We entered the restaurant and were led to the table by the restaurant manager through another door. Once you enter, the first thing you notice is that La Table de Joel Robuchon's decor theme is all black & gold. The carpet, the uniforms, the table clothes, the chairs are black; while the walls and lighting fixtures are gold for contrast. The room is much darker & moodier than the photo below shows.
It was good that we made reservations for lunch. The room was full. Though the room was decorated for fine dining, it is more casual than it appears. People were dressed in jeans and/ or simple attire.
We came to Le Table because we read that they had a very affordable lunch menu for only 55 euros. Very affordable for a restaurant at this calibre. The Menu
The amuse-bouche was mousse de fois gras. This was really nice tasting. The dish was made of a mousse of fois gras with the foam of port. After we scooped up a spoon of the custardy mousse and foam and put it into your mouths, both flavours melted in our mouths and left a long taste.
The first starter was 'les filet de rouget marine aux fins aromates a la vinagrette d'agrumes'. The rouget was firm and had a taste that struck your taste buds right away due to the acidity of the vinegrette. A nice melange of fresh seasonal salads and seaweed. All the textures and flavours were very nice.
The second starter was 'l'oeuf cocotte, creme legere aux champignons de nos sous-bois'. One of my favourites and when I see this dish on the menu, I normally order it. The cream of mushroom sauce was rich in taste, the mushroom pieces added texture and the egg was perfectly soft and the blend of both flavours was great.
The first main course was 'le merlan frit Colbert, buerre aux herbes'. This is the famous dish Le Table is famous for. This is actually why we came to this restaurant. The fish is de-boned and turned inside out and deep fried to a golden brown. Its rare to find this dish in restaurants (I have no idea why). The fish was cooked perfetly, the meat still pinkish in the center. The meat was delicate and tasted very nice.
The pomme puree that came with the dish is of course the world's most famous pomme puree. It was Robuchon who introduced this unbelievable potato dish. This dish probably consist of 80% butter and only 20% potato and is indeed not very good for your cholesterol levels. But once you taste the potatoes, you actaully don't care because the taste is out of this world.
The second main course was 'l'aile de raie dans une fine nage de moules de Bouchot'. The raie was incredibly fine and firm. The sauce that accompanied the raie was very light but full of textures and flavours from the moules.
The cheese was brie de meaux affine. Before dessert, we got a cheese plate. The brie was soft, rich and tasty.
The first desserts du jour was 'marine peche aux jus du peche'. I do love being in France in the summer to eat seasonal fruits. This dessert had great tasting peaches marinated in its own juices. A very nice way to end the meal, the dessert was not too sweet and very light.
The second desserts du jour was 'gateaux de pistache'. A heavier dessert than the peaches but I wanted to taste it for contrast. This dessert was rich and flavourful with pistachios. It was a layered cake with cream of pistachio and accompanied with pistachio ice cream. Very decadent.
The wine that came with our lunch was 2005 Chateau Tire Pe. The wine is mostly made of merlot and it was soft, fleshy and well-balanced. It went well with the food. We normally do not drink for lunch because it kills our whole day because we get to tired and sleepy. But, the bottle was part of the menu, so how can we refuse?
The restaurant was a very nice experience, great & friendly service, delicious food and great value. We definately will have return for more.
La Table de Joël Robuchon
16 Ave Bugeaud 75116 - 16th Arrondissement
Metro: 8 line to Victor Hugo
Phone: 01 56 28 16 16
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