Taillevent - Paris

In addition to our Paris eats, I believe that Taillevent deserves as special mention.

Being 2 Michelin Star restaurant in Paris, we booked for lunch a month in advanced - possibly for the most expensive lunch I've ever had.

Taillevent

Filled with experienced waiters who could converse in English, I don't think Taillevent can be beaten on service. Being addressed right from the door, our coats were kindly taken for us and my partner was subsequently suited up to match the decor of an expensive French restaurant (as seen in the cartoons and movies). We were escorted to our table and seated. Instead of pulling our seats out for us, the waiters pulled the table out. Every subsequent time we needed to get up from our table or to sit back down, our table was pulled for us. It took a bit to get used to. In addition to having our tables pulled for us, we were basically escorted to the bathroom the moment we started to rise from our seats to go exactly there LOL. Yes. We are talking super attentive staff who caters for every need.

For starters, we were offered cheesey puffs. These were fresh out of the oven, warm puffy balls tasting of cheese - no cheesey stringy bits inside but extremely cheesey tasting nonetheless. There were 7 of these awesome little puffs, but with their service, they made us take one each before placing the plate in front of us.

cheesy puffs

Also complementary to our meal was bread. Unlimited white or wholemeal freshly baked warm bread which was super crispy on the outside and super awesomely soft and fluffy on the inside. I believe my partner had around 6 or 7 of these awesome 2 michelin star breads with butter LOL.

Another complementary item was the amuse bouche of lobster asparagus soup. This was essentially a sweet lobster egg custard topped with awesomely warm creamy asparagus soup on top. Subtle and sweet, it was OMGly awesome! Words cannot describe. An asian table sitting next to us sat several kids - they described this as similar to the Japanese chiwanmushi. But they're sooo wrong. This is on a whole different level to a chiwanmushi.

amouse bouche - lobster egg custard with creamy asparagus soup

Taillevent's menu seems to change on a weekly basis. Three choices of entree, three mains, and two desserts. Below was our selection.

For entree, I opted for the ravioli de tourteau, cappucchino de crustaces. As lost as I was? From memory, the English speaking waiter informed me that it was crab ravioli with crustacean foam. I love foam. Seafoody crab tasting foam with little bits of flying fish roe? Love it even more. When eaten with sweet crab ravioli filled with seafood juices which just explode in your mouth? All the better. Delicious!

crab ravioli in crustacean foam

My partner had the Presse de poule faisane au foie gras. From my sketchy memory, this was a duck foie gras terrine. My partner is not a great fan of foie gras. Yet, he could not refrain from eating this. It was superbly deliciousness. Bits of pheasant and duck interlayered with foie gras, giving off a subtle, not-overpowering taste. Super yum smooth textured foie gras intermixed with thin meat and jelly. Mmm...

duck foie gras terrine

As a main, I ordered the gambas sautees au curry, au lait de coco et a la citron. This was sauteed large king prawns in creamy coconut curry lemon sauce. Even though the prawns aren't was awesome as what may be found in Sydney, the sauce made up for everything. It was so rich and so tasty. Delicious seafoody flavour flowing from the prawns complementing the potato base and sauce completely.

Curry coconut king prawn

My partner's leg of lamb also did not dissappoint. Gigot d'agneau des pyrenees aux saveurs orientales, or essentially, a leg of lamb cooked to perfection sitting a top of a pile of asian veges was very delicious-tasting according to my partner.

lamb leg with veges

After our mains, we were served with cheese. A rhombus of super creamy ossau iraty, confiture de cerises noires - that is, creamy creamy cheese topped with black cherry jam, balsamic vinegar tossed rocket and a crispy crisp. I don't know how they did it, but the cheese was just sooooooo good. Not too overpowering, yet a little stronger than brie, it was the perfect complement to the fresh bread rolls.

cheese with black cherry jam, rocket and crisp

After our cheesy break, we were served with our dessert. Both my partner and I ordered the tiramisu. This was coffee tasting marcapone cheese tasting slab of cake with a chocolate spongey cake bottom. It was quite exquisite - nothing less than what I would expect from a 2 michelin star restaurant. Mmm.

Tiramisu

In addition to our great dessert, we were also served petit "fours" which was a plate of 5 little desserts - soft-centred chocolate cake with gold flake, passionfruit lemon tart, peanut crisp brittle, macaroon, and peppermint marshmellow. WOW. But I was sooooo full. My favourite of the plate was the peanut brittle. It was sweet, peanut flavour flowed throughout, and crispy and crunchy.

Petit "fours"

Overall, Taillevent did not dissappoint. Service was immaculate (so super attentive!!!). Flavours were awesome. Atmosphere very high class. And value for money? errr.... well... it is the most expensive lunch I have ever had - and possibly ever will have. Taillevent definately deserves their 2 michelin stars (if not all 3).

Ratings:
Food - 9.5/10
Service - 10/10
Atmosphere - 9.5/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 37/40

Taillevent
15 Rue Lamennais
75008 Paris,
France
Tel: 01 44 95 15 01