I’ll start off with a pet peeve of mine. I know it’s awfully trendy, but whatever happened to serving food on a good old-fashioned white plate? There are few dishes which are improved by serving on a piece of black slate. The four (out of six) dishes we ordered at Les Gourmandises were no exception. I no more want to eat a meal off a piece of slate than I would want to eat off a breeze-block. Serving four out of six dishes on slates is just silly and a little pretentious. Just my personal preference.
I’ve been eating in good restaurants for many years. So, while I know I’m no AA Gill, I can tell the difference between good, bad and indifferent when it comes to restaurants. I’d love to report that my recent visit to Cork’s “Les Gourmandises” was great, but it was just… okay.
Greedy-guts that I am, I couldn’t resist the “Tasting Plate” starter while herself opted for the “Rillette of guinea fowl, white wine jelly, asparagus, olive croutons & lemon dressing“. The tasting “slate” consisted of a goat’s cheese pannacotta, Clonakilty black pudding with foie gras, smoked salmon and a duck and foie gras terrine. All the components were good; I particularly enjoyed the excellent smoked salmon which I think came with a little horseradish cream. For me, the portion size of the goat’s cheese pannacotta was perfect as I can never eat much goat’s cheese. The Wife’s “guinea fowl” was well-flavoured but she felt there was too many components on the plate.
After our rather dinky starters, we were looking forward to our main course. I ordered the “Roasted John Dory, organic beetroot, pomme noisette & balsamic dressing“. The Wife made the wine selection a little easier by opting for fish also with “Pan fried sea bream with new potatoes, crab mayonnaise, tomato & roquette salad“. We assumed the starch element of our meal was taken care of, given that both dishes included potato. However, once again greediness got the better of me and I ordered a side of “Thyme pomme purée“.
The Wife fared better with her main course, I think. My “John Dory” was dressed with a curious sauce which reminded me of Chinese food. I suspect it contained something like anise or clove, not the balsamic dressing proclaimed on the menu. It was well-cooked and well-presented but the spice flavour in the dressing killed any flavour the fish had. A little disappointing.
My biggest gripe however, is that both dishes were a seriously low on carbohydrate. My “pomme noisette” turned out to be four marbles of deep-fried mash (see photo). They were tasty, but bloody hell, there was only four of them!! Good job we ordered the extra mash then? Well no, the mash was served in a minuscule ramekin. Two tablespoons of mash does not qualify as a side dish, even if it does cost €3. Maybe the chef is distracted by creating pretty pictures on a plate and forgets that diners need sustenance as well as good flavours. Not good enough, folks.
Still hungry, what could we do but order dessert. The Wife ordered “Almond & raspberry tart with raspberry granité & almond panacotta” while I went for “Lemon posette with poached rhubarb, blackcurrant sorbet, lemon gateau“. Both dishes were very good but the possette was a little too sharp for my taste. I prefer posset to have a nice balance of sweet and sharp. The blackcurrant sorbet was the best part of the dish, absolutely sublime.
Our bill, including a reasonably priced bottle of white, came to €130. Not outlandish for an evening meal, but not cheap either. After we paid up and left the restaurant, we felt hungry and a little ripped off. This fortunately, is a new experience for me. Never before have I paid this much for a meal and left a restaurant hungry. I’ve encountered a few people (morons) over the years who are rather dismissive of “fine dining” and think that such restaurants charge big money while serving tiny portions of grub. Les Gourmandises is not doing anything to convert these people. Decent food but poor value, a dangerous combination in these difficult times.
