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02 ARR: Les Ambassadeurs

Reviewed by: Daniel from NY, review #2623

When: 2006

Brunch du Monde is a wordly experience indeed.

As we arrived a couple of minutes early before opening, the hostess sat us in a beautiful anteroom just outside Les Ambassadeurs. This was one of those rare moments that you don’t mind waiting to be seated because the surroundings are so plush that, well, you just don’t mind.

Just as my wife and I were getting comfortable, the hostess retrieved and guided us to a two top that was all the way at the end of the grand salon which gave us a full view of the entire restaurant. And what a view it was!

Let me tell you something, new restaurants in Paris come and go, but they never come with this level of authentic 18th century grandeur. I think everyone should eat at Les Ambassadeurs at least once in their life, if only to get a taste of how it must have felt to dine as a member of the aristocracy during l’ancienne regime.

Shortly, after we sat down, a waiter came over and poured us both some Champagne. He also explained how the brunch “works.” Basically, you start off with an oeuf en cocotte en parfait (fancy way of saying baked eggs in a glass jar), and then you have a choice of several main courses. Then, if that wasn’t enough, you can have as much as you like of the embarrassingly luxurious offerings on the buffet table.

This was in addition to the multiple, small delights that were already on our table like a round pound cake, a fancy fruit cocktail, a creamy something-or-the-other, and a decadent “bread basket” containing small butter croissants, chocolate croissants, pain au raisins, etc. I suppose that a big part of my enjoyment of this meal was that this is my favorite style of eating: multiple, little delicious things. Like a fin de siècle French tapas experience.

Having had a delicious (yet very undercooked) oeuf en cocotte back in June 2005 at Aux Lyonnais, my wife asked the waiter if she could get her egg “bien cuit.” As usual, when one is in France, this request was met with a quizzical tilt of the head, then (like at all the better restaurants) was immediately followed with an “of course.”

When the two oeufs arrived at our table, mine was appropriately wet, while my wife’s was a bit more cooked. Not “bien cuit” by any means, but still more cooked than mine. She was able to carefully carve out and enjoy the more cooked egg parts, as well as the spinach and mushrooms which were all floating in a creamy sauce. Beyond savory. The eggs were served with a small baguette (for dipping, bien sur) and a tiny mesclun salad that was served on the side.

My wife's main course was a grilled chicken dish, while I, the carb lover, went with the creamy risotto. Both excellent. So, even though you’d think that was enough food for a single meal, there was still that buffet table to contend which was offering up Spanish Serrano ham (delicious and carved on the spot from a large propped up leg), smoked salmon, a multitude of raw milk cheeses, and several other things that I can't recall.

I need to single out the service at Les Ambassadeurs. What was great about it was that it was incredibly efficient and deferential, yet also extremely friendly and ever so very slightly familiar. As anyone who really loves restaurants will tell you, this perfect service attitude is harder than one may think to pull off. However, when a staff does pull it off, it makes you feel incredibly relaxed. Even in an imposing salon like this one.

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.

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