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Chartres: Restaurant Georges

22 rue des Epars , Phone: 02.37.18.15.15
www.bw-grand-monarque.com/
Closing day: Monday

Reviewed by: Daniel from NY, review #2801

When: 2006

A gourmet temple with all the elegance and flavor of a Paris top spot, at a fraction of the price.

Foie Gras Appetizer at Le Georges in Chartres, photo by Daniel

Last time we were in Chartres we had lunch at La Vieille Maison, and while I liked that place well enough, the decor was a bit dark, cramped and dated. This place was totally different. Here we had a bright, sunlit salon with lots of elbow room and high, high ceilings. You just felt good being in there.

After our party of three settled in, I ordered a bottle of wine (a Sancerre rose). Then, the first amuse arrived. It was bruschetta-like bread with a couple of savory and creamy spreads. The second amuse was a little cup of cream of artichoke soup. Both of these were good enough teases, but the real show was yet to come. My wife’s appetizer was a light and frothy cream of mushroom soup. I know that probably sounds “ordinary”, but trust me, it was sublime. Our friend had these beautiful langoustines that were coated in coconut and something else. Very good. However, I think that I had the “best” appetizer: seared foie gras with plums with a foamy, mushroom “cocktail” on the side that was served in a martini glass. Unbelievably good.

Then came our main courses. Our friend was quite happy with her sole Meuniere with small potatoes on the side. My wife was delighted with her duck dish which came with some greens on the side. I was positively ecstatic with my filet mignon wrapped in bacon with a ravioli seductively draped on the side and, if that was not enough joy, there were also some gnocchi thrown in there for kicks.

I thought things couldn’t get any better until I saw the cheese cart stop at our table. My wife had to pass as they were all raw milk cheeses and she was pregnant at the time, but our friend and I went to town and chose six each that went from delicate to very strong (that seems to be my pattern with cheese courses). We tried to hide how much we were enjoying our cheeses so as to not rub it into my wife, but it wasn’t easy.

Then we were brought a pre-dessert (or was it an "amuse dessert"?) of chocolate and orange mousse (the orange mousse reminded me of an Orange Julius, for those of you that remember what that was). Then it was time for our “real” dessert. Forget what our friend had, but I enjoyed what was probably the most elaborate pain perdu which had bananas and almond ice cream. Once again, my wife was not able to have this course as all the desserts had some ingredient in them that was on the pregnancy no no list. To compensate for not being able to have dessert, our waiter thoughtfully brought my wife another one of the pre-desserts.

What more can I say? I feel like we got a three star quality meal for a fraction of what it would have cost in Paris.

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

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Chartres: Restaurant Georges

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