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Quote:
Originally Posted by EndLeSS8
Le Crocodile
Food 9/10
Service 10/10
First time going. Went with the wife for early Valentines last night, didn't want the rush crowd on Saturday (And they were already fully booked)
I ordered the 5 course Chef Tasting Menu and added on the Pan seared Foi Gras
Wife ordered the mushroom soup with truffle oil, escargots with basil, and Braised rabbit legs with double smoked bacon and shallots
Firstly, their portion sizes are good and fair - came home extremely full and our expectations were met and more
Food:
- First thing given to us were tiny quiches made of cream and goat cheese. I really liked it a lot, light and fluffy with great pastry
- Mushroom soup with truffle oil was good, I thought it was a bit salty. I had tomato brioches with brie cheese and tomato, with lobster bisque. I thought the bisque was very good and the brioche was amazing
- Fois gras, where have you been all my life?!!! First time I have ever had fois gras, and IMO, it's the best thing I've ever had. Wife was complaining I was making too many "foodgasm" faces when eating this. For me, this was the highlight of my year, let alone meal LOL
- Escargots, it was the lowlight of the meal, very average. Escargot with a baked crunchy shell, with basil and butter
- Scallop and truffle with fetuchini. Good, but needed some salt.
- Main course for me was Tenderloin with mushrooms and chilean sea bass with saffron sauce. Both were good, tenderloin was very good. Not the best I've ever had, but still very good
- Braised rabbit legs with double smoked bacon + shallots was very good. I enjoyed it a lot, was not gamey. Sauce was not overpowering
- Mango sorbet to clean palate
- Waiter was able to switch out my set dessert to a menu dessert, so we ordered the Grand Mariner souffle and the Passion fruit creme brule
- Grand Mariner souffle was very good, felt like eating an orange flavored cloud
- Passion fruit creme brule... was the best dessert I've ever had in my life. Perfect blend of sweet, sour, tart, and creme brule. Was not overtly heavy tasting
Service: It was pretty busy for Wednesday night. Apart from the kinda grouchy impression from the captain/managers (I don't know what the real technical term for their role is... they're not waiters, but they take you to the table and help out with orders) the service was extremely good. Waiter Chris was very diligent and held honest conversation and was not annoying. Catered to our needs very well, and actually talked to him about his work and his real life outside of work. Very helpful and nice. Waiter got me a 2nd ice tea, didn't know that the bartender went home for the night, so he made the ice tea himself and didn't charge me. Gave him the biggest % tip I've ever given and talked to his manager about his great service.
Will be going back again for special occassions. Food and service was well above my expectations.
Overall 9.5/10
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I also went to Le Crocodile for the first time, except I went yesterday so right after the V-Day rush. They said were not offering the regular menu on Sunday anyway.
10/10. I would rarely give a perfect 10 anywhere but they deserve it. IMO probably best restaurant in Vancouver. However it would not be fair to compare to Chef Eric Ripert's
Le Bernardin in NYC as that was my truly mind blowing experience.
Dinner began with these little complimentary quiche tarts which Endless already mentioned was a great starter, light and fluffy.
Appetizers:
Lobster Tempura and Grilled Scallops - Juicy and delicious with a hint of refreshing lemon zing.
Seared Foie Gras - Pleasant surprise to find a big diver scallop on top, bonus haha. Soft, fragrant and yummy.
Bone Marrow - Creamy almost like butter, place on slice of toast, a dallop of the sweet tomato paste to balance the flavour, heaven!
Entrees:
Caribou Tenderloin - Light gaminess which I enjoyed, the greens underneath were seasoned perfectly and complimented the meat perfectly
Angus Steak - The way the server described it made my mouth water already lol, they cook a fatty hunk of foie gras on top of the steak so the oils, juices and fat just flow into the meat. Orgasmic!
Dessert:
Lemon Tart with Passion Fruit Sorbet - I'm not much of a dessert person and this was probably my fault, but it was way too sour for me. (duh genius, lemon tart?)
Apple Pie - Warm, great crust and perfect sweetness paired with vanilla ice cream, nice and simple.
Service was impeccable but I expected nothing less from this top rated restaurant. The server was super friendly and was not perturbed at all when I requested to repeat all 6 specials of the day again because his French accent was a little thick and by the time he got to the 5th special I was still mentally digesting the 3rd one lol. They brought out little "in-between" bites, the potato sticks reminded me of the bags of Hickory sticks I used to eat back in the day.
I will definitely be coming back again - for the next special occasion. Once my wallet recovers haha. Expensive but worth it.