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| - Unexpected gem.
We went for the pre-theatre menu expecting a good quick meal. We knew it was a Michelin starred restaurant, but we recently dined at 2 3 stars, so we weren't expecting huge things.
From the moment we arrived, service was impeccable. While we started with tap water, our neighbors asked for San Pelligrino. While they do not have San Pelligrino (they serve another type of sparkling water), they offered to go to other restaurants to find San Pelligrino if needed. They also recognized diners for a few months ago, which I though was very nice.
Anyways, on to the food. We did the pre-theatre menu. Our amuse bouche was a english pea soup and a croquete of something tasty but I do not recall the details. My husband had the beef tartare and I had the lobster bisque. Both were perfect. The beef tartare had a perfect mixture of beef and greens and they were paired perfectly with the lotus chips. We did not even touch the accompanying toast because we did not need them. The lobster bisque was lick-your-plate clean good.
For our main courses we had the salmon and beef tenderloin. The salmon was good, but the beef tenderloin was the star. It was the best piece of meat we have had in several years. It was perfectly medium rare. When I cut it and saw the texture I almost cried from how beautiful it was (just kidding, but I imagine a steak lover somewhere would). My husband sat around with a goofy grin for the next half hour because he was so happy from eating it.
The dessert was so creative, BUT TASTY. Some "fancy" restaurants make the mistake of being creative and weird tasting (I'm looking at you Le Meurice with your bee pollen dish aka assault on the tastebuds). One was a chocolate ball that came out in a beautiful globe that was promptly melted away by hot fudge to reveal vanilla ice cream and chocolate/hazelnut. As my husband put it "a giant delicious ferraro rocher." I was presented with a coconut. When the lid came off, I saw a sea of beautiful white foam. It was COCONUT FOAM. If you tasted just the foam itself, it was delicious! But combined with the pineapple sorbet and the fruit hiding underneath... heavenly.
I like food, and my husband usually just comes along to these "fancy" restaurants to appease me, but this time he was also very happy.
yay for you, Le Cirque!
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