Set in a beautiful square which has cloisters, or at least something looking like cloisters, the dining room is similarly elegant. There is a main room, and two smaller rooms, all very pretty and peaceful. The restaurant has perhaps only 36 covers. For amuse-bouche we had a creamy gazpacho soup, at the bottom of which were finely chopped vegetables with a blob of courgette cream as a garnish floating on top of the soup, which had great depth of flavour (20/20).
Bread was either white (19/20) or (even better) country bread with excellent sourdough taste, a lovely texture and a fine crust (20/20). For starter I had four langoustines on a bed of spinach served in between sesame tuiles with a light curry sauce (very light on the curry). These were superb, strikingly fresh and perfectly cooked (20/20). Crayfish with char-grilled asparagus was served on a bed of cream mousse with mixed green leaves, and a sauce that was supposedly of walnut oil but tasted more like a meat reduction with olive oil. All very good, though not to the standard of the langoustines (18/20).
For main course, my wife had ultra-fresh sea bass, very nicely timed, served with plain asparagus, a tapenade of green and black olives and a cream sauce. Though the sea bass was perfect, my wife felt the dish overall was a 19/20 as she was unconvinced about how the other elements of the dish went together. I had a stunning poulet Bresse, a whole chicken cooked and then carved at the table. Both leg and breast of chicken had great flavour, served with a remarkable gnocci (20/20).
We skipped cheese, as according to a friend who is a regular here, Pacaud unaccountably uses a less than stellar cheese supplier. Pre-dessert was a fine dish of poached cherries, cherry soup and cherry mousse, with a pistachio and almond Florentine (20/20). A very light and fluffy chocolate cake was interesting, yet did not have great depth of flavour – presumably aiming for the originality of it being so light (18/20); this was served with a fine vanilla ice cream. A dacquiose of praline was basically an almond meringue served with wild strawberries (18/20). Coffee was excellent (19/20), served with a nice tray of petit fours: a lovely tart of wild strawberries, an excellent almond tuile, a choux bun with raspberry and vanilla cream, a sponge and chocolate discs with roasted almonds (19/20).
Overall a very fine meal, with some dishes that would be hard to improve upon.
Further reviews: 17th Jul 2015
Name unavailable
A lovely setting. We both had snails for entree with an anise cream sauce and celeriac. Very nice and quite creative although texture a little off with a grainy puree of some sort 8/10. For main course I had the special which was chicken with wild mushrooms, very well executed classic French cooking but lacking any wow factor 8/10. Desserts were very very good and definitely three star quality. The service however was not 3-star standard and while the wine list is very good indeed the wine service was a disgrace. The sommelier does not know his list and his serving staff are not up to scratch. A further comment is that the quality of glassware is very poor. They have one basic thick-rimmed glass for water and for every wine they serve (brasserie style) and only a basic decanter. If you are into your wine or want a special bottle forget it at this restaurant . what a shame they cant treat and serve the fantastic wines on their list the same way they treat the fantastic produce they prepare in the kitchen. Finally - as good as wild strawberries are - I see that the Petit-fours are basically the same as they were in the original review in 2004. A nice meal but overall a bit of a lazy effort for a 3-star restaurant in the capital.
Name unavailable
L'Ambroisie is the quintessential classic french Haute Cuisine restaurant. The food, the setting and the service are all pure class. If you worry about the cost it means you can't afford it.
Phillipe Lloyd
The best French haute 3 star Michelin restaurant, without a doubt. For your readers who need freshest updates on L'Ambroisie, they might want to read my full photo text review of this Lunch on March 25th 2011: http://tinyurl.com/6gggykh
Joseph Sanki
The staff at this place have all the charisma of a brick wall. No wine by the glass option in this era is a disgrace. I had to drink a riesling with my main course lamb dish. The starter was a sea bream with olive tapenade 10/10. The entree langoustine with curry 10/10. The main course lamb dish was terrible 0/10. I've had better dishes in hospitals and, sadly I am not exaggerating. The dessert of chocolate tart with vanilla ice cream was OK, but nothing special. Overall in this era you expect more charismatic staff, who charm their guests. All the waiters here looked like they'd just attended the funeral of a loved one. Every decent restaurant these days offers a matching glass option. This restaurant should get with the times. On a final note the restaurant is poor value for money (even by Paris 3 star standards).
Cem Bilge
We were there for the first time. The menu of Feb 13th, 2009 (the restaurant was closed on Valentine's day) was dominated by truffle. And all our selection was with truffle. I had scallop and chicken - splendid; tasted a bit of langoustine - splendid; finished with a tangerine cake -splendid. Red wines from Pomerol and St.Emilon accompanied our dishes-perfect recommendations of the sommelier. We left the place with outstandingly tasty memories. Finally, I have to add the unsurpassable attention and care of all the staff.
Estie Delport
Yes I have to agree that the rating is well deserved for the food. Our visit coincided with the truffle season and all dishes were outstanding. I would like to add that the attention to service was excellent as well.
Dino Joannides
The score is well deserved, alongside Pierre Gagnaire this is the best table in Paris and one of the finest in the world. I guess what gives this restaurant the edge is the small ammount of tables that allow for unsurpassed attention to detail in cusine and service.