L'herbe 香草小餐酒 ［ 預約制 請於inline 系統訂位 ］ — Restaurant in Tainan

Firstly I should start by saying that overall the food at l'Herbe was excellent. An interesting blend of flavours and textures non-typical even for high-end restaurants in Taiwan.

Our meal consisted of a fixed menu except for the choice of the main course (a selection of high-end options including lobster, prime fillets, etc). Overall there were 9 courses. This is similar in style to the typical tasting menu found in high-end restaurants worldwide.

Overall most of the courses were well balanced and delicious. The exception being both the main courses we had (lamb chop and US prime filet) that we both felt were overly rich. This is a personal preference but I'd expect the majority of customers would find similar dishes too rich.

So far so good. However, the reason I'm writing a review is to provide context to my 3 star rating.

For any restaurant service is as important as the food. During our various engagements with the restaurant we found the service to be poorer than one would expect. Each of these hiccups compounded with the previous to leave us underwhelmed by what should and could have been a wonderful night.

Starting with the online booking process, there was a requirement to place a deposit with the deadline to pay being the evening before our meal meaning I was able to finish my working week before making payment. Immediately after paying the deposit I received a message informing me that if I wanted lobster or if there are any items that we don't eat then I needed to have informed them the previous day (i.e. I'd already missed these deadlines despite paying the deposit in time).

The next hiccup. We were booked at 7pm but as we were planning our schedule we wanted to check if there was some flexibility with the timings. We phoned up the restaurant an hour before to check if we could delay our booking by 10 to 15 mins. We were given the somewhat cryptic reply: 'if you arrive later then there will be less time to eat your meal'. This sounded reasonable so we replied saying, 'understood, see you at 7.15 then'. In the end we arrived at 7.09.

Below is the time that each course arrived: 7.18 - amuse bouche 7.26 - bread 7.34 - cobia 7.58 - pork belly 8.29 - fish 8.48 - duck liver 9.09 - main course 9.28 - green mango sorbet 9.39 - cream cheese and blackcurrant

After finishing the cobia course we commenced waiting for the next course but, after already waiting quite a while, one of the waiters apologised saying that the next course wouldn't arrive for another 10-15 minutes. After expressing our surprise we were approached by what looked like the manager (possibly owner) who informed us that, because we were late, we were not in sync with the other guests and that our next course could not be prepared until the main courses of the other guests had been prepared. No hint of apology, just letting us know that it was our fault. This was a somewhat startling revelation. If we had been informed when we had phoned up earlier that we'd be messing up the synchronisation of the courses we'd likely have changed our schedule to ensure we arrived at 7pm.

The rest of the evening proceeded as you'd expect when a tasting menu goes out of sync for different guests. Frustrating for all involved (including the chefs who also have to deal with an increased workload) and resulting in over 30 mins between courses in one case and around 20 mins for several others.

Upon paying we weren't asked whether we enjoyed the meal and not apology or reference was made to the long dining experience (we left 2 hrs 45 mins after we arrived). What a shame. The food deserves 5 stars but there's no way I can award more than 3 stars when you have both the initial failures in informing us of decisions that we make and their consequences and, perhaps more concerning, the absolute lack of attempt to service customers in the way that one would expect from a restaurant charging NT$3000 per head for food (not including alcohol).

The restaurant is relatively young and has potential to be fantastic with a few...

I’m visiting from America and tried this place out with my family. Oh my goodness, we are in love! This place is delicious! We came here for lunch and tried everything on the menu! The chef took classes in France and brought back her talent to Tainan as she opens this French restaurant and gifts us with delicious food!

Their courses during lunch are always changing.

This time, we had crispy yet tender fish (soo yummy), curry flavored beef (my mom loved this dish), pasta that was very QQ (mmm, i couldn’t stop going for more), and pork! Their food is pretty healthy and tasty.

All their dishes were nicely plated and the dessert was incredible! I only wanted a bite and finished the entire plate!

You guys have to try this restaurant out! And bring your friends...

在一個整天都吃的很飽的晚餐時間走進來我太太高中同學開的餐廳，低調奢華風的擺設讓我們有點緊張，這時藍媽媽很適時先上了一杯緩和氣氛的紅酒，低單寧的順口真的很適合剛從炎熱天氣坐進冷氣房的焦燥，在簡單的寒暄與聽服務生妹妹簡單的介紹菜單，在很飽的狀況下還是點了一輪～ 第一道冷前菜是綜合火腿盤，三種不同口味的好品質就不贅述，他的特別是在他在切片中藏的鹹橄欖酸豆及我從沒吃過特別風味的醃黃瓜，讓我下午快被撐壞的肚子好像又開始可以接受新的事物～ 第二道熱前菜是虱目魚薯條，其實在看菜單時我以為是類似英式炸魚的餐點，但端上桌以後是三根放在新鮮迷迭香的三根棒狀物，我咬了一口它的中心是虱目魚肉再來是魚油最後外面是炸成蜂巢狀的馬鈴薯泥，下一個想法是：「怎麼做到讓虱目魚最精華的魚油留在肉和馬鈴薯外皮之間？」，如果要我解釋，我只能說那是無法用我膚淺的文筆解釋的味道，但也讓我開始期待主餐的到來～ 第一道主餐是脆鱗馬頭魚，用油淋的方式將魚鱗炸至酥脆並立起，咬起來好像更酥脆的魚味洋芋片，魚肉吃起來有類似一夜干那種彈牙口感，肉的清爽彈牙再配上脆鱗的濃烈風味，在配上焦化豆漿的醬汁，完美。 第二道主餐是烤菲力，煎加烤三分熟的的菲力，熟不帶血，生不帶腥，外面獨特的烤牛肉香味，菲力特有的柔嫩口感，但最畫龍點睛的是他們醃漬甜菜根，微酸又不失甜菜的原味，刷新了我對這道菲力的原來的想法 在我吃完時主廚給了我一盤馬鈴薯泥，居然讓我讓我覺得好像在吃鹹鴨蛋黃的濃郁又不失它原來的獨特澱粉味，這份滑順的口感居然只用篩子，奶油，牛奶，鹽就能做出來，主廚說把方法教我讓我可以在家自己做，但料理就是越簡單的越困難，我決定還是讓她做就好，免得我又把廚房炸了 第一道甜點是舒芙蕾，口感很難形容如果真的要講，我只能用「輕柔」，「高雅」這兩個詞形容，我很好奇的為什麼盤上還有兩種口味冰淇淋，藍莓醬，白起司，我後來發現那是讓味覺休息的味道，舒芙蕾和焦糖碎的甜蜜輕柔，再配上旁邊配料不同程度的酸，每一口都讓我很充滿著驚喜 就在這個時候⋯⋯ 主廚端上了一盤伊比利豬，我回頭看了主廚一眼，心裡想說我飽成這樣她還上主菜，是不是想殺了我！ 但又是一道很有趣的菜，炙烤到7分熟的豬肉，就知道主廚對這道肉品的品質和自己手藝多有自信，有別於牛肉的油脂濃厚香氣，但真的我覺得有趣的是它周圍的甜菜泥和醃酸梅 ，原味和酸味中和了豬肉油脂，讓舌頭可以安靜的享受豬肉特有的嫩及脂味。 吃到這邊我發現主廚很會利用醃漬物來連結高品質的肉和原味的蔬菜，又多賦予了整道菜2～3種層次，我可以從主廚給的味道感受到她的對自己菜式要求和想表達給客人想法。 當我天真的想說可以休息和主廚聊聊天，結果又端上來一份甜點，我無助的望著我老婆，我肚子真的飽到快炸掉了，但不爭氣的我又開始吃了⋯ 這次端上來的是水蜜桃奶酪，簡單的奶酪，奶油，杏仁糖霜，但不簡單的是他用來3種方式處理的桃子，微酸的桃塊，甜的桃子片，和香氣十足的桃干，這真的是我40年人生第一次吃到的口感和味道。 我一直都覺得廚師都是一個思想家，當自己吃下煮的東西，可以感覺到食物裡給的想法，是要讓你吃飽，讓你好吃，讓你吃便宜，讓你吃到美味，但藍主廚要給的是一個有趣又新奇的奇幻之旅。 感謝看完我寫的那麼多廢話，快...