Christmas time - season of goodwill and all that! Also means a time for business lunches and thank you for your business, here's to the New Year and working together again.
I enjoy catching up with suppliers and this was a good lunch with my boss, a colleague and three from the host company.
We were seated in a nice corner and it was airy and bright. It was quiet when we first arrived but soon filled up. Busy enough to create ambience but quiet enough that we could chat easily and freely.
My boss Carrie and I struggled to choose between entrees so we decided to share each others. We had the cured kingfish (pictured above) which came with little balls of potato, salad, orange slivers and a chive creme fraiche. It was deliciously light with the orange cutting through the full fat (could taste it was full fat!) and decadent creamy creme fraiche. The fish was thickly sliced, which I liked and slightly dry so the flavour could come out. Although the fish was cured with beetroot, the flavour wasn't quite there but undeniably the colour made it a very beautiful looking dish.
I enjoy catching up with suppliers and this was a good lunch with my boss, a colleague and three from the host company.
We were seated in a nice corner and it was airy and bright. It was quiet when we first arrived but soon filled up. Busy enough to create ambience but quiet enough that we could chat easily and freely.
My boss Carrie and I struggled to choose between entrees so we decided to share each others. We had the cured kingfish (pictured above) which came with little balls of potato, salad, orange slivers and a chive creme fraiche. It was deliciously light with the orange cutting through the full fat (could taste it was full fat!) and decadent creamy creme fraiche. The fish was thickly sliced, which I liked and slightly dry so the flavour could come out. Although the fish was cured with beetroot, the flavour wasn't quite there but undeniably the colour made it a very beautiful looking dish.
So Carrie and I polished off half the kingfish each and then we shared escargots in garlic butter. The escargot were tender and the garlic butter just garlicky and buttery. I felt they needed a touch of seasoning to make them perfect but in spite of that still enjoyably good.
Others went for steak tartare and the ubiquitous French onion soup...when in France...
Others went for steak tartare and the ubiquitous French onion soup...when in France...
I enjoyed the minute steak which was topped off with a little onion and lardon. Unauthentically presented and not quite the steak frites of a Parisien bistro it tasted great and the steak was very tender. The fries were authentically shoe string and salty so that was enough for me.
The other dish pictured is the cassoulet. It looks like a small pot but I was assured by the two gents on the table that ordered it that it was not as gentle as it looked and packed a powerful punch. I guess duck, duck fat, lardons and beans can be heavy on the tummy!
I was surprised by how good this was. I think it's pricey for sure and is probably more suited the corporate clientele especially at lunchtimes but the premium price point is not unwarranted. I'd heard misgivings about service but we didn't experience that and whilst it took a while to flag down a waiter for the bill we felt looked after enough. Definitely a good choice for our purposes.
The other dish pictured is the cassoulet. It looks like a small pot but I was assured by the two gents on the table that ordered it that it was not as gentle as it looked and packed a powerful punch. I guess duck, duck fat, lardons and beans can be heavy on the tummy!
I was surprised by how good this was. I think it's pricey for sure and is probably more suited the corporate clientele especially at lunchtimes but the premium price point is not unwarranted. I'd heard misgivings about service but we didn't experience that and whilst it took a while to flag down a waiter for the bill we felt looked after enough. Definitely a good choice for our purposes.
RSS Feed