Dining Out L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon

A few months ago I had dinner at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, in Paris, and had one of the most memorable meals. I'll just say that if you haven't been to a Joël Robuchon restaurant yet and you're looking for a good place to eat in Paris, you should definitely try it.

Most people around the room seemed to be eating à la carte, and the portions are a good size. We ordered the Menu "Decouverte" for €110 each and I'd say we more than got our money's worth. The portions are obviously smaller than the à la carte menu, but then again there are 10 courses. Considering how spot on everything was, it was excellent value and just the right amount of food. We weren't overly stuffed.

An amuse bouche of sardines got things going as our wines by the glass were poured from spigots behind the counter. Our waiter, Sebastian, managed to memorize every ingredient in every dish, and fluently joked with diners in English, French and Spanish as he went around to each guest at the bar. Although, occasionally other waiters would deliver the piping hot plates and barely spoke any English at all. Generally that can be a let down because you'll have no idea what you're eating. So it probably all depends on who you get.

Memorable dishes included the gaspacho with a touch of rich olive oil that had a fantastic zing to it. There was the clams with butter, garlic and mushrooms on a bed of sea salt which was powerful and infused with intense flavour.

The creamy and warm "boiled egg" that was foamed and topped with parsley (and something that could have been nutmeg).

And I chose the half-cooked salmon with dill and cucumbers which was perfectly moist and quite fresh (instead of the lamb with cumin and cous cous which was the other choice on the menu).

Desert was a mint sorbet with a chocolate soufflé that had the texture of a warm pudding. The plate was actually scalding, so the sorbet started to melt rather quickly.

We did spot Joël picking through everyone's food that was waiting under heat lamps before it was served. I will say that it's an odd site to the restaurant's namesake eating your food before you do.

Overall, the meal was perfect. The seating is ideal for couples. Though groups of four can make do if they are able to get seats that are on the corners of the bar. Otherwise, it can be difficult to have a conversation when you're talking to someone two seats down.

If I remember correctly, they only take reservations for the first seating, which I believe is at 6:00PM. Overall the service was impeccable and it really was one of the highlights of our stay in Paris. I highly recommend it.