Le Pre Catalan – A Near Perfect Evening

It’s been a while since I have been blown away with a 3 Michelin Star dinner in Paris. However, A recent dinner at Pre Catalan in Paris has definitely renewed my faith in the Guide’s ratings. I was a little bit skeptical about this place because it appeared to be the easiest to book of the the 3 Star restaurants in Paris. Firstly, the grounds and dining room are gorgeous. Think of it like dining in a mini-Versailles. The meal started with a presentation of the menu for the evening.

Shortly after, the meal started with a breadstick with some Parmesan cheese.

Following that, some bread was presented. It was not the most amazing bread, but the butter was delicious like a proper French butter. Actually, during this trip I found that a lot of the bread I was served was not that great which was disappointing considering the significance of bread to the French meal.

The next amuse was a tart with an anchovy in it.

Following this they presented 3 cherry tomatoes. I will eat anything and try everything once, but raw or semi-raw whole tomatoes are one of my least favorite things to eat in general.

Next was a thin slice of tuna with a pringle like biscuit. It was good but not comparable to a Japanese preparation. I was impressed that our server knew where the tuna was sourced when asked.

To follow were two items that, while very good, well presented, and obviously required a lot of skill to prepare, I found to be over seasoned. The first was a bouillabaisse. The flavor they managed to extract from the broth was incredible, I just wished they used a touch less salt.

The next dish that was over salted was the crab with fennel and caviar. The textures and flavors were so smooth, elegant, and fresh despite the saltiness. It was a brilliant dish.

The langoustine dish was a home run for me. The flavors reminded me of Cheetos in a good addictive way or mac and cheese which brought back childhood memories. Each bite of langoustine and foie, combined with some pasta was just magical.

Up next was kind of like a cod prepared almost like mashed potatoes. I thought the dish was just ok. According to the server, it was their interpretation of a traditional dish I had not heard of before.

The next dish, was the salmon, and it was the best salmon I have ever had. Salmon can be a boring dish and especially when not cooked properly. This one was cooked every so slightly and smoked with cherry which came out when the server lifted the dome off the plate. It was served with a wasabi type sauce which had the perfect hint of wasabi. It was heaven.

Before the meat, they served a palate cleanser of some sorbet and caviar.

Then pigeon coated with semolina and chickpeas for texture, a merguez sausage on the side, and some date sauce. Everything was perfectly cooked and harmonious. The sauce was incredible.

The cheese course was a souffle with compte cream and some truffle. On this trip, I discovered a growing love for compte. It reminds me of parm. This dish was divine. Like a perfect simple truffle cream sauce pasta, but very delicate from the souffle.

Prior to dessert, a basil sorbet.

The first dessert was the only miss for me of the night. I felt it was a bit lazy. They basically stewed some rhubarb and then covered it with some crisps and ice cream on the side.

The final dessert was better.

After dessert they served a petit four. I was disappointed that it was just one as many places serve multiple, but that’s a minor issue.

Overall, the service was flawless and this was an amazing evening and dinner. Despite some flaws in the food, the setting, service, and home run dishes more than offset what was not perfect. I would come here again and highly recommend. In fact, its rare for me to want to revisit a tasting menu as many are for the experience, but I was still thinking about this place a couple days after I ate there.