Le Moissonnier

[dipardoo]

I have been meaning to post about an excellent luncheon i enjoyed recently at Le Moissonnier on the Krefelder Strasse in Cologne.

I'd read about it a few times in Der Feinschmecker and had thought how attractive it looked (it's an old Jugenstil patisserie I believe). I noticed that it was bumped into the 1-2 star section of Michelin guide, meaning it has one star but is one to watch for a second.

Happened to be going to Cologne, so booked myself in for a solo lunch.

The restaurant - just a small bistro really - was full at lunch. There were about 3 of us dining alone which i always like to see. A few tables of business people, and lots of regulars. Owner Vincent Moissonnier was a big presence on the dining room, serving, clearing, chatting, meeting and greeting etc.

There's an a la carte menu, plus a plat du jour as well as the four course set menu (drawn from the alc) that I had.

The menu costs 47 euros per person, or 58 with three glasses of wine (0,1L).

I supplemented the menu with a couple of fines de claires, and a fourth glass of red wine. my bill was 78 euros or so (less than £50 when it appeared on my credit card). in other words, a bargain.

I started with the above mentioned oysters and a glass of picpoul de pinet.

First course, rabbit and foie gras rillettes with rosemary and caponata; a medalloin of rabbit poached in black olive jus; mesclun salad with chorizo; bruschetta with lardo di colonnata.

Then a pan-fried and lightly curried piece of scottish salmon, with a waldorf salad, asparagus in lardo (again) with a light maple hollandaise.

Then tandoori-marinated duck breast, with a provencal stuffed baby tomato, green beans tied up with yet more lardo and a thyme panisse.

Pudding was cinnamon pain perdu souffle, a mini tarte tatin and plum sorbet with a gluhwein foam.

the wines were the picpoul, then cotes de st mont (plaimont), then mas de la garrige (henriques) from roussillon. i added an extra bordeaux to this but i don't recall the name.

i was very impressed with the lunch. great value, great service, lovely atmosphere and really interesting food. high praise for the rillettes. A lot of unusual flavours going on, but for me they worked well together, particularly as the presentation tends towards a series of mini plates for each course, rather than everything elaborately painted onto one big white plate.

I shall definitely be going back next time i'm in cologne. it's the kind of place i fantasise about being a regular.

If anyone is thinking about doing a gourmet trip to dieter muller's or vendome, you should really consider popping into cologne centre to try le moissonnier. bergisch-gladbach is so close by, and i think this less formal place combined with a dinner at one of the three stars in bergisch-g would make a fantastic weekend.

anyone else been to Le Moissonnier? am interested to hear about other people's experiences here.