rev:text
| - The space is best described as modern Art Nouveau, with an open kitchen so you can spy on the cooks. Dark walls, wood and tiles, wrought iron and pretty chandeliers add charm without being overbearing. Most importantly there were sumptuous dark velvet curtains. I bet on a busy night you can actually have a conversation without shouting because of those curtains. This pleases my inner granny. Yay for noise reducing curtains!
Now on to the important stuff, food: The dishes are a subtle ode to molecular gastronomy, nothing crazy, no steak ice cream here but there might be a smear of parsnip foam on your plate. (Isn't funny how sometimes not knowing/figuring out what you're eating makes it better)*.
Portions sizes weren't huge by any means. Big enough to leave you satisfied without feeling stuffed so you can enjoy restaurant bread without worrying if you'll be labouring through dessert. I think you're supposed to eat a 3 course meal, here so don't count on dinning on just a main. The 3 of us shared 2 appetizers, the tuna and the pork belly. The tuna appetizer consisted of 4 small slices fresh raw tuna with some veggies. The fish was so delectable that I didn't want the taste to leave my month and was almost sad to start my main. The whitefish that followed was tasty and the other 2 dishes looked equally good. For dessert I had cherry ice cream. It was bang on. It was accompanied with rye streusel, yummy white foamy stuff and a few pieces of celery. The celery definitely worked as it added a crunch and mitigated some of the sweetness, but it wasn't necessary. The fruit cake dessert was even better. It had goat cheese ice cream. Oh, Service was pleasant, unassuming and unobtrusive.
And now for something completely different, a verdict: This strikes me as a great place to have a special/celebratory meal. Also, if you want to impress clients, friends, and frenemies, Lucien won't disappoint. Was it worth it? Yes. Did I pay? No (thankfully)**. Did I have a great meal? Yes. Was I wowed? No.
Just an FYI the menu online isn't entirely up to date, some of the dishes were pricier and 1 or 2 menu options differed.
* Certain conditions apply. No horses, cats, dogs, rodents, insects, arachnids, worms, slugs, pathogens, endangered species or rotting food allowed.
**Even if I did pay, it would still be worth it.
|