L'Hotel Gitan
10/10 on Tuesday March 10 2020.
THE SCENE
The Walrus: Its the old Max Hotel in Prahran re-imagined. Great French bistro feel to it. 8/10
The Carpenter: L’Hotel Gitane is in a refurbished pub in Prahran taken over by Jacques Reymond. A classic inner burbs feel to the entry, the private dining is up the back behind the bar. Typically slightly wobbly chairs of a good french bistro - a lovely feel to the place.. 9/10
POTATIONS
W: Great French gin selected to compose our standard dirty Martini opening gambit on the night. Good flavour and a well made Martini all round. Accompanying olives tasted a little odd though. 8/10
C: A lovely French gin 1-9 in our traditional slightly dirty dry martini. Huge olives. Sadly the olives had a slightly off note to them - took away from the martini. 7/10
ENTREE (Petite)
W: The Duck parfait was amazing. Certainly the best version of the dish I have had from recent memory. Perfect creamy texture, amazing baquette croutons with strong pickles to accompany. Outstanding effort..
Duck cigar next. Beautiful crispy pastry, tasty duck meat and a delicious fruit sauce to accompany - again, outstanding effort in delicate delicious food.
The Roquefort Mill Fueille was light and crispy pastry with a nice strong cheese flavour. 10/10
C: Fantastic bread. Crusty. delicate butter. Simple but great.
Duck liver parfait - unbelievable. THE best. Perfect crouton baquette crisps. Perfect little pickle. No iron overtone to the parfait. Got smoother and smoother in the mouth. Enhanced by the jelly - three different types of armagnac. 11/10
Duck cigar. Many many layers to the pastry. Almost caramelised. Soooo good. Duck is incredible. With a fruity sauce almost cherry like. 10/10
Roquefort Mille Fueille. Ooooo la laaaa. The pastry remained layer discernible for the first few bites. The flavour is amazing. Bluuuueeeee. With an occasional walnut. 11/10
MOYEN
W: . I went the soft shell crab. Again, really delicious. The texture was perfect and flavour, outstanding. 10/10
C: How could I resist a cheese souffle? I couldn’t. And was glad I didn’t. A delicate, ultralight but slightly crusty cheese souffle. Witha lovely crunchy and slightly tangy cheese tuille. A little bit of mushroom and a delicious pea puree poured through. It was a risk that required a gentle stroll to ensure room for the main and dessert. Sensational combo. 10/10
MAIN
W: . FIsh and chips! But…not so simple. The Rockling was delicious. Perfectly cooked, great flavour rich crust, mushy peas and a lovely rich sauce to go with it all. 9.5/10
C: Rockling. Perfect crust. Rich delicious sauce. Crushed peas. Little radish salad. An amazing fish and chip style dish - with salad instead of chips. Felt like it came right off the bistro menu but not totally out of place in this line up. Matched with a perfect Illawarra Chardy. 9.5/10
DESSERT
W: Their take on Peach Melba was delicious. We spoke to the chef how he managed to balance the acid/sweet on the plate and he was more than happy to discuss. Smart cooking, very, very delicious way to finish off the meal. 10/10
C: Peach Melba. French style. Peach jelly. Marcapone. Raspberry in the background. Crunch from the almondine. Slightly acidic jelly. Together those flavours were very clever - acid toning down the sweet. Fantastic. 10/10
STICKY
W: Classic Sauternes to finish off with. 10/10
C:. Hopefully the Walrus remembers the sticky - I’m sure it was great. A sauterne of some sort. 10/10
SERVICE
W: Service was effortless and they made sure we were well looked after. Very attentive and not shy on providing suggestions when asked (very good suggestions, by the way) 10/10
C: A very French waiter / sommelier - she was incredible. Fantastic service. Very friendly, professional and intuitive.
At one point I dropped my napkin (not deliberately). One of the waiters (not our main guy) swooped in a gracefully collected/replaced in one fluid movement. Very impressive. I hadn’t even noticed. Right up there with the left handed chopstick switch at Minimishima. 10/10
OVERALL
W: Its rare you can go somewhere and have what is basically a perfect meal. Flavour, texture, inventiveness, great service, solid interaction and recommendations that add to the overall experience. But when you find a place that does all this, as L’Hotel Gitan has,….make sure you become a regular. 10/10
C: A real highlight - a fantastic meal for our last supper pre-Covid. Here’s waiting for a grand return once restaurants reopen. I’ll definitely be back. Straight to the top 5 - maybe even higher! 10/10
THE CAP
W: No Cap - was more than satisfied by the end of the meal.
C: No cap tonight.
