

On my last visit to see my partner who works in paris I had the pleasure of eating at Trianon GR for lunch on a saturday. It was a wonderfull lunch but I have to say there was only us and another couple eating for the whole of the lunch service. The other restaurant was full though.

The room is beautiful and feels relaxed but formal. The staff were all very warm and made us feel very comfortable and on many occasions made us laugh out loud.

One point my partner always has a gripe about is that even though she is english, when she speaks french to english speaking french people they always return the conversation in english as if to say her french is not good enough. This was not the case here, they picked up straight away that she could speak french and I could not and spoke french to her and english to me. I know this is small but this made her day.

We started with a glass of lovely champagne and ordered off the standard menu. While there is a price difference theres not alot between the tasting menu and the standard menu, we still decided to go with standard. Oh how happy we were with that choice!

The first amuse was a mini ice cream cone of smoked salmon and (I think) cream cheese sorbet with cavier. It was a great mix of texture, flavour and lots of salty sea flavour. I loved it, the girlfriend didnt.

Next was a potato crisp filled with (I think) truffles. I didnt get alot from it but the girlfriend loved it.

Finally there was a Ceaser salad of lobster served with a sorbet of some description(it was over a month ago so some memorys are vague). The Ceaser dressing completly overtook the lobster flavour but over all it was very nice to eat.

My starter was the lobster raveolie Gordon is famous for. It was, simply, one of the most delightfull dishes I have ever eaten. My only gripe being that the lobster did seem slightly over cooked but that didnt subtract from the awe I got from this dish. I really didnt want it to end!

My partner had a stuffed chicken served cold with frozen Foie gras, She said it was beautiful but didnt get alot from the Foie gras sorbet(?) I didnt try it.

Before the Main course was served we were given a Basil sorbet with a drop of 25 year old balsamic. It was served on a block of ice. To me it was one of the highlights of the meal. It was the most amazing flavour of Basil I have ever had, As it hit my pallet the cold stopped any flavour getting through, then slowly the flavour of basil came through stonger and stronger and it was beautiful. It made both of us smile from ear to ear.

The main dishes im afriad to say, were the low point of the meal. I opted for the Angus beef and my girlfriend opted for the lamb. While both of these were cooked to perfection using the best British produce, they were boring, safe and un-exciting. I always choose the beef because I always dream that I will find something to compare to my homeland beef(new zealand). The quality was there, but I didnt feel overwhelmed. My girlfriend felt the same.

Next came a pre desert of tiramisu, this was frozen and served in a golden black egg. To me is was wonderfull once again using frozen elements to slowly relese flavours. Textures were wonderfull too.

For desert we opted for the mini desert selection of everything. I think we were a little spoilt at this stage as when they started to fill our table with food they had a big smile on there faces. There was nothing mini about this selection! Highlights were the look on my girlfriends face as we broke into the fondant releasing the amazing toffee syrip inside(she did say she had tasted better fondant though). In the photo all you see is three of the deserts, what you dont see if the basil and chocolate sorbet and the TWO rasberry soufle. The Pineapple tartare was the most amazing pineapple flavour I have ever experianced. Both me and the girlfriend were in heaven.

If that wasnt enough, we were then delivered chocolates of every type, More chololates on silver sticks, and then a bowl of rasberry filled white chocolate with dry ice. By this time I was ready to die or explode, but my girlfriend had no problems with chomping away at the amazing rasberry white chocolate bombs.

Then my partner was also given a chocolate and orange breoche to take home with us, This was eaten in bed later that night along with some treats from Pierre Hermé.

All in all it was a wonderfull lunch, The maître d' was great fun and was only too pleased to talk to us. After our deserts were taken away he asked "so was it good? do you think we should keep the chef?" Made me chuckle.

While I agree Ramsays move to france is a bold one, I cant see why this restaurant isnt full all the time. I have eaten in 1 and 2 star restaurants around the world and can honestly say this was one of the best I have been too. To me its like seeing a great gig, you go and see the band and you have a good time, but if the gig inspires you and keeps with you for days then you know it was something special. And this was, something special.

Next stop, The Fat Duck...

Edited July 26, 2008 by Sacha Novak (log)

[John Talbott]

Nice reviews Phil and Sasha; but prices were what? And Sasha, which resto did you eat in?

[PhilD]

Nice reviews Phil and Sasha; but prices were what?  And Sasha, which resto did you eat in?

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John - in my post - "The bill for two starters and mains, one desert, coffee and petit fours, Evian and a bottle of Chablis came to €183 - very good value for cooking of this standard, good service and a very pleasant room."

Sacha say they at at "Trianon GR" which I take to be "Gordon Ramsay au Trianon", and looking at the photos would appear to be the restaurant rather than the brasserie (La Veranda)

[Ptipois]

Great review, Sacha. You are mentioning that the restaurant was almost empty, which is a shame. But what was the date of your lunch there? If it was in high Summer, well there you have it. Versaillais are all likely to be on the Atlantic beaches at this time.

Last week I had lunch at Lapérouse and the two of us were alone on the 2nd floor. It felt like being in a Balzac-type novel after the hero has gone bankrupt and all his friends have deserted him. The food, unfortunately, was far from being as interesting as that of Le Trianon. And the waiters got the menus all messed up so we couldn't even get what we were reading.

[kermie]

I've been to the actual restaurant there and found it good. I've eaten in better places in france but the food was good and the service was excellent. Although I can't remember any specific dishes, I do remember their bread. I have clear visions of specific meals and dishes throughout france so that can't say too much - although overall no complaints or negative comments. Actually I really like the hotel. I haven't been there since Ramsey but I imagine it to be somewhat similar from what I've read. I can't remember the brasserie so I am just assuming he's in the restaurant. Getting old and am starting to forget - haha. He trained in france for a while under someone quite tough (can't remember his name but quite well known) and is fluent in french so I imagine he has a decent idea of modern french cuisine.