Outside of Las Vegas, Joel Robuchon in Monaco is my third (Hub's second) outlet of the Robuchon empire. No longer a newbie to his cuisine, I've made it a tradition to dine at one of his restaurant in whatever city/country we're in.
Since this was a 12 hour port of call in Monaco, we opted for lunch instead of dinner. We selected the three course lunch of a starter or soup, fish or meat, cheese or dessert, followed by coffee or tea and petits fours. The cost per person was 69 Euro plus we we're charged 9 Euro for water like other outlets.
The restaurant is located inside the Hotel Metropole which is around the corner from the famous Casino de Monte Carlo (the real one, not the fake Las Vegas version).
The decor was very minimal compared to other locations in Las Vegas, Macau and Tokyo. From the hotel lobby, I couldn't tell it was a Robuchon restaurant as it lacked its usual grandeur. I guess the kind of people who dine here on a regular basis don't need to be impressed. Valeted Ferraris are just too common in these parts.
The Bread Cart - Not as impressive as others but the concept and quality was the same. The mountain of butter always amazes me. It looks like cheese.
Amuse Bouche - I forgot what was in here. I'm guessing foie gras custard and maybe some peas? I remember the foie gras because Hubs doesn't like it at all but he actually enjoyed it in the amuse bouche.
Bread - Pesto, Milk, Brioche and Farmer's baguette. I was told by our server that the Farmer's baguette is specific to this location, Monaco.
Hand-carved butter and olive oil
Foie gras of duck, home-made in a terrine
Monkfish with a fresh spring salad - I forgot what was in the sauce
Tomato soup prepared like a gazpacho
Roast pork which was the special of the day
The Dessert Cart
No petit fours, full size desserts with unlimited quantities
Mango tart
Floating Island
Lemon tart and Blueberry cheesecake
Petit Fours - Dark Chocolate
Overall it was a good experience. I should have booked our seats at the Robuchon Table as opposed to the dining room. It was a bit too quiet. There were only three sets of diners that afternoon and we were the first to arrive. I got to hand it to our server, Hans. He was very friendly and talkative. We told him we were visiting the Singapore outlet in a few weeks so he gave us his card to let the peeps at Singapore know we came to visit Monaco. When we arrived in Singapore, it made the experience more pleasant as we felt like we were regulars.
Now on to Italy!
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