155 W 51st St
New York, NY 10019
(212) 554-1515
http://le-bernardin.com/
Last night I had the honor of dining at Le Bernardin. It’s considered the best restaurant in the city and I have heard a lot of great things about it. Obviously, being the foodie that I am, I was very excited to finally try their delicious food. And what can I say – I am blown away.
The pictures are all a little dark, but I will try to describe their exquisite compositions as good as I can.
We started off with their famous “Le Bernardin” Salmon Rillette that is served with super thin slices of toasted baguette – just perfect so you can enjoy the flavorful rillette with some bread but not filling you up with bread at the same time. Second came three amuse-bouche: a little tower of warm goat cheese with a slice of a pickled beet on top, a hamachi tartar between two thin and crispy potato slices (well, ok, potato chips) and a cauliflower parmesan soup. So far, each dish had one of my favorite foods in it – and that was just the beginning…
We continued with their signature dish, a thin slice of toasted baguette with foie gras, topped with a tuna carpaccio with olive oil and chives. This was just amazing. This followed by my favorite dish of the evening, even though they were all so good, but the lobster lasagna was to die for. I cleaned out my plate with my pretzel roll, just not to miss any of the amazing truffle butter sauce. The main lobster lasagna was served with a slice of shaved black truffle and this unbelievable truffle butter sauce.
What I also really liked was the shape of the plates that matched the dishes.
The (round) amuse-bouches were served on a long, rounded plate with little round patterns all around, the carpaccio, eye-shaped, on a plate with the same form and the lasagna on a round plate with a rectangular space in the middle.
Our main course was a trout, very briefly grilled on just one side that was so soft and tender it kind of melted in my mouth. It was accompanied by some leeks, a capers mayo on top as well as a very subtle leek sauce and smoked trout roe on the side that made this a perfect combination.
Even though we already had 5 courses by then, I never felt full.
We cleansed our palates with a pre-dessert, pistachio ice cream on a pistachio financier with a bit of passion fruit mousse and sauce on the side. The second round of dessert was a chestnut composition; mousse, ice cream, a little cake, a chocolate mousse and chestnut cream bar topped with chestnuts and candied ginger. Round three was an egg shell, filled with chocolate and caramel mousse, a caramel sauce and sea salt. The presentation was again very cute.
This best meal ever ended with some tasty sweet petit fours.
The service was impeccable, the champagne delicious and I can’t wait to go back.
If you are looking for a restaurant for a special occasion, this would be my no. 1 recommendation. we sat in the lounge which I liked a lot, an open space, with a great bar on one side.
More photos will follow, I have to work on them still – just wanted to write about it while everything is still fresh. Even though, this was an unforgettable experience and will be very hard to top
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