La Regalade St. Honore - How bloggers are destroying the Paris dining scene

Reading the reports from the Parisian blogosphere you got the impression that LRSH was more or less the same as the old location. Same food, chef shuttling back and forth in his chefmobile, same service we've all grown to hate a little. (how do they know that about the chef? because he obviously made nice with them to get good reviews)

The truth, my friends, is that the room is downright ugly - exposed concrete floors, cheap banquettes, ceiling that looks like it was designed for a more expensive restaurant (did they run out of money halfway through?). The wine list has about half the items struck out, other items were 2005 and changed with pencil to 2006.

Former symbols of generosity, like the terrine, and the ris au lait became symbols of awkward cheesiness. The terrine comes with no plates, and you see table after table trying to figure out what to do with it. In one case a table got a tail of a terrine, in another they were served it maybe a minute before their appetizers. In English it's a "chicken terrine" and in French it is "terrine de volaile et cochon" (because we all know Americans only want chicken). Speaking of translation - despite this being in a touristy area, there was nobody there who could, or would, translate the menu or the specials to a nice Canadian couple next to us, so we took the job.

Finally, the kitchen, it is far too small and is incapable of delivering more than two plates at a time. We saw a four top where they got two appetizers and then waited about 10 minutes for the other two, and the same thing repeated in the main courses. These were polite French folks so they made no fuss about it nor did the couple who were served late suggest that the other couple start eating... nothing like cold pork belly...

The ris au lait, previously served in a dish so big that only world championship eaters could finish it, is now served in what is again a very awkward dish - about three times the size of a regular dessert, and only about twice what a normal person might choose to eat from it. The wooden spoon stuck in it seems too big and the entire thing reads like a joke. I guess between saving a Euro on the terrine and a Euro on ris au lait they're trying to make up the difference in rent.

In short, while the old La Regalade has its problems, they are all much worse in the new location. Don't go.

p.s. the cochonnailles aren't on the menu but were still being served, I guess only to those in the know.