If you are a crowd of 6 or more, you have to do the tasting menu at €75 per person for 6-courses.
It's a small long restaurant, but what was nice we had a private room. We were 7, but it could've easily fit 8 people.
We started with 5-coup de champagne and what looked like spring rolls that were our amuse bouche. What I found later, this was not part of the "degustation" it was extra, it was just delivered, et voila.
It was pork encased in thick wrapper, almost the thickness of wonton wrappers. The sauce was an almond harissa that I mistook for mustard, it had that same sharpness.
This was my least favorite dish, mais pas mal.
2. A trio of entrées (L -- left, M-middle, R -- right)
L -- Beef tartare with daikon and shiso leaves. I must say the flavors were wild. This was a cold dish and as we know cold dishes can taste very bland, if not seasoned enough. It was perfect, the citrus with the tartare and I'm sure they used Yuzu complimented all the components of the dish. All-around an excellent start.
M -- Pork Iberico Zucchini. This was my favorite of the 3. This was a warm dish and the the ham was succulent. Seasonings were perfect and the broth was heavenly. Normally, when using Iberico ham, it tends to be salty, this was not. It does have cilantro, so if you're one of the rare people who's palate senses soap when eating salad, ask them to remove it. The wait staff are very accommodating
R -- Trout with sweet artichoke stems in a very light vinaigrette. The trout was delicious. It seemed almost like ceviche, but all the accompanying ingredients were fresh including the trout. A bit hit for all of us.
I'm not a big mushroom fan, but I have to tell you this was delicious. The accompanying sauce looked heavy, but it was actually light, and a tad sweet which was a good choice since bulgar wheat tends to be heavy and filling. The mushrooms were tender, the bulgar still had a little bite to them.
Can't fault this dish it was delicious.
4. Tuna with carrots and courgette with artichoke hearts.
This was my all time favorite dish of the evening. So elegantly delicious, it's hard to explain, but let me give it try.
The tuna was very, very fresh, lightly seasoned and lightly seared so that the middle was tender with a sashimi like texture. You know a fish is fresh when it smells clean. The accompanying artichoke hearts and carrots were a perfect accompaniment because it gave contrast to the fish. My FAV dish of the evening.
At this point I was getting royally "stuffed". So all I could do was take a taste of each element. The fowl was tender and the demi-glace sauce was slightly sweet and a perfect accompaniment and not too strong as it can be. At first when I tasted the onion it tasted like dates, but it was actually an onion sauteed til caramelized with dates that added more sweetest. The radicchio and greens were also a nice fresh accompaniment. All around delicious.
This was very refreshing course after all the food we ate. But this dessert was more a palate cleanser so nothing out of the ordinary.
7. Chocolate mascarpone cake with a whisky sour and coffee sauce.
I'm not big on sugar, but I took a taste, it looks heavy, but it was actually light. The others loved it as well. The portion was perfect considering all we ate.
This was served with cognac for those who wanted it.
8. Mignardise
Nice parting sweet. They were basically like mini-brownies.
Champagnes and wines is where we splurged. I'm listing the prices because you can go overboard as we did, so beware, it's easy to do. And, always look at the menu for the prices of the champagnes/wines.
We started out with a coupe of champagne, "Pourquoi pas"?
It was a rosé quite light and refreshing.
Tasting notes: Ranging from light and fruity pink Moscato, to vintage rosé Champagne and sparkling Shiraz, this style shows strawberry and raspberry, through to creamy vanilla and spice.
TOTAL PRICE 5-coups = €95
Then we had a white. "Summertime" bergeron, which is what Roussanne is called in the Savoie region in the French Alps,"
Tasting notes: Grape vines increase incredible heights, yielding a blanc full of character and flavors of peach, tangerine, and pine resin.
PRICE = €99
These were 2 other wines I forgot to take photos of, I tasted the white and it was fine, but I didn't have the red, but those who did said they were smooth and delicious.
Champ Boucier = €180
I've had been to this restaurant many years ago, but tend to go to the chef's other restaurants. But KGB is just as good and should be on your radar screen.
It's a small narrow restaurant. The sister restaurant of "Ze Kitchen Galerie". When we entered the restaurant we were seated in a private room. Although we were 7, the room could easily accommodate 8 people. We were asked if we wanted bottles water, we did. BEWARE, say just 1 or 2, otherwise they'll continue with pouring bottles water throughout the night without asking, and the bill can run up. Our water bill was €35. My philosophy has always been why spend money on water, when you can spend it one wine.
Lost in translation, when the wait staff says, e.g., the desert "comes" with cognac. no it doesn't, it's the chef's suggestion that you get cognac with the dish, again you pay for it.
Problem is we were all having so much fun, that we weren't really paying attention to the wait staff and things coming and going. I never spent €180 on wine, Just because I can doesn't mean I have to.
So, overall, I dropped that rating down .50, I didn't like the nickel and dimeing for not letting us know clearly that, e.g., the cognac and amuse bouche was extra. I give them very high marks on the food and service,
Now keep in mind we got carried away with the wines, but I'm sure you could go there for much less. But don't have them upsell you.
Would I go back, ABSOLUTELY, but I'll be more cost conscious.
A very useful and enlightening review. I send guests to KGB and they love it
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