Flora H.
Yelp
*** 4.5 stars ***
We had an amazing time at Lion Noir! It was fancy without being pretentious, the service was great, and all of the food was outstanding. I went with a group of seven, which gave me the chance to try a lot of different things - most of the menu in fact - and nothing disappointed. Major points for having my favorite bottle of Italian wine on the menu (Zenato Amarone) which we splurged on (at 75 EUR a bottle) and ordered several bottles over the course of the evening.
Starters (which are generous in size and could really be mains, and are stand outs here):
Sautéed scallops with crispy tomato bruschetta, orzo pasta, soy beans and Lardo di Colonnata - rich, savory, flavorful and all those other good adjectives. A great starter that I highly recommend.
Roasted quail glazed with soy sauce with poached Canadian lobster, wild mushrooms, pak choi and a duck liver vinaigrette - yep, quail AND lobster in the same appetizer. Not a combination that I've seen before, and one that I highly enjoyed.
Mains:
Sautéed sea bass with sweet potato, mussels, crayfish tortellini, savoy cabbage and a mild laksa broth - perfectly sauteed to a crisp, this is exactly how I like my fish to be served. Light and flavorful at the same time.
Duck breast with roasted parsnip, broccoli,romesco with smoked almonds and a duck jus with kumquat - very good as far as duck goes, and a good option if you are a duck lover, but stood out less to me than the other dishes.
Desserts:
French toast of sugar loaf with forest fruit, cognac parfait, roasted pecan nuts and a cinnamon meringue - Out of the three that we tried, my favorite and what I would say is a must get. Always love a sweet french toast, and love that this is on their dessert menu.
Bread & butter pudding with cranberries, lemongrass, poached nashi pear and white chocolate mousse - I liked being able to take a bite of this, but probably couldn't eat the whole thing.
Chocolate fondant with Nutella, salted chestnut praline and vanilla parfait - a must for chocolate lovers.
Honestly, I don't think that you can go wrong here. Everything is executed well, beautifully presented, interesting and delicious. They have a bar downstairs where we hung out after dinner, so we made a whole night out of Lion Noir and had a great time!