2 /5
Évaluation
★
★
Given we were staying in the hotel we thought that we may as well try their flagship restaurant. The room itself is beautifully decorated with the original frescoes (hence its name and enjoys a spectacular view over the lake. The furniture is somewhat bizarre as the tables for 2 are extremely small and the armchair seating too low for dinner it is what one would expect in a bar or for afternoon tea. Fortunately they do have some tables (still micro sized with normal chairs. The menu itself reads well as it offers dishes with relatively few ingredients i.e. the technique allows the produce to shine. One of the amuse bouches was a small mound of piped sweet potato and lemongrass puree topped with a single cube of sweet potato. Whilst this tasted pleasant enough, it hardly showcased much in the way of skill or technique and sadly was a precursor for the disappointment after disappointed that followed. We were debating whether or not to try one of their tasting menus (when we are dining in most Michelin starred restaurants we always like to try to sample as many of the kitchen's dishes as possible but fortunately as it turned out we decided against it so went with the a la carte instead. The first course of smoked fera was pleasant, but basic in terms of technique and complexity, and the amount of caviar it was topped with was mean and pointless. You either make caviar the star of the dish or use it liberally as a seasoning, but simply putting half a teaspoonful on top serves no purpose other than adding a little decoration. It was competent enough, but wholly pedestrian and if I'm being generous, was just about at a 1* Michelin level. An intermediate course of crushed potatoes topped with a foamed pomme puree was served. It was very pleasant, but there was no need for it to be a separate course. It would've worked much better as an accompaniment to the fish. Whilst vegetable dishes can work wonderfully in a standalone sense, this dish was little more than a nice side dish. It was the main course where things really nosedived. Wild turbot accompanied with peas read like a beautiful springtime dish making the most of some great produce. It was awful. The turbot was served as two medallions which is something that I've never seen before, and I've eaten countless turbot dishes from being simply grilled (best example of this is at Elkano to ornately garnished with exceptional sauces in 3* Michelin establishments. Cutting the turbot like this added nothing to the dish and just looked odd and almost off putting from the outset. It was garnished with fresh peas (nicely double shelled , pea puree, and in separate dishes on the side, more peas, more pea puree and a tarragon sauce in a bowl. The tarragon sauce overpowered the fish, and for a few mouthfuls the pea accompaniment was pleasant, however, the dish was boring and very quickly turned into death by peas. There was a wafer for texture which was basically tasteless. Overall it was an incredibly disappointing dish to be served in any restaurant, let alone a 1* Michelin one. Truly an awful dish as it lacked a sauce that brought everything together. Tarragon, peas, more peas, and even more peas and some turbot lacked cohesion. This was probably one of the rare instances where I wished that the portion size had been less generous. Whilst it was perfectly edible, I'd hope that a 1* Michelin restaurant would have higher aspirations than simply being able to competently cook basic ingredients. An awful dish. After this travesty of a dish we shared a cheese course which was enjoyable, although it is quite difficult to make a mess of high quality cheeses. We decided to play it safe and cancelled one of the desserts, opting to share their signature kirsch souffle served with morello cherries. The chef brought the souffle to the table on a tray and proceeded to flambe it, pouring a load of kirsch over the top of it and then placing it on the table whilst it continues to burn. It carried on burning, with even the napkin that the ramekin was sat on burning (moreso the kirsch rather than the material . The cherries were served in a pot alongside the souffle with some almond ice cream. The ice cream itself was presented as a rocher, however, it was not neatly formed, and the fact that that was deemed acceptable by the kitchen underscores the lack of care and attention to detail. The cherries lacked the depth of flavour that one expected so were pretty bland. The top of the souffle was risen and had a nice soft texture, however, towards the bottom centre of the ramekin the mixture was still room temperature, if not slightly chilled. Raw souffle mix isn't exactly great so that dish was sent back. In fairness to the restaurant, it was removed from my bill. Now it's probably worth mentioning the service. It was friendly enough, but for me it felt like the staff lacked the passion for the product that one normally experiences in Michelin starred establishments. In particular the wine service was poor it started off well, and towards the end of our meal we ended up having to pour our own wine whilst the sommelier was attending to neighbouring tables. Not that this should make any difference of course, but it was a fairly good bottle of wine too (Clos Rougeard ... In fact the wine itself was the best thing about the whole evening. The wine list is extensive and showcases a superb array of producers, it's just a shame that the best food to enjoy it with is the cheese! All in all a disastrous dinner. Average service coupled with below average cuisine is never a great combination. The lack of feedback loop is disappointing too. As a guest in the hotel it would have been extremely easy for them to apologise etc. the next day, but not a word was said. I had a similarly poor experience at a 1* Michelin restaurant in France towards the end of 2021 it seems that Michelin are too kind and let restaurants hang onto their star way after they should've put them out of their misery and removed it. At the 1* level you can get anything from something that feels like a solid 2* to something that is poor in pretty much every aspect; Les Fresques was a perfect example of the latter (save for its wine list . There's absolutely nothing to recommend this restaurant; we left wishing that we'd played it safe and had a burger and chips in the casual hotel restaurant. It would have been a lot more enjoyable. The following evening we enjoyed a spectacular dinner at L'Hotel de Ville in Crissier, which for me is one of the best 3* Michelin classical restaurants in the world, the contrast could not have been more stark. Whilst I appreciate that this is an unfair comparison trust me, I am never expecting a 1* to compete with a 3* (even though some 1*s do deliver flashes of 3* from time to time! it just served to highlight how poor the previous night's dinner had been in every aspect.