Rating★★★★
Cuisine: French / Haute Cuisine
Price Range: Splurge
Address: 10 Avenue d’Iéna, Paris, 75116, France Tel: (33 1) 5367 1998 Website: http://www.shangri-la.com/paris/shangrila/dining/restaurants/labeille/
L’Abeille has just earned its second star not too long since its debut at Shangrila. The restaurant has created lots of noise in the culinary community, and luckily for me it’s only a fifteen minute walk from my apartment in the 16th district.
The restaurant setting cannot be anymore French than this. The white table cloth, wooden chairs, waiters in tux, and the fancy chandeliers. We were introduced to three different champagne options. We picked “rose,” which settled for a hefty 24 euro’s per glass (I would have picked tap water if I knew ahead of time).
Table Setting
Classique French Setting
We Bottle Poppin
The service throughout the course has been very professional. Staff is well trained, disciplined and polite but they don’t have that warm-laughing friendly service feeling that you’d get at Applebee’s.
As for the price? L’Abeille isn’t targeting the regular white collar salary employee. You’re definitely paying for top quality and service. The clientele are local Paris senior executives or 2nd generation wealthy Arabs with a yacht parked outside the French Rivera. The cheapest appetizers starts at 77euros (100 dollars) and goes up to 150 euros, the main’s starts around 77 euros as well but easily reaches to the 300 euro mark. Remember, the prices are all excluding water, wine, service charge and optional tip.
The good part about L’Abeille is that a course comes with Part 1 and a Part 2, so it feels like you’re eating two main courses. I guess it sort of justifies the hefty price tag.
The amuse bouche was extraordinary. It’s not your typical one mouth bite starter. A refreshing can plated of French local seafood with a light bonito (fattoro rating 4/5) like sauce.
amuse bouche
This is as traditional as French cuisine can get. The Duck Foie Gras from the Southwest decorated with pink pralines, raspberries, and a light raspberry fruit paste. Along side with a raspberry crumble and toasted brioche. Very traditional and simple dish, but the raspberry flavor and acidity are mixed perfectly and paired well with the foie gras. They certainly can perfect a classic dish. (fattoro rating 3.5/5)
duck froie gras
Spider Crab. Chilled peas and green strawberries and crab foam. Acidulated salad of claws and crab meat with sweet pepper and strawberry sauce. By now I just realize L’Abeille has a sweet tooth. The spider crab was good, but didn’t really enjoy that sweet and sour sensation I’ve got from the sauce. I can’t really relate sweet and sour with French haute cuisine. Certainly wasn’t worth the 78 euros to me. (fattoro rating 3.5/5)
Spider Crab
The main courses faired better. The concepts were more unique, presentation more appealing and taste left us draw dropping. Blue Lobster From Summer Isle came in two sequence. Steamed cook lobster claws with leaves and flowers of Folfer cherry tree. French peas with almonds and Bigalises cherry juice. Summertime Cherry love?
Blue Lobster From Summer Isle Sequence 2
It was actually the 2nd sequence that caught my attention. Roasted tail with Burlat cherry cream, pickles and mustard flower. That dish looked so beautiful that I had two take two pictures. It was how Philippe Labbe’s cooking style and technique that really brought that dish to life. The lobster flavor was unreal. The flavors were more intense, bold and fresh. It felt he sort of sous-vide it first and then roasted to give it that additional texture. (fattoro rating sequence 1: 3.5/5, sequence 2: 4.5/5)
Blue Lobster From Summer Isle Sequence 1 (top view)
Blue Lobster From the Summer Isle Sequance 1 (side view)
This one’s funny. My first expression was literally ‘wtf’. This dish looked like Alice in the Wonderland (don’t get me wrong. Meant it as a compliment, actually liked the presentation). The Iberian Pork, roasted suckling pig rack and crispy preserved shoulder flavoured with coffee, mustard mousseline sauce with moka. Stuffed potatoes with cappuccino, young onions and chicory cream. The concept was all there, but felt short in execution. The pig rack was tender and juicy but it was the preserved shoulder I had problems with. It was way too dry, too one dimensional and just tasted flat out average. The pig shoulder failed to impress and didn’t measure up to any Michelin standard of any sort. The worst part was this was actually my main course, and no one wanted to trade it with their Lobster of Summer Isle (above) nor Beef From Galice smothered with summer truffles (below). Bad pick. (fattoro rating 3/5)
Iberian Pork
Here comes the masterpiece, the dish that L’Abeille earned its way to a second star. Beef from Galice. It had Michelin credentials written all over it. My mom requested it medium and the waitress refussssssed to have it cooked and insisted it only be presented to medium rare. Beef ribs roasted with chanterelles and olives, tomato gratin with Parmigiano Reggiano, beef juice flavoured with Maury wine. Potato foam flavoured with summer truffle could easily been shared by two. The 500 dollar steak was easily top 10 steaks of all time. It felt like a Frenchmen’s imitation or perception of what a steak is like. I mean… it’s not your regular 2.5 inch thick Chicago Chop shop Gene and Georgetti’s, or the classic American Rib Eye at Peter Lugers, definitely not the Japanese spoil your steak cow from daily massage, classical music and beer. Did L’Abeille’s bold take on beef ribs work? It certainly did. The truffle worked well, you can spot the Maury wine and steak was roasted as perfect as it could be. The Beef From Galice was certainly worth a detour. (fattoro rating 5/5)
Beef From Galice w/ Summer Truffles
Beef From Galice Cut
Lemon Sorbet to cleanse the palate (fattoro rating 4/5)
Lemon Sorbet
Cheese Trolley (would be impress if this was in Asia, but pretty standard selection in Paris)
Cheese Trolley
Pure Origin Dark Chocolate was a nice way to end my experience at L’Abeille with a high note. Surprise box with heather honey, milk chocolate ice cream, after eight granita. It was a fun and sweet experience. We had to smash the dark chocolate box to find a chocolate cake inside. The dessert had a nice trio of dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. (fattoro rating 4/5)
Pure Originan Dark Chocolate
And petits fours to end the evening.
Petits Fours
Last Note: L’Abeille didn’t fail to impress. This is a restaurant where the likes of Harvey spectre would take his clients to. Where they fell short on taste it made up with their presentation and creativity, we just prefer the other way around. Don’t get me wrong, nothing tasted bad and only the Iberian shoulder pork was average. I had a couple disagreements in the decisions with the sauce and a few flavour profiles (everything felt on the sweet side). But when you’re paying 400 euros per person at 2 Star Michelin French restaurant in France at the Shangrila you demand nothing short of perfection. Nonetheless the waiters were friendly and stood out of our way when we were taking a million pictures. Fattoro overall rating 4/5
fattoro 