I wanted to eat here since the first time I ate here, it was one of the best dining experiences I had, so I couldn’t pass up an opporunity to dine here again. I first ate here 5 years ago to the date and amsuingly, they sat me at the same table, in the same seat as my previous visit. The decor was pretty much exactly the same.

I was the first one seated and it seemed again like everyone else was there for a special occasion (e.g. b-day, anniversary) so again, I was the weird dude dining alone, which I’m fine with and have certainly done plenty of times.

Tasting menu is classic french. There were 3 options for wine pairing- village, premier cru and grand cru; I went with the middle offering.

To start, there is the butter (french of course) and olive oil cart followed by the expansive bread cart. I started with the whole wheat, a cheese bread, and a mini personal baguette. They take your bread selections to warm up in the oven ad then serve to you. This was a fantastic start. (I later had one more roll I was interested in trying, the saffron roll which I did later have, but they don’t warm up your subsequent rounds of bread…oh the humanity!)

The first dish is their signature caviar dish with a crustacean gelle with a meticulous array of cauliflower dots, crab topped with Petrossian Osetra caviar, and a bit of gold leaf. I can’t say that I’m particularly a fan of gelle but I did enjoy this dish and the the nostalgia of having eaten exaftly the same dish five years ago (although they did say they may change out the crustacean they use depending).

Second dish was a tomato dish, nicely composed. They did warn me not cut the tomatoes (squirt threat) and to just eat them whole. Delicious freshness to the dish, althoughI didn’t care as much for the dark plate it was served on compared to the white plate last time I was hear which made the it much more visually striking and whimsical.

The next dish was haricot verts (i.e. green beans) with some foie gras and Parmesan. You probably all know I’m a sucker for foie gras. The composition of the dish had a nice garden feel to it with all of the green. The foie added a rich component to the dish. Last time I was here the primary vegetable was creamed corn which again, made for a slightly more whimsical plating. This was paired classic riesling with that wonderful petrol component to it that worked so well with the vegetal nature of the dish.

Next was a scallop dish. The black squid ink tuile looked fantastic over the yellow/orange kumquat sauce. The scallop was perfectly cooked and the citrus from the kumquat made for a wonderful dish. This scallop dish was in such stark contrast to the scallop dish I had a couple days ago at Hell’s Kitchen which I descried as “clunky”. This was paired with a chateau-neuf du pape blanc which paired well and I very much enjoyed.

The next dish was a fried quail egg atop a galette of rice with some morels and iberico ham. I loved this dish and thought of it was a the fanciest version of fried egg, rice, and pork that I’ve ever had.

Next dish was an onion flan and ricotta tortellini and a lettuce veloute. Such a delicious combination of flavors…the richness of the veloute reminded me so much of why I love classic french food.

And then another dish with a rich sauce…this time a sort of lobster bisque/sauce americaine with Maine lobster and snap peas. Wonderful. This was paired with a white burgundy from meursault which worked well although I would have thought a bigger napa chard would have held up just a bit better to the richness of the dish (note, that the entire wine pairing purely consisted of old world wines)

Then came the black cod dish. They served it with a delicious red burgundy and I was a bit skeptical with the pairing, but the Malabar pepper oyster sauce connected the food and wine perfectly bringing out a tiny bit of the peppery notes in the wine as well. The cod itself was browned nicely and with a sweet carmelization of whichever glaze they used.

Then came the roasted duck with cherries, a classic dish with a little twist with the seasoning of five spices. The cherries were esp. juicy and cutting in squirted a bit of cherry juice onto the otherwise immaculate table runner. And I almost forgot about the whipped potatoes always so delicious in a french restaurant a far cry from the instant potato flakes I remember eating as a kid (although I have to admit I enjoyed that too). This dish was paired with a 2014 bordeaux from Lynch-Bages which was a poweful wine in and of itself.

Desserts were a joy as well…the strawberry and sorbet had these delightful balsamic pearls (using balsamic vinegar from Modena as the woman staff member from the staff proudly let me know) in the dish were such a bright and pleasant surprise.

Then a chocolate (Ghana) dish with yuzu cream pearls and then lastly the mignardise/mini-dessert cart for petit-fours which I managed to turn into a petit-seven (see what I did there….lol) because I couldn’t help myself with so many delicious options. I of course had to go with the canale. There was an airy popcorn flavored bite, a raspberry macaron, a hazelnut truffle, creme brulee. All this perfeclty paired with a beautiful sauterne. Such a great way to end the meal.

Wines overall were very good and well paired (and again, all old world wines). Service was very prompt (at one point I even saw as many as 6 staff in sight). All of them were accomodating (after finishing a dish, I often asked them to retell me what it was again exactly) and even noting that since I was taking pictures, they paused to make sure I was ready to take photos of them pouring, etc. The meal lasted 2.5 hours which was a perfect goldilocks zone (less than 2 hours would certainly have felt rushed and any meal over 3 hours starts to feel long).

All in all, it was as wonderful an experience once again as I had hoped for. The only thing that would have made it better is if Andrea had been there and we could have shared it together. Next time!

https://mgmgrand.mgmresorts.com/en/restaurants/joel-robuchon-french-restaurant.html