| rev:text
| - I have very mixed feeling about l'Academie. I've eaten here on four different occasions, and every time it's been a completely different experience. Everything from the food to the service to the entire restaurant atmosphere can vary greatly.
The last time I was there the service was impeccable. Despite it being a busy Friday night, we were seated swiftly in a quiet area. The waiter quickly brought us water, opened our bottle of wine, and poured us glasses. I had several questions concerning the menu (high cholesterol makes one ask about the butter and cream content of dishes - sometimes something that looks like it won't be cream heavy is...) that were answered with expertise. When our waiter didn't know, he promised to go and ask the chef; he returned within 3 minutes with a detailed answer.
I decided to go with the tuna steak with coriander-lime vinaigrette; I had ordered this dish on a previous occasion and had been much impressed that they had cooked it per my request. Unfortunately, I don't think the dish I was served on this second occasion had anything in common with the first. I asked for my tuna to be cooked rare, almost blue. I order tuna at restaurants because I find that the slight searing beautifully complements that raw interior; it's like sushi but better. Unfortunately, the steak of tuna that was brought was cooked all the way through, to an extent that it was almost chewy and tough. It was like tuna out of a can, but worse.
My companion ordered a filet mignon cooked rare; alas, his dish was similar to mine. The sauces were very nice, but the fact that the meat was so overcooked destroyed the whole dish. I hate to be left wanting when I'm paying $25 for a dish, yet that is what happened.
However, on the other hand, I have had some very good meals here. The first time around, the tuna was cooked to perfection, as was my friend's steak. The gnocchi with blue cheese is a delightful dish; I would probably order it every time, if I did not have that slight aversion to cream. The rest of the pastas are fairly standard, nothing incredible, but a decent meal for a decent price. I've only had Moules et Frites once, but it was incredible. I polished off every last morsel in the largest bowl of mussels that I've ever tackled. The veal is again a hit and miss dish; I've seen people rave about it, and I've seen left on the plate.
In conclusion, this restaurant gets three stars because of its high variability. I've had a meal here that I would give five stars, but another that I would give one. My suggestion is to stick with the pasta and the Moules et Frites; they're a little bit cheaper, come in generous portions, and tend not to disappoint.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)