On my latest trip to Paris, Binny and I had a planned a relaxed and luxurious weekend away. We stayed at The Westin Paris, which happened to be so ideally located around the corner from Le Meurice, a hotel part of the Dorchester Collection. We spotted Le Meurice as we were trying to figure out our dinner plans, on the way into the city. It seemed like the biggest no brainer as it was a short walk to get back to the hotel after. We had also previously planned on having dinner at Plaza Athénée, another of the Dorchester Collection’s Parisian hotels. So within minutes of deciding, we had a reservation for dinner at Le Dali at Le Meurice in the evening.
We played under the Parisian sun, shopped on Champs-Élysées, bought true French macarons from Pierre Hermé and then returned to our hotel to get ready for night of fine dining at Le Dali.
We were seated in the large, high ceiling dining room with gorgeous white leather chairs and golden and white table dressings. Each of the tables were set up with perfectly polished cutlery and wine glasses, with silver condiments.
We commenced our meal with a glass of Veuve Clicquot and some crispy bread squares that were brought over with a smokey dip.
Whilst we were at it, we ordered some starters too. I ordered the beef carpaccio, with was sliced perfectly thin. Garnished with a nice helping of parmesan cheese, pine nuts and capers, topped off with some fresh rocket.
Binny ordered the Patatas bravas which is a native Spanish dish. However, it wasn’t served as it usually would be. Alain Ducasse and Jocelyn Herland put their own touches to it. They made an outer casing of soft potato which was filled with a delicious tomato, garlic and tamarind filling. The concept was to put the whole thing into your mouth and just let all the strong flavours come to life as they mixed together. I tried one and I have to say they were absolutely incredible.
Along with our starers, we were brought over some lovely long, fresh breadsticks.
After we finished with our starers, our main dishes came out not long after. Super fast service, which we didn’t expect any less of from such the resident restaurant of Le Meurice.
For our mains, I ordered green asparagus ravioletti, which was served with a lemon velouté sauce. The parcels were filled with crushed asparagus, parmesan and various herbs. It was definitely some of the best ravioletti I have ever had. Just divine.
Binny ordered the Gorgonzola cheese gnocchi that was served with peas and sliced beans, with spinach in a green pea and fave bean cream. It looked rather delicious too.
Although we were rather full, we couldn’t leave Le Meurice without trying pastry chef Cédric Grolet’s tremendous work. We had heard so much about the pastries from one of the waitresses, we had to make room.
We were brought over a visual selection of all the desserts on offer. I mean, I could have easily had one of each because they all looked divine. There was the ‘Grapefruit’, a marzipan style grapefruit filled with chunks of grapefruit in a sticky, sugary sauce. Also, chocolate tart, lemon tart, rhubarb eclair and peanut Paris-Brest.
Binny ordered the creamy and soft peanut Paris-Brest and I could definitely see why, especially after the one we recently had at the Langham London just weeks before. Binny confirmed it was just as good and satisfied her craving for one.
However, I went for something a little more tangy. I had the lemon and olive oil tart and it was just dreamy. The lemon was strong and quite sharp, which meant it was definitely made with the garden-fresh lemons.
Feeling extremely full at this point, we were pleased to know that we only had to walk minutes to be back in the comfort of our hotel bedroom. Not forgetting it was perfect timing to see the Eiffel Tower glitter when the clock struck 11pm.
Overall, our dining experience at Le Meurice was like no other. We had around four different waiters and waitresses doting us, the food was incredible, the ambience and atmosphere was perfect too, especially with the lovely pianist playing in the background.
If you’re in Paris, I would definitely recommend making a stop at Le Meurice. If you can, it would be worth staying there too. I know where I will be staying on my next trip to the city of love.
Until next time…
