Uninspiring first trip to Citronelle..

[biscuit]

GF took me for my b'day. Tis a shame we "used" the special occasion on a place that is clearly not all it's hyped up to be, except mind you, for the astounding desserts. I understand this is what Michel Richard is best known for, so be it. I guess the main courses take the back seat, unless, of course, I ordered entirely wrong. What exactly is the signature dish, anyway?

Appetizer:
Mushy lobster under flavorless Beluga caviar

Main course:
So-so limp, wet Monkfish on a decent bed of spinach.

Hyped-up $8 mint tea:
Store-bought Yogi beats it hands down.

Dessert:
Ah, at last. Something truly wonderful. Ordered Chocolate Flakes. Supremely flavorful chocolate flakes and "malt" balls (for lack of a better description) with a nice mint "milk" over satisfying vanilla bean ice cream.

All in all about a 6 or 7 out of 10. I had a better meal the night before at the always good Temel here in Fairfax. I doubt we'll be returning.

[lizziee]

The actual dish is called Lobster “Begula Pasta” – When they were ordering the tins for this dish, the manufacturer made a mistake and printed Begula instead of Beluga – hence the name. The top layer of this dish is pearl pasta with squid ink, then pieces of lobster, hollandaise sauce and a poached egg.

[Hal Laurent]

Just so the OP doesn't feel alone, my wife and I also had a disappointing Citronelle experience earlier this year.

[biscuit]

I would guess you would have found it terribly over-hyped then.

[cole]

That's ashame. I had a great experience there about a year ago. We did the chef's tasting menu and everything was superb. Sorry to hear it!

[Steve]

The "caviar" is pasta. Maybe that's why it was flavorless. Actually, I think the flavor is magnificent, but I could see how you would be surprised/dissapointed if you were expecting caviar.

About the chocolate flakes: a dessert I don't particularly like. For all it's fanciness, not much different than eating a bowl of chocolate cereal. I tired of it before I could finish. Oh well, sorry you were dissapointed. It happens with me at expensive places frequently. That's why I love the Lounge concept. Order a la carte, and if you're dissapointed you can quit at any time.

[biscuit]

You mean the stuff that looked like caviar was pasta? Oi, well then I guess I just don't "get it" then. It was still mushy and flavorless. I've had a thousand better dishes.

I guess our tastes are backwards. Haha. But I get your point, it did end up as a bowl of Cocoa Puffs, as I joked to my gf. It started off magnificent and ended up fun. Perhaps that's why I liked it so.

[oysterspearls]

The question is were you aware what those thousand dishes were? Sorry! Could not help myself as it was just a funny Ha Ha. Smile.

[biscuit]

Of course I can....NOT. :)