Le 122 : the go-to chic restaurant of rue de Grenelle

10/04/2018

©photo above : LaFourchette

The chef words are that at Le122 they serve creative, elegant and balanced cuisine.

We are almost dazzled by the strong luminosity of the restaurant. The decoration is minimalistic, modern and refined.

Little suprise : a spoon of smoked salmon with cream cheese. Good.

Soupe de butternut et châtaignes (butternut and chestnut soup) : the plate vibrates with the orange color of the butternut and the dash of beige from the chestnut cream. Separately the flavours are very nice but once mixed, the chestnut drowns but still gives unctuosity to the soup.

Carpaccio de bar (bass carpaccio) : the dish is very fresh and well seasoned. Nice colorful dish with a classical taste.

Volaille fermière, truffe noire et purée de châtaignes (Farmhouse poultry, black truffle and chestnut purée) : very simple plating, the meat was flavourful but a bit dry even with the purée. The truffle scent was completly missing. Very traditional french taste.

Agneau 7h et légumes confits (7 hours lamb with vegetables confit) : classical visual, very french taste. Meat and juice were savoury.

Assiette de fromage (cheese plate) : very disappointed with the selection, unoriginal and dry. Certainly a bit old.

Tarte de citron, marron et meringue (lemon tarte, chestnut and meringue) : the plating was quite offputting. Didn't look like a tarte, the lemon gave a nice acid taste, the meringue was light but in the end it is way too heavy and the lemon taste overtakes everything else.

Overall I was a a bit disappointed as I did not feel that there was much creativity, the flavours were quite classical (for a frenchie). I felt that the chestnut was a bit overused and that overall it lacked freshness. I do recommend this place for those who look for traditional french taste in modern surroundings.