AU FILS DES SAISONS -- Restaurant Review

 

For reservations, menu and directions see:

https://restaurant-au-fil-des-saisons.com/en/services

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...................................€€...................................... 3 - Bell

I've been to this restaurant several years ago, I think before I actually started blogging. It's in a very strange location, on one of the side alleys of "Republique". In fact, on this alley is this restaurant and a bar next door, which we discovered later that evening, was a big hit with the younger generation, and that's it.

It's looks like a very long bowling lane, but they made it work. There was originally 3 tables occupied when we entered, and then us and the group you see in the above photo.  I would imagine if it had been crowded that this place would've been too noisy to have a normal conversation, but we had no problems tonight.  The "Patron", Cedric, who is also the waiter has quite the personality. Very personable and just has a fun personality that you just wanted to continue chatting with him as a friend, before JJ said, "let him do his job." 

NOTE: I am only going to review the meals I tasted. (JJ shared a lot of his dishes)

ENTRÉE

Dauphiné Ravioli from with Comté cheese

Gratinated with parmesan cheese. 

JJ ordered this, but I decided to taste it. Yum. This is like comfort food (mac/cheese), elevated with a bechamel and comte cheese. I loved it. It is rich, but makes you wanna keep coming back for more. And, JJ who normally doesn't like rich creamy dishes, really enjoyed it too. A winner.

Fried Snails.

This had to be my favorite dish of the night. The snails were de-shelled, lightly pan fried with mushrooms and a nice creamy light sauce with greens to give it a visual and a little freshness to the dish.

I liked it because it was not a traditional "escargot" with the tons of garlic. It was a nice change. 

I could've eaten another one as a main. LOVED THIS DISH.

PLATS

Faux Filet (Sirloin steak) with potatoes 

I asked that the steak be cooked "a-point" which is typically medium. In hindsight I wish had ordered it "saignant" (very rare) since it was quite tough. The beef was grass fed beef so had little fat. The meat was unevenly cooked, some were well done, some medium, some medium rare. Imagine, all in one steak. The flavors were good, but the meat itself was very chewy.

Cod with haricot vert as well as snow peas.

This was their special fish dish of the evening. I have to say this was absolutely delicious. The cod was melt-in-your-mouth tender and vegetables were cooked al dente. The accompanying cream sauce of what I believe to be a carrot was creamy and light.

Overall the dish was a big hit.  

Rather than have dessert we opted for a cheese platter. I won't go into details, but in 14-years I have never had a cheese I didn't like. It was a nice mix of chevre, compte, rochefort, and brie. As usually, a great hit in any restaurant.

Pouilly-Fumé -- Domaine Barillot. 

For me if Sancerre is not available, this would be my second choice. 

"The cool continental climate furnishes a brisk acidic backbone and amazingly long finish to the wines, while the limestone soils found on both sides of the river deliver their hallmark minerality. However, Pouilly-Fumé’s limestone yields less chalk and more flint. This distinguishing feature is not surprising: the name Pouilly-Fumé refers not only to the town of Pouilly-sur-Loire, but also to the flint that’s the reputed source of the distinctive smoky aromatics known as “fumé” in French." ~ Vivinio

SUMMARY 

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with this restaurant. Despite the few missteps, overall the food was very good. I did ding them a few points for what I thought was unforgivable. When we ordered our bottle of wine, the owner opened the bottle and left us to our devices and we had to do our own pouring and tasting. This is the first time this has ever happened to me.  Secondly, there is an unspoken rule in France that no one starts dinner unless EVERYONE is served. Our main courses came at different times, very strange. This might seem minor in US, but here a big deal here.

Now as for the food, the food was delicious. The only dish that was not my favorite was the sirloin steak. In hindsight I should have ordered it saignant (rare), because it was so unevenly cooked, hence, tender in some portions, chewy in others. FYI..., most french order their steaks "saignant" for this very reason,  they cringe at when Americans order them well done. Their beef are grass fed so have no antibiotics or hard chemicals which make them unusually tender. 

Would we go back, ABSOLUTELY. 

For 4-people, we had 5-entrees, 3-plats, cheese platter, 1-beer, 1- bottle of wine and 1/2 bottle of wine our bill came to €212 or €53 each. Not bad