Pierre au Palais Royal

A NON-DRINKER's EXPERIENCE. (Since I don't drink, the food really has to be able to stand on its own).

I chose this restaurant much by chance as I was walking by. It looked very French and very good, which is what I wanted on my first day in Paris in 15 years.

I ordered the 3-course meal: stewed beef cheek with toast and foie gras Preserved lamb and ratatouille; and the bourbon vanilla pastry.

The maitre'd was friendly, and the staff overall was helpful. The food came in a timely basis and the place is clean.

I very much enjoyed the first course. The thin slices of foie gras accented the rest of the meal just perfectly - a smoky envelope for the rest. I wish the toast were easier to cut through - it crunched loudly as I put my dull knife through it. But taste-wise, it was fantastic. In fact, it was so good the rest of my meal didn't quite measure up.

My second course was probably the most tender lamb I've ever had, which is good. But the ratatouille was so overcooked it was basically just the vegetable skins. I love ratatouille and it was unfortunately the weakest part of this course. On the positive side, the flavor overall was still superb. They really didn't flavor the meat at all, which helped the taste of the ratatouille stand out.

The weakest part of the entire meal was my third course. This is my pet peeve - the dessert should put a fine finishing touch on the meal, not leave you wanting something else. It was basically tasteless cream between tasteless wafers of some sort.

The presentation, especially of the 1st and 3rd courses, was phenomenal.
Comment on this reader review

leonardw2007
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Thursday, July 08, 2010