Le Clos des Gourmets - Paris - France - Review

Name: Le Clos des Gourmets

Address:
16, ave Rapp, Champ de Mars, Tour Eiffel,
Paris, France 75007

01 45 51 75 61

Food: French, Modern French
Average price: Entrée - $9.50-19Euro, Mains - $18-33Euro, Desserts - $7.50Euro, 3 course dinner - $35Euro

Complimentary: 4 slices of cold bread.

We ordered:
Map of Season Dinner 35 € uros

Drinks: Orange juice- $5.70

R liked the pulp and freshness, I found it a touch too sweet.

Velouté glacé de courgette et roquette, crumble au Parmesan Reggiano et poudre de tomates séchées
Iced Cream of zucchini and arugula crumble, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and dried tomato powder

Nice but mellow in flavour. The eggplant soup was cold and smooth with only a hint of zucchini. The tomato powder gave slight zing but other than that pretty subdued but a generous serve. It was pleasant but I wouldn't order it again.

Décortiqué de tourteau au crémeux de corail, Cappucino léger à l'anis étoilé
Shelled crab in creamy coral, Cappucino Light Star Anise

R liked this a lot and said it had oodles of crab flavour, he particularly liked the foam and tried to get me to have some. The only incident was a small fragment of shell, luckily no tooth was chipped.

Wok de légumes du moment à la verveine fraîche
Stir fried seasonal vegetables with fresh verbena

I was thrilled with the presentation of the vibrant colours in a black based wok-style bowl, really gorgeous. The veggies were cooked perfectly with a lovely lick (or perhaps a dunk) of butter and seasoning, the selection worked well together with a special mention to the mushrooms - a delicious bowl of veggies.

Tête de cochon croustillante, vinaigrette d’herbes fraîches pommes Ratte écrasées au beurre demi-sel
Crispy pig's head, fresh herb vinaigrette, Ratte potato mashed with butter salted

This was the dish that suffered from the speediness of the service. It was very soft - absolutely no crispness. There was a lot of rendered fat and not much meat and therefore not much flavour. On a positive note, the potatoes were nice.

Pèche pochée au romarin, granité safran et sablés au mascarpone
Peach poached in rosemary, saffron and granita biscuits with mascarpone

I was a bit dismayed at presentation only because it wasn't what I was expecting (otherwise I loved the bowl and plate). It was ice cold, even the peaches. The peaches texture was spot on, perfectly poached whilst the sorbet was very subtle. I felt the dish needed more textural difference, the crunch of the biscuits was lovely, but I needed more than three as they ran out fast. The mascarpone was a little too light (more like a whipped cream) and was washed away by the sorbet and peach. I couldn't taste the rosemary but found overall, whilst I liked it, it needed a little more flavour and textural balancing.

Feuillantine pralinée au chocolat de St Domingue, glace à la fleur de thym
Praline chocolate puff of Santo Domingo, ice thyme

I quite enjoyed this. The chocolate was light, sweet and sticky. The thyme ice cream went wonderfully, and gave the dish a great herbal note. The thyme was the initial flavour which once dissipated, allowed the chocolate to come through, muting some of its sweetness.

It wasn't choclaty enough for R who felt the thyme made it too herby.

Cost: $80.70Euro for 2 entrees, 2 mains, 2 desserts, 1 orange juice and 1 bottle of Evian Pure.

Service: The fastest service I have ever experienced in my life. The waiters spoke English and gave us a translated menu to read. They also gave me a stool to place my camera on. As soon as we ordered our entrees arrived in four minutes. The entire meal was served and removed within 30mins with our water always topped up. Despite their extreme efficiency I did feel the service was a little cold, perhaps due to our speaking a different language.

Atmosphere: Relaxed elegance. The front of the restaurants opens up so that you are looking out onto the street able to feel the breeze. The decor is dark reds and browns with white tablecloths and panelling separated by large mirrors accented by steel with a bar at the back dressed with fresh flowers. The chairs are comfortable with a maroon printed cloth. The design was lovely and the restaurant had a quite, reserved energy.

Parking: Forget about it. Parking in France is a nightmare (and sometimes laughable at how ridiculous it is, we saw an instance where are car was so pinned in, both cars next to it were touching its bumpers). Do yourself a favour and take the Metro (trains every 3mins) or a bus.

Website: http://www.closdesgourmets.com/

Hours: Open Tue-Sat 12:15pm-11pm

Would I return: Yes.