This was the first stop on our London gastronomic fest. As Hong Kong already has a L’Atelier, we decided to try La Cuisine here instead. There’s also a L’Atelier in the same building as well as the Salon Bar. La Cuisine employs a traditional restaurant seating surrounding the open plan kitchen. This made us feel like dining inside the kitchen, in contrast to L’Atelier, where the counter seating surrounds the kitchen.

We immediately went for the Menu Découverte for £125/US$190. The dinner with matching wines was £165/US$250, but we upgraded to the prestige matching wines for £205/US$312. We didn’t want to start out on the wrong foot.

We started with a Parmesan cappuccino. The strong fragrance of the cheese went well with the bits of foie gras mixed in. Next was a huge tin of Oscietra caviar. Reminded us of the “caviar” from the Krug Room. But this time, it was the real thing. And underneath was a crabmeat mix. Yummy. C must have liked it as it was gone in an instant.
While we were still savoring the aftertaste from the caviar, the next dish delivered thinly shaved foie gras with winter truffle on a bed of marinated potatoes. All these strong beautiful flavors kept our mouths busy.
More truffles followed next in the form of mushroom and black truffle croutons on top of a quail egg for the Jerusalem artichoke soup…forget about all the cholesterol. The remaining courses were done very well, but nothing special – caramelized scallop, sea bass and free range quail stuffed with foie gras.

A fun dessert was the mandarin sorbet lollipop covered in white chocolate with a flower on top. However, it was a bit too sweet for our taste. The finale was the Chocolate Tendance, which was chocolate with chocolate and chocolate. Sinful…very sinful…

Joël Robuchon never ceases to impress and this is no exception.

– 17.5/20

La Cuisine de Joël Robuchon
13-15 West Street
London WC2H 9NE
England
T: +44 (0207) 010 8600
W: www.joel-robuchon.com

100215 La Cuisine - Stairs leading up to the 1st floor

100215 La Cuisine - View of the open kitchen

100215 La Cuisine - The kitchen surrounds the restaurant

100215 La Cuisine - Cover of the wine list

100215 La Cuisine - Paper 'napkin ring'

100215 La Cuisine - Menu Découverte

100215 La Cuisine - Bread to start

100215 La Cuisine - Parmesan cappucino

100215 La Cuisine - Oscietra caviar with crabmeat

100215 La Cuisine - Oscietra caviar with crabmeat

100215 La Cuisine - Foie gras in thin chips

100215 La Cuisine - Jerusalem artichoke soup

100215 La Cuisine - Jerusalem artichoke soup

100215 La Cuisine - Caramelized scallop

100215 La Cuisine - Grilled sea bass

100215 La Cuisine - Quail stuffed with foie gras

100215 La Cuisine - Mandarin sorbet lollipop

100215 La Cuisine - Chocolate tendance