On the same day right after our Albi trip was also our first time ever to dine in a Michelin Star restaurant. Before coming to France, we did our research to find Michelin restaurants that are located nearby to our hotel so we do not have to travel far. Fortunate enough, we found this in Toulouse which was only a 15minutes walk away.
We got back to our rooms, freshen up, chill a bit and of course, dressed up for our most anticipated dinner! We took our time to slowly walk to Capitol and bought some groceries before heading to the restaurant. Initially there were quite a number of us who wanted to dine but due to some of them not having proper financial control, they've splurged too much on chocolates, clothes, bags and whatsoevers, were unable to join last minute. I'd have to say that it was a really unfortunate as France is famous for their gastronomic food culture and missing the chance to experience it is a waste.
I'm sure that many of you guys have heard how snobbish the French are when it comes to dealing with Asian people. But you know what? Throughout my whole trip there, I've not experienced any racism conflicts or bad service there but in fact, received first class service. Perhaps it really depends on the luck with the people you meet. Anyway, like I said that they provide first class service, they gave us a private room without any extra surcharge when dining in the restaurant! How amazing could it get?! There was a nice fireplace and with great interior design. It looks so posh and glam hahaha. We've all made our orders for their Degustation menu.
Snack: Phyllo herbs and chilli sticks with olive bread sticks. Really appetizing and tasty!
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First up, we had an Amuse Bouche. We were instructed to eat it clock-wise in order to get the proper taste and textures of the food. It begins with the coconut milk foam with cucumber to freshen your tastebuds. Next was the middle which was crabmeat and black truffles. The aroma from the truffle was really amazing. Next to it was a modern Quiche Lorraine and lastly was a creamy mascarpone and orange croquette. It took us about 15 minutes to actually finish this as we were all busy slowly chewing and tasting each elements of the food carefully. It was a really great experience just for a simple amuse bouche.
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The first course begins with a nice warm Foie Gras Soup with Belon Oyster. Apparently, Belon oysters are the most expensive! Am honored to be able to eat it but unfortunately I did not like it at all. Overall the soup was pretty amazing. Seasoning was just nice, creamy and full of flavour!
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Second course was a Pan Seared Sole Fish on a bed of Lime Confit served with a trois-fromage (3 types of cheese) ravioli, asparagus, tomato confit, finger lime, regileuse sauce and citron butter sauce.
Long description right? hahaha. Anyway, if you are a fish lover, when eating this, you'd feel like you've died and gone to heaven. No jokes. The vegetables were all very sweet. One can never find such sweet vegetables here in Malaysia. And the sauce for the fish was so light and rich in flavours. This took us at about 20minutes to finish. Everyone's plate was clean as though it does not need any washing :P.
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Third course was a poultry dish which is a Supreme of Pigeon wrapped with deep fried Kadaif alongside with a cheese croquette on a pigeon jus and petite pois (grean peas).
We were instructed to start off with the croquette and petite pois first before moving on to the main dish. Practically every dish served was definitely cooked to perfection, well presented and that is what fine dining is all about. No rooms for mistakes!
The wrapped pigeon was cooked to perfection, no doubt. I suspect it was cooked using a sous-vide method (low pressure cooking in a water bath). The black sauce was a squid ink sauce. Interesting right? That a poultry is served with a seafood sauce. But it works!
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The fourth course was the beginning of desserts and it was a cheese platter. The restaurant gets their cheese supplies from a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) Chef that specializes in cheeses. A MOF is a title for the best artisanal chef that is very prestigious in France. With that title, you're as famous as a celebrity chef given with full respect.
Hence, we were presented by a platter of cheese for us to choose from. The cheeses were divided into goat's cheese and cow's cheese and each category has a mild to strong category. If one claims to be a real cheese lover, think again when you try the real deal of cheeses in France. The blue cheese we get here in Malaysia is completely different than the prestigious Rocquefort blue cheese! It is so pungent that it pierces through your nose almost like wasabi but worst! And the French loves them and claims that Durian was worst. I choose to Durian over the Roquefort anytime LOL.
Generally, we all lost the cheese battle. I only loved the mild cheeses and specifically the goat's cheeses. It's much creamier and easier to accept compared to the cow's cheese. The server was pretty heart broken when he cleaned our unfinished plates of cheese. I guess the French really do cherish their cheeses :S.
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The finale course was an Apple dessert. A simple ingredient for desserts that is less appreciated in Malaysia are apples. That's what I feel. You don't find many places serving great apple desserts!
We were served with a caramelized apples on a bed of lime cream sandwiched with a thin and crispy croustillant which is topped with granny smith apple foam alongside with a refreshing roasted apple sorbet with apple chips.
As simple as it may be, but the complexity begins with every bite. It was never only about taste but also the texture of every elements of the dessert. I would have to say that this was the best plated dessert I've eaten. The sorbet especially was the most interesting! You take a scoop of sorbet with the chips and when you chew the apple chips, you get the crunch. But while chewing, you get sparkles in your mouth too. It gets you thinking that it was the crispy apple chips but in fact it wasn't. The chef sprinkled some popping candy powder onto the sorbet, giving it an exquisite texture in your mouth! Now that's what we called a great chef that creates a dish not only for the taste but a whole new experience for diners!
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Right after the apple dessert, we thought that the dinner has ended and we're all ready to go. To our surprise, a lady server came in and started handing out mini ice creams and alongside a platter of petit fours! Really unexpected.
The mini ice cream was made of a phyllo pastry cone with raspberry sorbet covered with tempered chocolate! For the petit fours, they were a glass of vanilla panna cotta, mini macaron, chocolate cake and a passionfruit jelly. It was really yummy and a great petit size desserts to end the whole lovely dining experience. Overall we enjoyed our dinner and most importantly it was all worth paying for. It costs about 100Euros per person. That's like 400 bucks MYR. But like they all said, when travelling, screw the conversions! There's no way you can find a fine dining with extremely good service and food which costs RM100 in Malaysia.
In fact, it really does make me wonder, are the foods in Lafite of Shangri-La hotel up to the standard of fine dining? I've eaten at Il Lido Italian fine dining and concluded that it was good but not as great as to what they claim to be fine dining.
Right before we left, we actually requested to meet the amazing Chef Michel Sarran. He was actually about to leave for home but we called for him so he has to come back in with his sneakers on to take pictures with us. He actually thought we were from Japan =_="
