Luke Wells
Google
We visited chenapan as it was placed at number 5 in the most romantic restaurants in Paris by timeout. The setting is indeed cozy and it is a very small restaurant, we were easily able to hear conversations as the tables were very close together and both of us being tall it was actually a bit awkward as to where to put our legs. There was also no background music to set the mood which I felt it would benefit from. The menu 5 temps read extremely well and they were also very attentive to the fact my fiancée is pescatarian and were able to modify the dishes for her. We also took the wine pairing. Starting with the snacks, these were flavourless little morsels that really flattered to deceive. And in fact the snack of mackerel was completely over powered by a horseradish foam it actually wasn’t pleasant at all. The first entrée was a small concoction of cured/raw trout with avocado and lime. It was ok and an interesting combination but was under-seasoned and didn’t really have much flavour. Next was a mushroom pasta dish with rings of pasta hidden underneath a delicious foamy mushroom sauce with a hint of tamarind and for me was the best dish of the night. Beautifully seasoned, with a style of foamy sauce that added texture and elevates the dish with the pasta and mushrooms hidden underneath it really was delicious!
The next dish of scallops was delicious and the scallops were well cooked, however for the amount of sauce/emulsions 2 scallops wasn’t enough, paired with a delicious white burgundy the overall flavours were great however. My fiancée had pollock instead as she was to have scallops in place of duck later on
. Then the duck dish where the duck had been cooked on the bbq with a coffee infused duck sauce, salsify and little bits of pear. My fiancée had scallops with a different sauce to match. Overall very tasty flavours but this time for the amount of meat could have done with more garnish to accompany. Also the sauce was slightly too sticky. But overall very delicious. Next was a pre dessert of a pineapple sorbet covered in a coconut cream/mousse covered with tiny specks of candied coconut. This was very clever and extremely tasty whilst still being light. Then the main dessert of a miso caramel tart with buttermilk ice cream on top. The flavours of this were very good, with an extremely sweet caramel sauce hidden in between the crispy layers of the tart. The wine pairing for this was an orange wine which honestly was without doubt the worst wine I’ve ever tasted. Served to be deliberately bitter the idea is when paired with the dessert you have a taste of IPA beer. Even if this was the case I’m not sure why you’d want to finish a supposedly high end meal like this with the taste of IPA beer anyway. The fact is the wine was un drinkable but the dessert itself was tasty if a little small to be a show stopper dessert which it wasn’t. The other wine pairings worked extremely well however with the other dishes it was only this one which was really bad. Then came a little wooden spoon of a tasty cream covered with crunchy wheat that was a play on a bowl of cereal. It was interesting and reasonably tasty with very nice and different textures. Overall our bill of €300 felt too much for the quality of the food. Luckily too we had a mixed cheese and charcuterie platter 20 mins before in a different bar otherwise we would have left hungry ! Some delicious dishes, some average and 1 simply not nice, I think in summary perhaps we were expecting a bit more of a wow factor when dining here.
