Services: 5/10
To dine at Le Jules Verne is probably another quick way to go up Tour Eiffel without waiting for the long long queue. We were probably (or not) fortunate to successfully make a booking for lunch at this restaurant. Without surprise, the place was packed with customers at that time such that random walk-in clients were not accepted at all. Le Jules Verne is located at the height of 123 metre above ground (1st floor of Tour Eiffel if I am not wrong ^^).
Indeed, Le Jules Verne gives such prestige view of Paris. For us, we were seated right next to window with good view. Although it was not the perfect clear sky day, we still viewed Sacre Coeur at the far end rather clearly. For the dining room, it was decorated in modern style that made us feel like some kind of shuttle space (perhaps).
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| view of Paris from Le Jules Verne with Sacre Coeur at the far end |
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| modern style dining room, space-like in fact |
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| some work of art dish ~.~" |
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| just the menu |
For lunch time, there is a 3-courses lunch available apart from the a la carte menu, which is priced at EUR90 per person: expensive indeed for 1 Michelin Star restaurant but in return of experience and view of Paris. As in typical restaurant, the meal started with a small portion of amuse bouche and choices of bread. There were white bread, brown bread, and croissant available. Breads were rather tough in texture but croissant was perfectly yummy ^^.
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| amuse bouche |
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| bread and butter ^^ |
As there were 3 choices for each course and there were 3 of us, so we didn't hesitate to try all dishes in the lunch menu. First of the starters was
melted seasonal vegetables, pot-au-feu broth (8/10). It was consume soup with beef as the base broth and served along with beef ravioli: lovely and not too salty with nice aroma. Delicious dish.
Next one was
foi gras and preserved duck layers, spring salad, toasted brioche (6/10). This was a piece of classically yummy terrine with layers of duck to give a second dimension of texture and flavour. However, it was not of the top quality we experienced. Additionally, the along side brioche was not so well integrated with the taste of this foie gras from our view though.
Lastly, we had salmon marinated with lemon/caviar,/vodka, mimosa garnish (4/10). This was the least savoury dish amongst the starters. Plain and too normal in flavour. We could not distinguish the different between the one at high standard such as this Le Jules Verne and typical smoked salmon elsewhere. Good point was the saltiness was not excessive. Well, enjoyable but we expect more from this class of fine dining.
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| melted seasonal vegetables, pot-au-feu broth |
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| foie gras and preserved duck layers, spring salad, toasted brioche |
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| salmon marinated with lemon/caviar,/vodka, mimosa garnish |
For main courses, there were rabbit, chicken, and fish choices. We feel that main courses were the least impressive course here.
Well, let start with
saddle of farm rabbit, tender potato and Swiss chard (5/10). It was simply tender pieces of rabbit with gravy. Though it was tender but it gave mouth-dry touching on the palat
e. free-range chicken and crayfish fricassee, lightly creamy jus (4/10) looked striking at the first sight. But delicacy was not there. Rather nice matching of chicken with reduced crayfish sauce but the sauce could have been creamier. The last one was pan-seared John Dory, green asparagus and fresh almonds (6/10). Probably the nicest of the three. Almond crusted fillets with cream sauce and lots of green part. If the fish was not overcooked to give softer mouth-feel, we may love this dish. However, the crispy crusted almond and aroma of lime were touchy.
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| saddle of farm rabbit, tender potato and Swiss chard |
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| pan-seared John Dory, green asparagus and fresh almonds |
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| free-range chicken and crayfish fricassee, lightly creamy jus |
Coming to the highlight part of the meal: dessert. The first one was
roasted pineapple, crunchy/iced-coconut (8/10). This one gave fresh and tangy mood. The icy touch of coconut was splendid for Summer. Tropical combination it was.
Baba with Armagnac, lightly whipped cream (8/10) was classically delicious. Supreme range of armagnac with sweet baba dough and vanilla cream. Just too good: quality ingredients. The last to mention is chocolate/gianduja composition (7/10). The least favourite amongst dessert but still good. Thick and rich chocolate layers of cake and ice-cream: love the bitterness part of chocolate ^^. Again simply and typical delicious dessert. A good way to end the meal.
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| roasted pineapple, crunchy/iced-coconut |
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| Baba with Armagnac, lightly whipped cream |
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| lovely cream ^[]^ |
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| chocolate/gianduja composition |
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| petit fours |
To experience or to surprise your date or any special event, Le Jules Verne is surely an exceptional venue. Food is good but not great in summary. But atmosphere and view are perfect. Though we were not there for dinner, we think view of Paris at night should be more charming. Just 1 point that let us down a little was the service, we feel that some of the staffs are not friendly, unhelpful, and lack of professional service mind for example a staff was surprised that I did not finish my bread but asked for croissant instead (what's wrong with preferring croissant T.T"): anyway we took it easy and just looked over it. Well, a good experience in life for us and you may probably give it a go if you have a chance: go and enjoy the atmosphere but not the food. Perhaps, the 1 Michelin Star of Le Jules Verne is not because of its delicacy but its surrounding instead.
