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Overdue photos from a weekend trip to Paris in December--a surprise for my wife's 30th. Fearless of scowling waiters, I took photos of our meals at Ambroise, Arpege, and Chateaubriand. Will upload as able.
Ambroisie was our second dinner in Paris. We wound up ordering quite a few courses, but split a few of them. Contrary to what others have reported, the service was impeccable. Honestly--the best meal of my life.
First course was the foie gras, but I failed to photograph it. Second course was the famous langoustine with sesame tuille and curry buerre blanc:
Third course was a surprise. We thought we were getting the Arpege-style hot-and-cold egg. Instead, I happily misordered this off-menu item, a poached egg in white truffle emulsion and white truffles:
Our fourth course was the famous sea bass with caviar. Pictured is a half portion:
Fifth course was a dover sole with white truffle:
Sixth course was the sweatbreads, with salt-baked celery root (and white truffle):
For dessert, we had the medley (which is absurd, as it is actually a full portion of most of the dessert items on the menu):
It was an unbelievable amount of food--but it was also a five-hour meal. I would offer more commentary, but I would just be spilling excessive praise.
Much has been said by others regarding a supposed seating hierarchy between front, middle, and rear dining rooms. We were seated in the middle room. The back room is supposed to be one reserved for tourists and other undesirables, but from what we could see, it's a very nice private space. If you don't want half a dozen wait staff looking over you the whole time, it seems like a decent place to be. For what it's worth, they seated a very old, aristocratic-looking French couple there. In our room, there was us, a large table for a French family celebrating a birthday, and an English couple.
Everybody but the English couple whipped out a camera at some point. So, we didn't feel embarrassed at all to do the same.
When I saw the check, I must admit I felt wallet-raped, but I must also admit that I didn't mind and would do it again.
Ambroisie was our second dinner in Paris. We wound up ordering quite a few courses, but split a few of them. Contrary to what others have reported, the service was impeccable. Honestly--the best meal of my life.
First course was the foie gras, but I failed to photograph it. Second course was the famous langoustine with sesame tuille and curry buerre blanc:
Third course was a surprise. We thought we were getting the Arpege-style hot-and-cold egg. Instead, I happily misordered this off-menu item, a poached egg in white truffle emulsion and white truffles:
Our fourth course was the famous sea bass with caviar. Pictured is a half portion:
Fifth course was a dover sole with white truffle:
Sixth course was the sweatbreads, with salt-baked celery root (and white truffle):
For dessert, we had the medley (which is absurd, as it is actually a full portion of most of the dessert items on the menu):
It was an unbelievable amount of food--but it was also a five-hour meal. I would offer more commentary, but I would just be spilling excessive praise.
Much has been said by others regarding a supposed seating hierarchy between front, middle, and rear dining rooms. We were seated in the middle room. The back room is supposed to be one reserved for tourists and other undesirables, but from what we could see, it's a very nice private space. If you don't want half a dozen wait staff looking over you the whole time, it seems like a decent place to be. For what it's worth, they seated a very old, aristocratic-looking French couple there. In our room, there was us, a large table for a French family celebrating a birthday, and an English couple.
Everybody but the English couple whipped out a camera at some point. So, we didn't feel embarrassed at all to do the same.
When I saw the check, I must admit I felt wallet-raped, but I must also admit that I didn't mind and would do it again.
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