Lasserre — Restaurant in Paris

Food: The food was very traditional French cuisine. If you don’t like old school French food this is not your place.

The cookery could have been better. While the saucier was on point and the seasoning was truly without reproach, to serve an over-cooked scallop in Paris at a Michelin star rated establishment is near blasphemous. There was a Lasserre French classic that was quite excellent - foie stuffed squab - served with a perfect wine reduction, mushrooms and exquisite vegetables. This is French classic at the top!

Regarding the table side sauce work, at some point it just became too much. My wife (not a foodie, just there for me) said, “Is this a joke? Will they do this to every dish?” Long story short they did. Even the dessert.

Drink: The entry champagne was a Blanc de Blanc that was quite exquisite. The wine, a 2012 vintage, of Croix De Beaucaillou was wildly overpriced, but on a positive note was nicely balanced for the duration of the meal.

Ambiance: it’s classic French haute cuisine and the place is about as French as it gets. Personally, I rather enjoyed the feeling of entering into a private home to be whisked away via a vintage elevator into a large dining room of not more than 16 tables surrounded by flower planters and classic romantic lighting. The sun roof is remarkable and was totally unexpected.

Service: The table service was lovely with our server, Ben, being very attentive, friendly and fun in-between his intensive saucing duties. The sommelier could take more interest in the clients and the journey they seek. The dinner wine pairing suggestions were weak and the alternatives were limited because she wasn’t interested at the level I’d have liked.

Overall: There were a few mistakes and mis-steps and the prices are moderately too high for the lack of modernity, but the overall quality of the food was good and with some tweaks to the cookery I can certainly see why this is a Michelin...

Very smooth reservation service. Excellent welcome.

Sublimely elegant setting with tables well-spaced and well-dressed. The decor remains exquisite... with all the fun of the opening roof.

Impeccable and faultless service throughout (attentive, well-informed, friendly, quietly efficient). Very helpful sommelier.

The amuse-bouches offered a creative and beautiful balance of flavours and were exceptionally delicious. In my opinion they represented the best part of the meal.

An introductory dish of bonito combined really perfect fish but with a rather dull radish dressing and flat vinaigrette. The hors d'oeuvre and main dish were both good but not up to the standard of other starred Paris restaurants in which I have eaten over the past twelve months.

The hors d'oeuvre was a mullet and melon panache with olive oil ice cream. To my taste the proportion of melon was too much for the quantity of mullet, which was slightly dry. I have had excellent olive oil ice cream, but this wasn't such.

The chicken main dish had very good flavor (as did the sauce and the potato galette) but was served tepid. It had taken time to carve it in front of me and become cold in the process. It is always a pity to have the continuity of a meal interrupted by having to send back food to be heated. When it reappeared the potato galette had suffered from having been reheated.

The mille-feuille had delicious caramelized pastry but the filling was such that I concluded that I have had better in lesser establishments.

Overall a most enjoyable meal but I left with the impression that whilst Lasserre is a very well-managed restaurant that I hadn't experienced it at its best. Whilst I will return to try again I am more likely to go back to places where it was perfect...

An education in dining. We went there with our family (U.S.) and new son-in-law who's a pastry chef elsewhere in Paris. He told us to expect the best. We did. And it was. We selected a tasting menu with wine pairings. Good choice. Turns out the sommelier is from the Latour family. The quality of wine was variable, from exceptional to a bucket list kind of life experience. Every bite of food from the opening soup to closing pastry sort of slapped your tongue, told you to slow down and savor it. I think the part that I enjoyed the most was how they snuck a few small dishes in like a truffle mac and cheese. I have a little life subroutine. If something has truffles on the menu, I order it. So that little surprise went over well in my corner. I suppose that the service was excellent because I never really noticed it (other than said sommelier). Things just showed up at all the right times. You'd look down from your conversation, and a bit of poached fish would be staring up at you where you thought there might have been a salad before. Was it expensive? Well, it was certainly an "investment grade" meal, but I guess it's value depends on what one wants from it. For me, it was easily the most memorable meal that I have ever had. Couldn't make a habit of it, but then again, as it rather rewired the synapses,...