Le Bernardin Valentine's Day Tasting Menu

[drbyyz]

Did anyone eat at LB last night and happen to snap a photo of the VDay tasting menu or grab a copy?? I believe it is the same as this one, but the price was a littler cheaper and the venison course was not offered :(.

http://www.travelsintaste.com/blog/in...

Working on writing up my review of the dinner and will post it on this thread when I finish it. Also, this would be a good thread for anyone else trying this menu this weekend to comment on.

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Le Bernardin
155 W. 51st St., New York, NY 10019

[ExFlexitarian]

i was there. ive got pics and menu description up on my flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris6si...

[drbyyz]

Awesome pics...way better than the ones I took with my phone. What did you think about sauce on the lobster immediately following the halibut dish? That was my only complaint, 2 dishes in a row with a strong bacon flavor. Don't get me wrong I think they were both awesome dishes, but it was a bit much back to back and I don't think the lobster needed the extra sauce anyway. The mole would have been enough for me.

[ExFlexitarian]

lobster was decent - very well cooked but didn't really stand out that much. I didn't mind the bacon however.

I thought the most successful dishes were the scallop slivers and the langoustines. Those scallops were the freshest and cleanest scallops i've ever tasted, and the foie gras w/langoustine was an absolutely brilliant combination of flavors. And the langoustine was just perfectly cooked - so so tender and buttery. Also loved the amuse of shrimp in sambal foam - the shrimp, which 99% of restaurants cook to rubber, were perfectly tender.

I think maybe they ran out of halibut, because they served monkfish instead (even though its listed on the menu as halibut), but it was still a very successful dish. I thought the least successful dish was the turbot - it was really 'muddy' flavored. The best part of the dish was the black truffle custard. Also the vacherin, while very very pretty, just didn't work for me.

The uni-caviar dish, while very delicate and refined, was just OK. I found myself yearning for the uni spaghetti at Marea instead.

Hate to say it, but while it was all in all a great dinner, it didn't wow me as much as I thought it would. I'd rather have dinners at places like Marea and Momofuku Ko, which together would add up to about the same price. I understand that Le Bernardin is about restraint and ultra refined food, but I just wasn't overly excited about the majority of the dishes.

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Momofuku Ko
163 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003

Marea
240 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019

[H Manning]

I usually prefer the three course prix fixe at Le Bernardin. I love Ripert''s refinement and sophistication, but there isn't a lot of textural contrast and so the dishes can seem repetitive in the course of a tasting menu.

The turbot with spiced squab jus flavored with armagnac and served with black truffle/ wild mushroom custard is marvelously complex and wonderful on its own. Since it was served towards the end of the tasting menu, however, I agree that it didn't seem to stand out as much as it should have.

I have to disagree though about the uni caviar dish. I thought it was sublime. I love the uni spaghetti at Marea too, but it's very different dish conceptually.

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Le Bernardin
155 W. 51st St., New York, NY 10019

[hcbk0702]

The turbot works very well in the regular chef's tasting menu progression. Of course, the tasting menu is still a parade of delicately prepared seafood, so it won't appeal to everyone. People looking to get hit over the head will be nonplussed; refinement and balance are Ripert's primary concerns.

To be honest, I thought the sea urchin spaghetti dish at Marea was mostly dominated by tomato with just a hint of crab, while the sea urchin was essentially a light binding agent. Yawn-inducing compared to the fusilli, and awful compared to Le Bernardin's sea urchin-caviar pasta.

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Le Bernardin
155 W. 51st St., New York, NY 10019

Marea
240 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019