Evan P.
Yelp
A disappointing "experience"
Plusses: Tasty amuse-bouche, comfortable, spacious patio, good service, interesting wine list
Minuses: Portion sizes, dishes were odd for the sake of being odd
We chose the five-course tasting menu. The trio of amuse-bouche was tasty and artfully presented, and set the scene for better things to come, but unfortunately, that did not happen.
The next course was sliced, raw yellowfin over a bed of shredded cabbage and large slices of beets. I dislike beets and passed them off to my wife, but they're a conventional enough ingredient and so I can't complain about their inclusion. I love raw and rare tuna, however, and found the yellowfin to be almost flavorless.
Next we had a rabbit pasta, which was underwhelming. I've had rabbit before, mostly in France, and have enjoyed it, but it's certainly an acquired taste and a potentially polarizing ingredient that seems like a questionable choice for a blind tasting menu.
The "main," if you could call it that, was squab. Miniscule pieces - a thigh and leg, I think - with very little meat. It was cooked as you'd prepare a duck breast - medium rare, which I enjoy - but there was so little of it that it was hard to say whether we enjoyed it or not.
Dessert was an apple Bourdaloue tart with apple cider ice cream. Tasty enough, though the ice cream tasted pretty much like plain vanilla, and the tart itself was mostly shortcrust pastry or pâte sablée, with very little filling.
Before deciding to go with the tasting experience, we noticed that we could order three full courses - say, the comté soufflé, flounder and chocolate crème brûlée - for less than the cost of the tasting menu, so we figured that the tasting menu would be at least as plentiful and interesting. Unfortunately, we were wrong. I would much rather have had a soufflé than anything we were served. Moreover, we were still hungry at the end of the meal and seriously considered grabbing a sandwich elsewhere on the way home, but it was late and we decided to just call it a night.
On the plus side, we enjoyed the patio and uptempo jazz that was playing, the service was good, and the wine list had some interesting selections.
I would consider trying Rue Saint-Marc again, but would avoid the tasting experience and only order from the menu.