Les Halles

A little weeks couple back, MSC came back into the city to see some friends (and escape from our parents’ house) before heading back to Austin.  Since my parents were nice enough to come pick her and her dog up, they asked CT & I out for a casual dinner.  We decided on our local standby, Les Halles.  Famously known as the last kitchen Anthony Bourdain worked in, it is a good neighborhood bistro.  For some reasons, the restaurant is a bit polarizing; some hate it and some love it.  I have gone there a bunch of times in the past and never had an awful experience.

We started with a couple appetizers to share.  Unfortunately, they were out of octopus that night.

Grilled calamari mixed with fennel and tomato.  I love calamari in all forms.  Nice and tender but with the right amount of chew.  The vinaigrette was the perfect dressing for this dish.  I happily cleaned the plate after everyone had enough.

Brie topped with honey & cracked black pepper, roasted and served on croutons.  Melted cheese on bread, what’s not to like about that?  There sure was a lot of black pepper on there that led to lots of coughing, but it was worth it.  The frisée salad paired nicely with the richness of the cheese.

CT says: I enjoyed both these starters too!  I’m not a huge fennel fan, but it worked in this dish with the calamari. The fennel flavor wasn’t too strong but added a slight crunch.  The brie was also great and creamy. I got an end piece, so there wasn’t too much black pepper for me, but I could see how the center part could catch someone off-guard.

Onto the mains.

MSC hasn’t had much of an appetite since the surgery she had, so she went with the French Onion Soup.  She was quite happy and satisfied with it.

CT went with a dish that also piqued my interest: roasted duck breast with pomegranate sauce, turnip and potato gratin.  The duck was super tender and flavorful.  I really liked the tartness of the pomegranate sauce.  Everything these days has pomegranate in it, but it really deserved to be on the plate here.

CT says: This was amazing! I (almost literally) licked my plate clean!  The duck was so soft and tender and that sauce was addicting. Not too sweet but a nice match with the duck, and gratin, and TT’s frites, which I used to sop up any remaining sauce. The gratin itself was ok – I couldn’t distinguish the turnips from the potatoes, but they were a great based to scoop up more pomegrante sauce.  The beets and beans were both cooked nicely, and were a nice addition to the plate; they made me feel slightly healthy.

Dad got his go-to dish, the Cassoulet.  He won the “How Much Pork can you eat in one dish?” award that day.  I should get this next time.  Sausage, pork belly, white beans all sound like the perfect combination to me.  A great hearty dish to keep you warm as the weather gets colder.

Mom went with the classic Moules Frites.  She chose the white wine preparation.  I had one mussel and it was good, but doesn’t even compare to Jubilee.  There was a mountain of frites that the whole table munched on since they were so good.  The picture does not do justice to the amount of frites there were.

I was in a beef mood, so I went with the Paleron (flatiron steak with green peppercorn sauce).  The steak was cooked to a requested medium and super tender.  The peppercorn sauce could have used a little more punch, but otherwise quite a satisfying dish.  I got a mini-mountain of frites that I could not stop eating either.  Luckily, there was a small salad on the plate that made me feel a little better about myself.

Since everyone pretty much cleaned their plates, we only had a little room for dessert.  Yvo recently went to a Valrhona event and mentioned that any dessert menu that has a Valrhona dessert should be ordered.  Coincidentally, the table shared the Valrhona Chocolate Mousse with fresh whipped cream.  Everyone was very happy with this preparation.  If a French Bistro doesn’t know how to make a good chocolate mousse, then it has no reason to stay in business.

CT says:  Perfect ending. Just the right amount of airy-ness. I also liked that the whipped cream was served on the side so you could take a little bit with each bite!

All in all, it was a great Sunday night meal.  Prices were reasonable and the service was good.  Les Halles is a good option for classic bistro food.  Don’t forget to order the frites!  Glad you are feeling better, MSC!