Les Halles

One of my goals in life was to eat at a restaurant of a famous person (I know, lame goal, but it seemed like a fun idea at the time). Since my visit to Liz's place meant being in the capital city of restaurants, it seemed like a good place to try and fulfill that wish. Anthony Bourdain's restaurant was also a rather well-priced place with decent ratings on Yelp.com. I love his show. Even if his depictions of countries are not entirely accurate (his visit of Shibuya Tokyo, I want to know what part of Shibuya he went to. It was nothing like that for me), they are depictions of one point of view and make for fun entertainment and a good way to see a non-touristy side of a country (after studying abroad, the tourist side just doesn't hold the same appeal as truly living there).

Les Halles is Bourdain's restaurant and he has 2 locations in NYC with different items on their menus. We chose on the one on Park Avenue due to distance and had no trouble getting a table without a reservation. I really have no idea how busy the place usually gets, but we were going on a Monday at dinner time. I got the "Magret de Canard au sauce grenade," or "roasted duck breast with pomegranate sauce" and a turnip & potato gratin. It was... okay.

The duck was cooked very well and we absolutely loved the bread and fries I had ordered as a side for the table. But honestly, I didn't really care for the pomegranate sauce at all. "Interesting" is probably the best word to describe it. It was enjoyable for the first bite as something new to try, but I didn't think it complimented the duck very well and really just clashed as another flavor to mess with on the plate. It wasn't terrible, but to me, it just didn't fit.

My friends weren't crazy about their dishes either. The "Poulet Roti, frites" (Roasted chicken w/ fries) was bland and the "Confit de Canard" (duck confit) was flavorless on the inside.

In hindsight, I probably should have ordered steak or something off the grill or specials sections of the menu. I recall an episode of Bourdain talking about the proper way to cook a steak and even a burger with a demonstration in his restaurant. But... I had steak at Liz's the night before and I have a huge bias for my mom's steak which I don't think anyone can beat (no one ever thinks to prepare it like her. It's real fusion food, not this "soy sauce & miso makes it fusion" crap). I never feel like paying $20+ for steak when I know it won't compare to home's. They can cook it as perfectly as they want in an oven, pan, or grill. It won't compare.

So my opinion of Les Halles? Affordable compared to other famous-people-restaurants I've looked up. But worth it? Not really. The meat is cooked well from what I tasted and saw, but they do not do anything inventive or inspiring with the flavors to make the food worth the costs. It's fun to say "I went to Bourdain's restaurant" but for the prices you'd pay on the menu at Les Halles, you could probably pay less at a smaller bistro elsewhere and get more satisfying flavors.

Still... I got to eat at Bourdain's restaurant. :P