Trip Report - Paris Sept 2020

Just to report back our short 2 day foodie trip in Paris prior to our Spain gourmet trip ( which I have posted on the Spain Board)

Epicure--1st visit , we pick this 3 star restaurant to celebrate our anniversary, which is the only 3 star that is open in Paris when we were there and it's quite close to where we are staying ( La Reserve) which is a plus. We order a la carte which include the truffle macaroni, royal langoustine, bresse hen poached in bladder , cocoa beans and lemon from menton. The meal was decent but nothing outstanding or wow us. It was entertaining though to see the manager to dissect the chicken in front of us. Service was attentive as it should for a 3 star restaurant. I did get diarrhea the next day and I wasn't sure if it's due to food poisoning the day before. Of all the 3 stars that I had been: Le Cinq, Ledoyen, L'aplerge, L'ambroise, I would rank it last .

E.S.--1st visit, we are craving for Japanese french since we didn't get to visit Japan this year due to border closure as a result of Covid-19, hence we pick this restaurant for lunch. We have the discovery menu and it did not disappoint and we dare to say it was better than the 3 star last night. It bring us back to tokyo. There were lots of Japanese element in the dish, most notable is the smoked tenderloin that remind us of smoked katsuo that commonly seen in sushi . The tempura mushroom risotto and the corn soup appetizer is also yummy. The dessert ( soufle with vanilla ice cream and strawberry jam) was however so-so. Is it better than what we had in Tokyo , sure no, but it certainly deserve one star and I believe the chef has potential. I was more wowed by E.S than Montee we tried last year.

Song Heng--1st visit, we heard rave review for this Pho restaurant in Paris, and it sure did not disappoint. It was also the only restaurant that we have to line up but the line was manageable, and don't expect social distancing as the restaurant is tiny. The highlight is in the soup which is legit and as authentic as you can get in Vietnam. Highly recommended.

À L'Épi d'Or - 1st visit, we wanted to try out bistro for light bite at dinner after a heavy lunch. We were recommended by our friend since we are fans of Jean-Francois-Peige restaurant especially we have a wonderful experience at Le Grand Restaurant on our last trip. It was the newest restaurant open by JFP and it's more casual. We were told it serve one of the best pate en croute in town and it did not disappoint but we can't tell if it was the best since we don't have lot of experience with it. The other dish was however a let down, such as escalope de veau Viennoise and croque madame, in fact the toast was burnt when it came out. The frites were good though. The C/P is not bad and certainly the cheapest restaurant among the JFP group.

Overall, an underwhelmed Paris dining experience compare to our last visit which could be due to Covid-19, but I must say Spain restaurant held up better and some even improved compare to our last year trip.