Le Galopin - 2 for 2

No sense rehashing my review from January.  Another visit last night and I can simply leave it at 'ditto.'  Me and Co., two for two - two great meals at Le Galopin.  Doesn't sound like much, but the maquereau, feve, and pamplemousse was awesome.

 

This would be the fixed menu - click and it gets a lot bigger.

UPDATE ALERT!

Make that 3 for 3 - with Moose in tow for an early May, 

mid-week dinner, this may have been the best yet.  Here are shots of 

three of the dishes:

 

bonito

asperges et saint-pierre 

canard

Le Galopin - Looks Can Deceive, In a Good Way

Le Galopin - not much to look at ...

Situated rather inauspiciously on a corner of the Place Saint-Marthe in the 10th, Le Galopin has been churning out positive reviews since its inception four years ago.  Yet you wouldn't have guessed that just by passing by.  The look on Co.'s face as we approached Le Galopin for a Friday evening dinner said it all: 'what kind of a dump are you taking me to tonight?'  That question was quickly rebutted by two small warm-up dishes that perfectly fit the chilly, mid-Winter evening.  With each ensuing dish, the food just kept getting better.  Co.'s visage quickly changed to: 'Why haven't we been here before?'

...but the view on the square outside is typically Paris (whatever that is)

Unadorned walls, traditional wood chairs and tables, and a laid-back clientele left me feeling overdressed in my dashing sportscoat and button-down sweater ensemble, but I can live with that.

The online interior image ...

...and my more artsy take on the interior

Since Day 1, brothers Romain and Maxime Tischenko have gone with a simple concept - one ever-changing fixed menu consisting of seven plates:  2 amuse-bouches, 1 entree, 2 plats, and 2 desserts, now priced at 54 euros.  Let me tell you, this is a great deal, and the affordable and varied wine selection won't break your wallet either.  Here's what the carte looked like (exactly, because I brought it home) on the night of our visit:

Click to read without having to use a microscope

And here are some blurry photos of the food, sorry, but you will hopefully get the idea:

Amuse bouche 1 - our only gripe here was that there wasn't more of it, until we remembered that it was only an amuse bouche.  Left on each plate were three mussel shells, but the plate consisted of closer to twice that number.  Those are squares of dried seaweed beside the moules.

Amuse bouche 2 - if I remember correctly, the bouillon de fane was radish-based.  The salmon eggs are lying on the bottom, so you can't see them, but I ate them and they were really good.

Entree - it's too bad this is blurry, because this simple dish of soft tofu, raw mushrooms, and cedrat was very nice.  That's okay, I didn't know what cedrat (a citrus fruit) was either.  The highlight for me was the rectangle of fried bread, an almost crunchy counterpoint to the rest of the dish.

This first main dish (cabillaud) may have been the highlight of the evening.  Excellent.

This second main dish (canard) may have the highlight of the evening.  Wait, did I already say that?  Heliantis, by the way, is a sunflower plant, something else I learned at Le Galopin.

Dessert 1 - I admit, I wasn't looking forward to this one, and anytime I see grapefruit listed as my dessert, I'm disappointed.  But, wow, this dish proved me wrong in a big way.  A very refreshing transition leading up to the chocolate.

Dessert 2 - Blurred again.  I was looking forward to this one and was not disappointed.

To sum: 7 for 7 - you can't do much better than that (except to maybe add some little cakes with the coffee, but you can't have everything).  Not a dud on the table.  I, of course, can't guarantee you'll be as lucky as we were during our recent Le Galopin dinner, but I quickly added the restaurant to my 'go-to Paris bistrots' category.  One of my counterparts, John Talbott, summed up Le Galopin this way:  “out of this tiny kitchen . . .  come dishes of such complexity, creativity and contrasting ingredients it kind of takes your breath away…”  I wasn't exactly breathless, but that was a damn good meal to start off the new year.

Les frères Tischenko

LE GALOPIN
34 rue Sainte-Marthe
75010 Paris
tel: 01.42.06.05.03

On the way back home from Le Galopin

Brittany in the Rain - Part 1

One of my favorite garage band songs is The Outcasts' "I'm in Pittsburgh and it's Raining", covered magnificently by The Vibes. Is there a more a propos song title to sum up a city than that one? I had that song going through my mind repeatedly during my recent sojourn in Brittany, otherwise known in France as Bretagne. Bretange is not exactly famous for its temperate weather, with its blustery winds and rains blowing in from the Atlantic, and this was my first visit there that truly lived down to expectations. What's that expression, if you don't like the weather, wait two minutes and it will change? That about sums it up for Bretagne - looking out my hotel window and seeing that the skies had cleared, by the time I made it out the door, it was pouring. Well, this isn't a meteorological blog, and weather or not, one has to eat. I hardly profess to be an expert on Breton cuisine, but if I had to wager, I would say that your best restaurant bet in that region is one of the thousands of creperies scattered from Fougeres in the far east to Brest in the far west. My recent visit only spanned from Rennes to Josselin and, not being a strong admirer of the simple crepe, I ventured elsewhere to sample the local cuisine. My aspirations were humble - no Michelin-starred venues for this trip. The closest Co. and I came to what promised to be an inspiring gastronomic experience, La Table d'O had a little sign on the door when we went to reserve that the restaurant was closed 'exceptionnellement' the Saturday evening we were in town.

 

Starting off solo in Rennes, I had a couple of addresses that I culled from Le Fooding, L'Arsouille and Le Cours Des Lices, but I opted for one that would require less walking in the rain and the possibility of ordering one of my favorite traditional French dishes, chaucroute de la mer, Le Galopin.

Entering Le Galopin, which had the look of a mid-level brasserie, I received a warm welcome from the owner and was promptly seated in a quiet part of the restaurant, but in full view of the evening's festivities. As the tables filled, I had the impression I was the only non-regular in the place, with the staff shuttling back and forth with handshakes, bottles of champagne, and fresh lobsters, slaughtered directly out of the restaurant's aquarium. Le Galopin appears to be something of a Rennes institution, which may say more about the other options in town than the quality of the brasserie's fare. The only way to get the chaucroute was to order the inexpensive 'menu voyage,' a 22€ bargain from which I also selected the poellee d'encornets entree and a slice of boring chocolate gateau for dessert.

The chauroute was pretty standard, consisting of a mound of sauerkraut topped by three pieces of fish, salmon, lotte, haddock, and plenty of salt, and I mean plenty. Following up on the bowl of salt accompanied by encornets entree, I whipped through my half bottle of Chinon rouge (13.50€) with room to spare. My verdict: if you want an excellent chaucroute de la mer, go to Bofinger's in Paris. The upsides: a pretty diverse range of menu options and the comfort of loners - by the meal's end, two other tables were occupied by a single male patron.

Next up for dinner was a group event at L'Amiral, an even closer walk from my hotel in Rennes' center.

 This one was dinner gratis, meaning I didn't get to select and I didn't get to pay.  More of a chic Art Deco interior than Le Galopin, L'Amiral, a traditional seafood restaurant was roomier and classier.  The croustillant de chèvre au miel et aux noix entree (11€) was terrific, despite the copious morsels of sausage that I had to shunt off to the side, not being a sausage eater myself.  This was followed by a not so shabby main plate of dorade grise grillée aux petits légumes, sauce beurre blanc and some sort of pineapple caramel concoction for dessert.  A satisfying meal overall, though not particularly gastronomically memorable. Photos of the dorade and dessert follow:

I think the message is clear - if you have to choose between Le Galopin and L'Amiral, go with the latter, unless you're a Le Galopin regular, which means you'll go there whatever I tell you.

LE GALOPIN   

21 av. Jean Janvier 35000 Rennes 

Tél.: 02 99 31 55 96

L'AMIRAL
2, Boulevard La Tour d'Auvergne, 35000 RENNES
Tél. 02 99 35 03 91