Ze Kitchen Galerie -- Restaurant Review

 

4, rue des Grands Augustins

75006 Paris

M° Saint-Michel / Odéon

Tel : +33 1 44 32 00 32

zekitchen.galerie@wanadoo.fr

Open Monday to Friday

Lunch : 12.15 pm – 2 pm

Dinner : 7 pm – 9 pm

Closed on Saturday and Sunday

Valet parking

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 - Stars....................................................€€€€......................................................... 1 - Bell

It feels good for familiar restaurants to finally re-open. This restaurant is one of 3-restaurants that Chef William Ledeuil owns, Ze Kitchen Galerie, KGB and Kitchen Ter(re) which the latter is one of my favorites. I've been to this restaurant 3 times, once before he got his Michelin star, after he got his Michelin star, then again today. 

One notices a theme when you go to one of his restaurants. He uses a lot of Asian influences. In fact, I met the Chef before the pandemic, and he recommends that his chefs go to Asia and pick up some ideas to infuse Asian flavors into traditional french cuisine. He himself has traveled extensively throughout Asia. He has also written several cookbooks. 

NOTE: I only reviewed the dishes that I had and tasted

AMUSE BOUCHE 

Cold beet soup

We started with a small cup of cold beet soup. I normally don't like beets, but this tasted very different. This was sweetened with pureed strawberries, and a hint of pomegranate, topped with dill. The acidity from both the strawberries and pomegranate gave it balanced flavor.  We all said this was absolutely delicious.  No faulting this amuse bouche. 

ENTRÉE

Lobster 

Homard condiment curcuma – piment, salade de carottes “thaï” (Lobster,  turmeric – chili pepper condiment, “Thai” carrots salad)

This is a cold entrée. The dish was absolutely delicious. The lobster was cooked perfectly. Sweet and tender. You would've thought that the star of the dish, the lobster would get lost amongst all the different elements, but it actually complimented the lobster.  Texturally it was perfect. It had different elements such as the crunch of the carrots. The sauce was turmeric infused, but mild and not overpowering. A true winner.

PLATS

Black Angus 

Bouef Black angus confit laque (Black angus beef confit, lacquer, tamarind, basil with gochujang)

Well I guess you can't be perfect all the time. The beef was out of this world tender. But the flavor combinations didn't work for me.  I have a high tolerance for salt, but it appears that the chef was heavy handed with the tamarind and gochujang making the dish quite salty and sour.

However, I do want to add that my friends who had the dish did loved it. 

DESSERT 

Pecorino romano

As usual, since I don't eat sugar I had a cheese dessert. This was a pecorino romano. beautifully aged. Like I always say, you can never go wrong with cheese. 

DESSERTS that others had. 

Others had the rhubarb, strawberry with hibiscus juice brocclu ice cream and cherries with ginger ice cream and almond cherry morello cake. They all loved their desserts.  

Condrieu 2018 La Petite Cote 

Very aromatic dry white.  Fruity, matted gold color with dark yellow reflections. Nose evokes a basket of fresh fruits, apricot, quince, peach and citrus fruits. A few sweet notes of flowers and honey making a charming, gourmet and fresh whole more complex! Nice power that lengthens the finish (Notes source from vinatis wines)

SUMMARY

Chef Ledeuil is part of the food movement in Paris that's been happening in the past couple of years to revive french cuisine to the next level, by not being afraid to experiment. He bucks the "traditional" french dishes by infusing Asian flavors to many of his dishes. 

The service is EXCELLENT. The atmosphere is lovely in that it's simple and unpretentious. He lets the food be the feast to the eye.  As for the noise level, we had a late reservation so we were only a handful of people, and the noise level was quiet. But if it's crowded, because of the brick walls, I'm sure the noise level would be OK.

As for the dishes, they were beautifully presented and overall perfect, except I did had issues with the main.  I felt the flavors the gochujang and tamarind too powerful to give it rather salty sour taste. But the beef was absolutely out of this world tender. If not for that, I would've scored him near perfect.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this restaurant. I normally do a price per person, but because we were celebrating, we bought some rather pricey wines which skews the overall price per person. Please check online menu for prices.