Korus -- Restaurant Review

73 RUE AMELOT PARIS, 75011
Tel: (+33)155285331
Metro: line 8 (Chemin Vert)
Check website for operating hours
http://restaurantkorus.com/

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-80); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-90); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (90+)

4 - Star....................................................€€........................................................ 2/3 - Bell

At the recommendation of our good friend "J", we went to Korus for lunch. It's in the 11eme, it's an interesting street that parallels "Boulevard Beaumarchais".

The interior is quite lovely, a mix of new and old. Except for one other table, it was quite empty when we arrived at 12:30 pm. There's maybe around 40-seats and a bar area for cocktails. Then I remembered it was "Toussaint" (All Saints Day) a public holiday in France. Surprisingly, it really picked up by 2 pm, and it was near full.

The menu was quite simple. In fact, it's a prix-fixe menu with 2-choices each for the entrée, plat and desserts and, at 20€ for the prixe-fixe, what a deal!


ENTRÉE

Mousse de foie de volaille (Fowl liver mousse).  A very simple entrée. The toast was nicely buttered and the mousse was very light and smooth and accompanied with a few pickled onions. Nothing out of the ordinary, but simple and delicious.

Endives, clementines, pistaches (Endives, clementines, pistachios). This was an interesting salad combination. It had the bitterness of the endive, the sweetness of the clementines (tangerines) and a smooth type of cheese, similar to cottage cheese, which personally it did not need. The salad was nicely composed, delicious and nicely balanced.









PLATS

Cabillaud, moules, haricots verts, quinoa (Cod, mussels, green beans, quinoa). This was an excellent dish. Beautifully composed with the right flavor profiles. This was probably the best piece of fish that I've had all year. It was so moist and tender. My guess is that it was cooked "sous vide". The haricot vert were sliced into pea sized pieces that was also cooked perfectly. Nice and al-dente. The added texture of the crunchy quinoa brought it to another level. At first I thought the mussels would make it all about the mussels, but not at all, you knew the fish was the star of the dish. I absolutely loved this dish.

Cuisse de canard braisée, riz, shitake (Braised duck leg, rice, shitake). It wasn't the prettiest plat, lots of brown. I wish they had a little green on the plat, but it's a visual thing for me. My friend J had this dish, and he disliked it, because it was quite sweet. I personally don't like my savory dish to have sugar, unless it's glazed. But I agree with J, the sauce was a bit sweet, albeit the duck was perfectly cooked. The rice accompanied was a short grain rice cooked with shitake. Good, but nothing out of the ordinary.






DESSERTS

I asked the waiter if he could change out my dessert for cheese, since I don't like desserts and don't eat sugar. He was able to do so even though the menu was fixed. So, kudos to the restaurant for accommodating me. And, as I always say, you can't go wrong with the cheeses in France.

Coffee with Mignardises (partings sweets). Simple with a madeleine and mini-macarons. Perfect for J since they were tasting bites and he's not a big eater.

Figues au vin d’épices, cake à l’huile d’olive (Figs with spice wine, cake with olive oil). Jack ordered this dish and really enjoyed it. It was an olive oil pound cake soaked in some spiced wine. Sweet figs and some heavy cream to counterbalance the sweet. Nicely presented and overall a very delicious well composed dessert. 

WINES: 

WHITE. "Vin D’alsace Charles et philippe brand Retenez sono le lire 2017".  We had this first as sort of aperitif. I enjoyed this wine, it was dry enough, but not to the point that you had to pucker or had a strong sour after taste. I'm not a wine expert by any means, but to me, this wine can be drunk alone, whereas normally I like wine paired with food. 

RED. "Mon p’tit python millésime 2017" It's known for its fruity, crunchy and structure which is usually paired with charcuterie or raclette. One of the few red wines that I liked because for me it was light and balanced enough that you could have with meat or seafood. 

SUMMARY: 

I really enjoyed this restaurant a lot. The chef, Hanzhou Piao has quite the pedigree.  He worked at the Conrad -Tokyo, Restaurant André -Singapore, Mirazur -Menton, and David Toutain -Paris. The entrées were simple, but our favorite was the endive salad. The plats scored differently, only because the sweetness of the duck was just overwhelming. Had it been lacquered (glazed), the sweetness would not have carried all the way to flesh, so if you don't like sweet, then you can simply remove the skin. As for the cod, the best cod I've had all year. So moist and the accompanying flavors enhanced the fish, because bottom line cod can be bland, but the accompaniment really brought the flavors out and made it a star. Our favorite dessert was the figs. The service is excellent, the atmosphere was really nice, but got noisy as it filled. And, the price of 20€ for 3-courses, is a steal. Would I go back, ABSOLUTELY! 

I would've scored higher, if the duck hadn't been so overly sweet.

For 3-fixed lunches (included dessert) and 2-bottles of wine, our bill came to 130€ or 43.33€