Ok. Where to start.
We started off our evening with drinks at a new place, les Nemrods, on rue Cherche Midi. From there we headed off in search of another satisfying place in our neighbourhood. Unfortunately, because of the holiday, it seemed like many places were closed, and we ended up doing a large loop around the 6th arrondissement, before ending up almost back at our house.
At this point, I also had to go to the washroom quite badly. We decided to just go to the first place we had origially thought of going to, and walked past, only to realize that it was of course, closed. Next option, the restaurant across the street, the Fleur de Sel. Looked a bit touristy, and there was only one table of guests inside, so Erik convinced me to check out one more place a couple of buildings down. Looked cute, and it had a bathroom, so in we went.
What an interesting place.
My first thought once we sat down and glanced at the menu was "this is NOT the kind of place we were looking for." Glancing at the decor, we tried to figure out what kind of restuarant this was. Antique hat boxes on one side. Paintings of naked women on the other. An old pump organ in the back. The menu seemed to consist almost entirely of caviar, foie gras and smoked fish.
The owner, however, was super friendly. And we were the only table in the place, so he had lots of time for us.
Turns out there were also some specials on offer, which he explained to us, and described the kinds of foie gras that they were offering. We decided to each order different things, and told the owner that we were going to share everything. We started with a torchon of foie gras which ended up being a sample place with a slice of the torchon, and a slice of red wine foie gras and the terrine St. Jaques. Our main course was grilled tuna with garlic mashed potatoes and an African chicken dish served with rice. Dessert was the most delicious soft centred chocolate cake and sliced pineapple with mango sorbet.
The meal got off to a great start with our apperitifs. Erik had a fantastic glass of port, and I had the most delicious Kir that I've ever had. When the entrees came out, the owner recommended that we eat the foie gras first, and try it with a bit of fleur de sel, then eat the terrine second. The foie gras was delicious. Nice and smooth, a very delicate taste, very simple, and nicely accented by the fleur de sel. The salt that we added also added a nice crunch. The terrine was also fantastic. A more complex dish, but no less tasty, and we were glad that he had told us to eat the foie gras first, because it would have tasted quite bland after the terrine.
The main courses came out next, and were fantastic. Erik had asked for the tuna to be sanguine, or just seared on the outside. Again, the owner recommended eating the tuna first, the chicken second. The tuna was perfectly cooked, and we again sprinkled it with fleur de sel, wich added a nice amount of saltiness, and a great crunch. The chicken dish was also great. An interesting kind of chicken stew/curry, with a mild flavour and creamy sauce. There was some kind of unusual vegetable in it, but we can't remember what it was called.
With all of this, we drank a 2001 Chilean wine, which the owner recommended, and just to be sure, he had us taste the Chilean one, and another one he thought we might like. I remember thinking that it was a large bottle, but didn't think much of it until I noticed later on in the meal that it was a big bottle...100cl. Ah well, it was a long meal, and it was some darn good wine.
In between the main course and dessert, a gentleman came in. Turns out he owned the restaurant on the corner that we almost went to, the Fleur de Sel. Which led to an extensive conversation about this salt, why it is special, and how it is harvested. He proceeded to recommend that we go and visit this town on the west coast of France, Guerlande, and drew us a map of France indicating where this town is, along with two other places nearby that are nice to visit.
Dessert came, and was fantastic. He said the chocolate was the specialty, but I'm not a huge chocolate dessert fan, so I had the pineapple instead. The chocolate cake was in fact amazing, and it was a good thing Erik decided to get one or we would have missed out. The pineapple was also delicious, and a very light and refreshing way to end the meal.
After dessert, owner #2 got into a discussion with us about American politics, he was interested to know how all of that affected Canada. Finally the bill came (whoops, a bit more than we had planned on spending...) and we learned that there is an expression in French for when things are expensive...you say they are 'sale' or salty. He then wanted to know the equivalent expression in English, but we couldn't come up with anything...
Anyway, it was a fantastic meal, and as I'm writing this I want to go back and have some more tuna, and maybe that chocolate cake. It was just SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD!
It's on our list, so if you're coming to visit, we highly recommend it!
Les Colocks
131, rue du Cherche Midi 75015 PARIS
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