Laduree is one of the most well known tea house/macaron-maker in France, so we HAD to give this a try.
The tea room on Rue Royale was beautiful and we were charged for it.
Magdalene Church
This was next to Laduree.
Magdalene Church
Lunch – Pierre Gagnaire
We looked forward to this meal because this was our one and only 3-star Michelin meal of the trip.
Dining room was classic and formal, but not palatial nor ultra-modern.
We picked the Menu du Marche (Menu of the Market) because this was the only affordable option, and we can’t eat more than that. The full degustation “Spring” menu was 265E, and a la carte was way more than that.
Alright... here comes the food...
welcome snacks – deep fried fennel puree, onion biscuit, cheese biscuit.
welcome snacks 2 – beet-root like cube with a crispy thing over some capsicum puree (far); apple (right); chestnut something (left).
welcome snacks 3 – anchovies with some sort of veg (rim); olive oil and flaky biscuit.
Amuse bouches – (bottom centre than clockwise) strawberry soup; prune and something; salmon roe with smoked swordfish and tiny dices of veges; watercress veloute; squid ink gnocchi and black pudding.
4 types of bread. Love the chestnut bread.
FINALLY... the real entree. Green asparagus, Egg (PG style), prawn meat in prawn bisque. There’s some tiny cucumber dices and pieces of leek at the bottom. Divine combination and perfect balance of flavours.
Main – smooth, chunky, supple fish (sorry... no English menu!) superbly cooked, with butter, radish, artichoke and some sort of mousse. All ingredients combined to enhance the natural fish flavour.
Dessert 1 – Jelly of almond (?) with rose petal, thin biscuit, gold leaf and red currant soup.
Dessert 2 – Banana and a few things. An explosion of flavours.
Dessert 3 – Passionfruit and mango, on top of a vanilla sugar leaf.
Dessert 4 – chocolate cake, chocolate leave, some berries and ice cream.
Dessert 5 – hazelnut pralines
Dessert 6 – Black currant in various textures.
My ratings for PG...
Food – 9.5-10/10 – everything was exceptional and perfectly executed and well-balanced. Enjoyed every bite and had lots of “wow” factor in most dishes.
Ambience – 9/10 – nice and a fitting environment for the calibre of the food.
Service – 8.5/10 – generally adequate and fine. Most waiters were friendly and professional, except for one who looked a little cool and had a poker face. I doubt any restaurant can beat the service levels of Le Meurice.
Value – 9/10 – At 105E/pp, this was “oK” value for such a top restaurant. Dinner service would be out of reach for me.
Overall – 9-9.5/10. Definitely worth trying and returning. I would place PG over Tetsuya’s for food and ambience, but lower for service and value. Le Meurice has the best service and a palatial dining room but perhaps (very) slightly less impressive food. It was a nice touch for PG himself to come out and greet his customers.
Because of rain, our post-lunch therapy was performed at Printemps and Galleries Lafayette. I think we bought our limit for alcohol for import to Australia. My knees/feet are hurting a lot now.
Went out to the l’arc again at night to take a few pics:
Went for a late, small dinner at Cafe George V... been there twice before and the restaurant cat (Totem) is still here! Mrs Chan had her comfort food – French Onion Soup.
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