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Jules Verne


vinobiondo

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JULES VERNE

We had arrived from the US the day before, stopped in for a memorable late lunch at Bofinger, walked by and peered in L'Ambroisie, and then returned to the surprisingly great Hotel du Louvre and crashed around 6:00 p.m.

We woke up around 4:00 a.m., and took a marvelous Sunday 5:30 a.m. walk through the grounds of the Louvre and the Tuileries. I highly recommend this walk at 5:30 on a Sunday. There is absolutely no one there.

We wandered up to Les Invalides, and after a breathtaking tour of Les Invalides, it was not a long walk to the Eiffel Tower and lunch at Jules Verne, the Michelin-starred restaurant on the second observation deck. The walk up the Parc du Champ de Mars is inspiring, and the Tower was just as imposing as I remembered it from when I was 11.

We arrived just as Jules Verne was opening and took the first private-elevator trip of the day up to the restaurant. The room was very pretty in a sort of austere, Scandanavian-type way. The kir royale for an apertif was delicious, the view was breathtaking, and the tasting menu (the "Menu of Discovery") looked appealing. Even our neighbors at the next table -- bizarrely enough, the same German

couple who had sat next to us at Bofinger the previous day -- were friendly. A promising start indeed.

At this point, Jules' balloon crashed and its submarine imploded. At Jules Verne, they know how to make a kir royale and petit four or two. Everything in between was bad, and I "discovered" this the hard way. I will say this for Jules

Verne -- if you have no functioning teeth, this might not be a bad

option, as there was no texture or crunch to anything on this menu du mush.

The amuse bouche was basically sour cream and onion dip served with a

spoon. Nauseatingly rich and weird by itself. It would not be last

time during this meal that I found myself wanting potato chips.

The starter was a foie gras torchon with a red fruit compote of some

sort. The greyish foie gras was nothing short of bad (have I ever said “foie gras” and “bad” in the same sentence before?). The bizarre, nutty quasi-brioche-like bread was worse.

Next up was the "Terrine of Dublin Bay Prawns with Cucumber Gelee."

Turns out the prawns were served raw and chopped (wouldn't be my first

choice, but whatever). We renamed this dish "Salty Slime." It was

basically a pink-and-green, fishy, saline gelatinous ooze. Totally

revolting. The taste was bad, but the texture was far worse.

The day before we left for France, Melissa and I had lunch at my

91-year-old grandfather's house in Escondido. He cooked, and it was

delicious. At this point in our Jules Verne meal, Melissa asked me,

"If this place has one Michelin star, how many stars does your

grandfather have?" His splendid, made-up-on-the-spot, oven-baked

chicken (which involved, among other things, Bisquik and gravy powder)

vastly outperformed J.V.'s Poulet de Bresse with Morels, which was our next course.

I will spare you the gory details of the remaining courses, except for

one. The true nadir was the sorbet in the middle of the meal. There was very little refreshment or palate cleansing to be had with the avocado sorbet. That's correct -- avocado sorbet. They also took the liberty of adding a drizzle of unspecified medium-brown sauce on top. Quite a visual. From Melissa: "Wow -- first sour cream dip, and now frozen guacamole -- when will they bring me some chips?" And why we needed sneeze-inducing "Black Pepper Creme Brulee" for dessert is beyond me.

I honestly cannot think of any meal I've ever eaten in a restaurant that was so terrible on an absolute quality scale. Add in the fact that it cost more than lunch at the French Laundry, and I am sure Jules Verne will have a long reign on top of the "Worst Meals I Have Ever Eaten" List. It was a cute idea -- a Michelin-starred lunch on the Eiffel Tower on the first day in Paris with my comparatively new (5 months) girlfriend. Do not make this same mistake under any circumstances.

Shellshocked by both the crappy food and the stunning bill, we wandered off to the Arc de Triomphe, stopped for a beer, trudged down the Champs-Elysees in the rain past three-starred Ledoyen (which is so, so beautiful from the outside and, alas, about the same price as Jules Verne for lunch) and back to the hotel. Our vastly-superior-to-Jules-Verne but otherwise unremarkable dinner at a neighborhood place was less than one-third the cost of lunch. How I wish I had booked at Ledoyen. I'm confident that Katie Holmes said "yes" only so she could get out of this culinary embarrassment to a fantastic setting -- after all, she could have had an even better (and reasonably priced) view for 10 Euros up top.

JULES VERNE

FINAL GRADE: 59 (F)

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That sounds like some appalling meal. But why such a high score? Do they get 50 points for letting you in the door? :raz:

I'm sorry also you didn't manage a reservation at L'Ambroisie. A spectacular restaurant, imo.

"Gimme a pig's foot, and a bottle of beer..." Bessie Smith

Flickr Food

"111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321" Bruce Frigard 'Winesonoma' - RIP

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That sounds like some appalling meal. But why such a high score? Do they get 50 points for letting you in the door? :raz:

I'm sorry also you didn't manage a reservation at L'Ambroisie. A spectacular restaurant, imo.

Well, the Eiffel Tower view + pretty decent service gets them most of the way to 50. But the food is certainly nothing better than 9 out of 50.

Re: Ambroisie, trust me, I'm dying to go. I just wasn't sure that it was the right atmosphere for Melissa, who is a bit of a rookie at fancy food (and, thus, maybe not able to yet appreciate the alleged refined subtlety of L'Ambroisie). Now that I know she is a trooper, I expect that we will be back to Paris for meals at Arpege, L'Ambroisie and a repeat of Le Grand Vefour sometime soon. I'm actually dying to try the almost-all-veg tasting menu at Arpege, but less thrilled about 300+ Euros a head for food alone). Nevertheless, I will pony up to try it.

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I was imagining your scores in the current American academic grading context - 100-90 an A etc.... In that same environment, an F is an achievement in itself!! The scholastic equivalent of putting a plate of rancid mashed potato down would secure a B+ at some of he fine institutions I've encountered!! There is something deeply entertaining about reading accounts of really really terrible meals, just very glad I'm not the one paying for it.

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I was imagining your scores in the current American academic grading context -  100-90 an A etc.... In that same environment, an F is an achievement in itself!! The scholastic equivalent of putting a plate of rancid mashed potato down would secure a B+ at some of he fine institutions I've encountered!! There is something deeply entertaining about reading accounts of really really terrible meals, just very glad I'm not the one paying for it.

That is precisely the intended scale, and there is no grade inflation involved here -- those 90-point meals were damn good.

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enjoyed your review, or should i say warning......thank you for going, so that the rest of us can be spared. but seriously, love your comments about wanting potato chips (and it not being the first time in the menu you would think that!), and also your asking yourseld how on earth could you use the words foie gras with unpleasant in the same sentence?

vegetable lunch at arpege is worth it (usually). just pro-rate it with a cheap bistro the next day.

i really love chez ramulaud for lunch, its on rue faubourg st antoine, delish, and a better bargain i don't know. they always have something to inspire me, though sometimes something to confuse me too, but it always works out. i keep returning.

a bientot!

marlena

Marlena the spieler

www.marlenaspieler.com

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  • 1 year later...

Does anyone have any more recent experience with Jules Verne? I understand Alain Ducasse took over early this year? A friend of mine wanted to do something special for her parents who will be in Paris in late April for their 40th anniversary. She thought a great meal with a spectacular view would be very memorable. She wants to make the reservation and give them a pre-paid Visa or Amex to pay for their dinner. How much should she plan for, including a nice but not over the top bottle of wine?

Is lunch a more realistic option for a reservation since it is only about a month out? What would be the approximate cost for lunch?

Finally--I assume it's service compris, but what would be an appropriate "extra" cash tip? I saw 5% mentioned in another thread as a good tip...would that be appropriate here?

Thanks for any advice!

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March 10th, Francois Simon said the Eiffel Tower restaurants will be under Ducasse's control September 2007.

Quote "Et sinon, Ducasse poursuit son invasion. En attendant sa Tour Eiffel (septembre),...."

And yet the official Eiffel Tower site says "Chef Alain Ducasse took the helm of the Jules Verne Restaurant cuisine on January 1, 2007."

:huh:

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  • 3 weeks later...
Does anyone have any more recent experience with Jules Verne? 

Yep, me. I was taken for valentine's night by my fiance, it was an experience indeed ! We had a superb view of the trocedero, being seated right in the window (concierge at the Crillon do a superb job of getting you a good table !)

First course was a mousseline of foie gras, excellent and served with toasted brioche. Second up was langoustine tail, simply served but perfect. Third up was a fillet of bass with champagne sauce and champignons de paris. Main course was a perfectly cooked lamb saddle with artichokes barigoule and pommes souffles. Dessert was a take on Hermé's Ispahan gateau but without the lychee, wetter and with puréed raspberries and rose ice cream. We were so impressed by this dessert we are having it recreated for our wedding breakfast. Petits fours were delightful. Service was excellent.

Well worth a visit, when i get home from work I will post some pictures.

www.diariesofadomesticatedgoddess.blogspot.com

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Foie gras lucullus

gallery_52724_4469_17421.jpg

Lobster

gallery_52724_4469_19118.jpg

Sea Bass

gallery_52724_4469_13164.jpg

Lamb

gallery_52724_4469_11242.jpg

Coeur Macaron

gallery_52724_4469_14703.jpg

Close up of rose and rapsberry macaron dessert

gallery_52724_4469_6168.jpg

Rose Ice Cream

gallery_52724_4469_7139.jpg

Petits Fours

gallery_52724_4469_36046.jpg

I really hope that worked !

I have not yet eaten in a Ducasse restaurant; however the quality of the food, the attention to detail and the cleanliness of the flavours suggest to me that they have an excellent chef at the reins now. There was not one disappointing dish in the entire meal, and the orange mousseline petits fours (in the centre of the petits fours photo) deserve a special mention.

Edited by Fibilou (log)

www.diariesofadomesticatedgoddess.blogspot.com

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March 10th, Francois Simon said the Eiffel Tower restaurants will be under Ducasse's control September 2007.

Quote "Et sinon, Ducasse poursuit son invasion. En attendant sa Tour Eiffel (septembre),...."

And yet in the April-May Gault-Millau they said that changes brought about by Ducasse were already evident at the Jules Verne. Quote "Le changement est visible, puisque Alain Reix,...." the chef. Go figure!

John Talbott

blog John Talbott's Paris

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my 15 yr old daughter and i dined there (thanks to her benevolent uncle) on thursday evening (april 12, 2007). she had just purchased an adorable little black dress at the rue monge marche and was excited to wear it to the jules verne. we were horrified to find fellow diners queuing up for the private elevator ride, wearing all manner of casual wear, including jeans (and not fancy-schmancy ones, either) and tennis shoes. quelle horreur!

our corner window seat afforded a spectacular view of the seine, and we sipped kir royales as we watched the bateaux mouches leave the docks, and the sun disappear.

the view was really tremendous, and frequent trips to the ladies room provided views from the piano bar side, which overlooks the champs de mars side of things. (don't get me started on the view in the ladies room....lordy! i understand the need for an airplane toilette, but who thought it would be a good idea to place a full length mirror INSIDE the stall!!!??????)

sadly, our dainty evening bags had no room for pen and paper, and despite repeated requests, we could not sweet talk a copy of the menu out of any of our many charming waiters, so i rely on memory for this. we ordered a la carte, as the princess daughter, while working on the "picky eater" issue, was just not up to the challenge of the tasting menu.

i dunno what happened to the photo, but there were adorably tiny gougeres offered first, along with a bread selection of white, buckwheat or whole wheat. we tried all in the course of the meal, and all were quite nice, if not amazing.

gallery_8685_4523_180733.jpg

amuse of poached quail egg in !spinach cream sauce. i was afraid the p.d wouldn't eat it but she did, so i only got my own. tasty, if tiny morsels.

gallery_8685_4523_675643.jpg

shellfish veloute was my starter. if i recall correctly, this was about 42 euros...making it a $50+ bowl o soup. worth that? i don't think so...but deeply flavorful, with a two bite lobster hunk. no starter for the p.d--she was thinkin' maybe two desserts, instead, and i did not say no.

gallery_8685_4523_227993.jpg

my spring lamb. very tender, and mildly flavorful--meaning not overly lamb-y. the portion size seemed well suited for a tasting menu, but small for a main course.

gallery_8685_4523_631695.jpg

her milk-fed veal. tender, tasty and a perfect portion size.

gallery_8685_4523_690757.jpg

sorry for the bad quality. it was getting quite dark by this point, and the little lamp on the table was realllly bright. this was my dessert--a strawberry croquante (?) that was lovely. in the background, petits fours included financiers, little chocolate sandwich cookies and pistachio macarons with fleur de sel caramel filling (awoon...)

and the p.d had:gallery_8685_4523_525749.jpg

i can't recall the description of this, but it was chocolate wafers with an oragey-passion fruity creme and sauce.

the photo quality declined even further after this. the final sweets were a china box with lemon marshmallows (fab) and red fruit pate de fruits, and a silver box of tiny chocolate truffles. (at some point, the p.d. wisely decided to forego the second dessert.)

we had a wonderful evening. the wait staff could not have been more attentive, but in a charming, not smothering way...each of our servers seemed to delight in the jeune fille experiencing the atmosphere and fine dining they had to offer.

would i go again? probably not. it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, i think. would i go on my own dime? maybe not...i have had much better high-end meals for less money. am i glad we went? hell, yes. we had a terrific evening together, and she will always remember her first visit to paris! thanks, uncle dave!

"Laughter is brightest where food is best."

www.chezcherie.com

Author of The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook ,The I Love Trader Joe's Party Cookbook and The I Love Trader Joe's Around the World Cookbook

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  • 10 months later...
  • 1 year later...

I'm also wondering if anyone has been in the last couple years. I don't think there's any way it would be on the top of my list food-wise, but the view is appealing to others in my party (and to me as well certainly, although it still wouldn't be at the top of my list). I'm particularly interested to hear if anyone has had the 85 Euro lunch menu?

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