6.2 Le Sergent Recruteur, 41, rue Saint Louis en L'Ile in the 4th, 01.43.54.75.42, (Metro: Pont Marie), closed Sundays and Mondays has been closed for quite sometime but was apparently in the back of the mind of Alain Pégouret, he of Laurent for 18 years and while it technically doesn't open until May 24th, their website took my reservation as well as emailing and telephoning me to confirm. And it was jam-packed, except for the bar seats, by 1 PM.
The chef himself brought out our amuses of mackerel rillettes scoops of which fell over the thin toasts and a mousseline of mussels - both quite nice. Then we had the 49 E 3 course (39 for 2) "menu" which was much more approachable than the carte whose items exceeded my budget.
The starter was 4 spears of parcooked asparagus with a Campari Orange mousseline which was no better than OK. The main courses were nice pieces of merlan with a terrific toasted exterior and a strip of beef shoulder perfectly cooked but marred by an anchovy sauce which just didn't go with it IMHO. At some point, my co-diner asked if I'd come back; I said "no"; "why?"; we struggled - she suggested it lacked the wow factor, I said nothing dazzled me.
For desserts we shared a terrific vacherin and lemon tart and with coffees had equally impressive mignardises of chocolate and assorted seasonal fruits. Now these all hit the wow/dazzle buttons.
Our bill with a bottle of Touraine and one of Badoit, plus two very strong and wonderful coffees, was 192 E or 128 E a couple. dB's were 76.9 and up as VIP's filled the room with talk and laughter.
Go back? I already answered.
Comments