A Kitchen of two halves.....

 

We came with huge expectations ... Bulle d'Osier ranks very highly and is only one of 528 restaurants in the world with 2 Michelin stars.  

The reviews were amazing (apart from a couple which I did not notice, strange for me) ... anyway.

On the day we had booked for the chefs table.  We were seated in what seemed like a corridor by the toilets and on stools.  I was looking into the actual restaurant with waning.  I asked if they were full.  They were but then they called a couple who were already booked into the restaurant and had waitlisted the chefs table so we swapped.  Whew because it was not the chefs table I expected or would have enjoyed for one moment (honestly).  Especially when this ended out to be a 3hr 45min experience (and we weren't rushing it, no coffee etc).  Give me a comfortable chair and table anyday!!!

We only got the actual printed menu at the end when closing the bill.

It would have been nice to have it sitting beside us as we have for eg El Cellar de can Rocca in Girona, Spain.  So we can see the explanations on the menu whilst eating.  

The shallot soup was amazing, and I mean AMAZING.  We both agreed on that.  In fact we both agreed on all of the comments below. It had been fermented at 70 degrees for 40 days. The flavour was rich with umami, bitter, sweet salty.  

The endive dessert a complete knockout.  So sweet salty bitter umami.  One of the best desserts I've ever had only second to de can rocca's olive liquorice vanilla number.  The raspberry sorbet was incredible with it's fresh acidity. A true raspberry overload in the most amazing of ways.  The first amuse bouche was good, fresh, textural and delivering what an amuse bouche should deliver.  

The rest was not great.  There was a raw fish dish that seriously tasted warm and fishy.  I love raw fish.  But warm with a fishy flavour and the fermented strawberry sauce was quite frankly yuk.  

OK soldier on Nat.....  the Zander that was fermented for 10 days.... was completely unseasoned.  The sauce lovely but with the unseasoned fish (with a sort of slimy skin) .... I don't know but it just didn't quite work.  I was trying to love everything at this point, paying so much money.

The venison coarse.  The star of the show (they brought around the venison leg to show everyone & it looked amazing).  When served it was tough, completely under seasoned and the sauce in my opinion a complete disaster.  It was acrid.  That bitter taste like it had been caught on the base of the pan and they'd tried to rectify it.

As above the endive dessert amazing.  It was a pastry with vanilla cream and fermented endive, salty sweet bitter, unreal.  But the mirabelle tart unbearably sweet.  The madelaines were also soooo sweet.  The melon "first from the garden" was underripe and unnecessary.  

We came away annoyed.  This seems like a chef driven restaurant rather than a customer driven restaurant.  For example on arrival they said the menu is a "surprise" menu even though everyone had the same thing and the same printed card.  

It gets very good reviews but how it has 2 Michelin stars is completely beyond me.  I think the chef needs to take a step back.  If Michelin were to review it on the day we were there .... who knows.  What I do know is that our palates are good enough.  I emailed the restaurant in detail to say about our concerns and our upset stomachs.  They came back with a very generic reply offering an aperitif next time.  I wasn't after a free-be just an acknowledgement.  So I reviewed them.  Not harshly but honestly.  

Photos below out of order ....

Good sourdough bread

Shallot soup Amazing

Venison dish, not great at all

Mirabelle tart. The sweetest thing we've ever eaten

Raspberry sorbet - incredible

Zander, bland fish with a beautiful sauce and slimy skin

Raw river trout with salted strawberry.  DISGUSTING!!!!!!

Whipped Langres cheese.  Lovely.  

Peach and basil cocktail.  Refreshing and light

I wasn't sold on the fennel butter, it tasted a bit acrid and bitter.  Give me some amazing Normandy or Brittany butter anyday

Shiso with something..... tasteless

Great brioche, shame about the butter

Yum, this first amuse bouche was a good one

A lot of pomp and stuff about the venison main but it was a complete disaster IMHO

So all in all, we will not return and it saddens me.  To have a 2 starred Michelin restaurant within one hour drive of Signeville was super exciting despite the hefty price (we spent 460 with a 100 bottle of wine).  If it was amazing we would have returned without a doubt so maybe they did us a favour and saved us some euros!