Trying out the Worlds 50 best: A Night at Mirazur (plus other Monaco adventures)

Went to the fabulous Mirazur last month, and it was quite an experience. First of all you get one of four menus, depending on the lunar calendar, either the roots, flowers, fruits or leaves. Their website explanation: His menu is totally rooted in the link between heaven and earth and the influence of the Moon and the planets on plants. A gastronomic journey to discover the essence and vital force of each day according to the biodynamic calendar.

We got a roots day and I loved that everything was related to this, from the table arrangements, what waiters were wearing etc. Also loved that it was so vegetable and produce forward and that it all came from their gardens. The good things of them having 4 menus, i want to go back to try the other three. Roots menu was beautiful, yet quite a bit heavy (having so many roots is filling!), and i kind of hope we had had a leaf or fruit day! but still it was spectacular. Below a little photo menu of our experience:

The amuse bouches and the bread. I loved the gluten free bread that they gave me, it was delicious (and probably contributed to me being VERY full after this meal as I usually don’t eat bread and this time i devoured the two pieces). It was also very cool that the bread came with a Pablo Neruda poem about bread!

Here was the menu:

Brassica campestris : turnip, lobster and honey

Raphanus Sativus : Radish and fish – this was the only dish that i didnt love, as it had radish, not my favorite and beet (which if you know me you know that I hate) yet I ate almost half of it so that was impressive

Allium Fistulum : leek pie – this was the most delicious pie and i wanted to take a couple home with me

Ipomoea batatas: Sweet potato with squid – the squid cut be cut with a spoon thats how perfectly prepared it was

Solanum tubero allium satvium: New garlic with new potatoes – this had a lot of garlic, yet it wasnt overpowering, a sttement in balance (my stomach howver later felt that it was a lot of garlic)

Daucus carota: Carrot Textures – I think this might have been my second favorite course, there were just so many fabulous carrot flavors. I only took pictures of the main plate but we had quite a few sides of different carrot interpretations that were beautiful and delicious.

Allium Cepa: Red onion and duck – duck cooked to perfection

Eutrema japonicum: Wasabi and Kiwi – no picture, but it was amazing how the even included roots in the palete cleanser

Ascalonia cepa: Black shallot and fior di latte icecream – one of the weirdes and most interesting desserts ive ever had

A highly recommended experience, the service is great the location is beautiful and now I want to go and try the other three menus!

Now onto the other Monaco Eating experiences:

Gaia: my favorite restaurant apart from Mirazur of the trip. Its lovely when you find something out of the blue without expectations and it is fabulous. Our favorite, the seabass carpaccio that was expertly plated.

Alain Ducasse at the Hotel de Paris: this was the disappointment of the trip. We were very much looking forward to this restaurant and it just paled in comparison to other dining experiences we had, during this trip and in general. It just didn’t live up to the Alain Ducasse name and it for sure didn’t live up to its 3 stars.

The good things: the dining room is beautiful!

Some of what we ate:

The main issue was the food. It just wasn’t to the standard. The bread was beautiful but from then it collapsed. We ordered the meat and it had no flavor. I am never a person to ask for salt, let alone in a 3 star restaurant but i had to here. There was just no flavor to the meat and it wasn’t properly cooked. The service also took a long time, there was no consistency. My soufflé although delicious was underdone (which although better than if is falling, its just not ok). The kicker is that they never even asked us if we wanted something else to drink. Our bottle of wine ended (which was spectacular by the way) and none came over to see if we wanted more wine, a dessert wine, a pus cafe, nothing. I think as a manager i would have been appalled at their lack of upselling. All in all its a fine French hotel restaurant, but a 3 star Michelin its not. Save your money and go spend it (im sure you’ll even have some leftover) at the wonderful mirazur. And don’t think im being overly harsh. I just remember a few of the other highlights of our not so great service. The waiter never explained to us how the menu worked or how we should ordered and confused us tellnig us we had to order from each category. When the actualy more experienced waiter came to take our order he was appaled that we were ordering two main dishes – things would have gone a lot smoother if proper info was given from the start. Also when i asked one of the waiters to explain what I was eating, he laughed and said I dont know. Apparently it was a joke, at that point in the meal my humor was lost.

Yanik Alleno at the Hotel Hermitage: Not even close to Alleno in paris, but a very nice hotel restaurant with a gorgeous view. We had the cheese soufflé which was spectacular.