Les Halles

We had the opportunity to eat at Les Halles last night. It was my first time. I guess that can seem surprising considering how close it is to where I live, but it's true, it was my first time. Last night being no exception, everytime I've ever walked by the place it's always very crowded...crowded in a way that causes my to say to myself "that looks like a fire hazard". I think of these things now, where in my 20's it never seemed to bother me. As I get older I find I want to be less and less a part of that crowded in and being seen-scene. That in and of itself has always put me off from trying to dine there, however, we were invited out and our wonderful dinner companions had picked the restaurant and so we looked forward to the evening.

I read "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain when it first came out and for the most part I enjoyed reading the book. I knew little about him at the time but his " in your face" and honest portrayal of his experiences as a Chef appealed to me. I was kind of tired of the trend in food memoirs that went on and on about how wonderful and beautiful everything is and how perfect and quaint and lovely and blah blah blah life was, I was ready for something gritty... like Bourdains book, and my interest in Les Halles sprang from that.

We arrived at Les Halles and met our dinner companions near the bar. The first thing that struck me as we walked in was how small and how crowded the place was. Although we had reservations, there was going to be a bit of a wait, the Hostess was very pleasant and apologetic, and I must admit that this matters to me. We've had dining experiences in the past with hostesses who were horrible to deal with, and so the Hostess at Les Halles was a pleasant change. We decided to just wait rather than try to make it over to the bar which was threatening to burst at the seams and flow into the dining area. It was uncomfortable and difficult to talk over the noise and the pushing from the bar partons was a bit irritating but luckily we only had to wait 10 minutes. I was impressed by the short wait time and needless to say relieved. We were seated at a table near the door and coat check, which proved to be a bit unpleasant for my sister-in-law who was periodically elbowed by entering and leaving patrons maneuvering their way out the door.

I was asked to pick the wine which always makes me nervous since I really don't know anything about wine. I chose a wine that's not listed on their website (hmmm)-it was a Gigondas something (not the Gigondas that IS listed on the site). It was very delicious, a really good choice of wine on my part considering it was a blind pick. I wish I had thought to save the cork...darn!.

To start, Tom ordered the Escargots (Snails in garlic butter) which he said was a bit disappointing. I didn't taste it (although I do like escargot I didn't feel like tasting it last night) Tom said it was surprisingly bland. I ordered the Tartiflette (Gratin of Reblochon cheese with bacon and fingerling's potatoes). It was really really good. My only complaint was that it was scorchingly hot. It took a while to cool down enough to be able to eat and so my entree appeared while I was still trying to work on the appetizer, that's fine, the appetizer was well worth waiting for. It was the right blend of cheese, sausage and potato that I love and think of as comfort food. I would have been happy with just the appetizer to tell you the truth. My sister-in law- ordered the Vol-au-vent aux Champignons Sauvages et Salsifi (Salsifi and fresh wild mushrooms in puff pastry) sharing it with her date. They both said it was very good and I must say the plating of it was lovely. I was a little pre-occupied with not burning my tongue on my own appetizer that I forgot to ask for a taste of theirs.

For the main coarse Tom ordered the Steak au Poivre, Frites as did my Sister-in-laws date. Tom said his was very good, if not a little boring. He did say it was prepared to perfection and since it is considered one of the specialties of the house I think he was on the money with the observation. I forgot to ask K what he thought of his...ooops! I ordered the Onglet ? l'?chalote* (Hanger steak with shallot sauce) and it too was done to perfection. Probably one of the best Hanger steaks I've ever eaten, although I was not impressed with the shallot sauce. I thought the flavor was too strong and took away from my enjoyment of the steak and so I didn't eat it. My Sister-in law-ordered the Merguez, Frites et Salade (Moroccan lamb sausage, French fries, and salad) which she loved and I tasted, and can agree that it was delicious. The flavor of the lamb sausage was strong and gamey and went well with the spicey mustard they served with it. A good choice. Everything came with Pommes Frites, which were very good, done so that they were dark on the outside but soft and not quite crispy which I like.

Between the appetizers and dinner it was a lot of food, but who could pass up dessert? Not I, and so we ordered dessert and coffee too. K and I had the Tarte Tiède au Chocolat et Banane Warm chocolate and banana tart, vanilla sauce. OH MY. This was sinful and rich and very very very good, it took a lot for me not to eat the whole thing. I ate most of it but passed the rest over to Tom, who was eating his own dessert of Profiteroles (which he said weren't the best he's had) and let him have a chance to enjoy the warm chocolate and banana confection. My sister-in-law ordered the Crème Brûlée and said she enjoyed it very much.

I'm glad we had an opportunity to eat there. Would I go back? Probably not, unless it became less trendy. I find being crowded in like that and then seated very very close to the diners next to me unpleasant. It's hard to hold a conversation with my table when I can clearly hear the conversations at the next table and am distracted by. I felt terrible about my sister-in- law constantly being elbowed by the entering and leaving guests, noones fault there, it just was what it was. That said, the dinner was delicious, if not a little boring, but I'm not sure what I was expecting. Les Halles is after all a French Bistro that specialises in exactly what we ate and it was in fact quite delicious and done to perfection. They do offer more interesting fare on the menu and had it not been my first time, and my desire to try the house specialties I would have ordered the other more interesting looking dishes. The staff was wonderful and pleasant to deal with and if you can manage to get there on an off night, I think it's worth going because the food really is done quite well.

Written by Deb on March 9, 2003 02:17 PM