Erso, Paris 11 -- Second Visit
Erso opened this past July, and I first ate there and wrote about it not quite four weeks ago. That was as a solo diner; last night L and I went and we had a superb meal.
The interior from our corner table:
The menu:
Comparing with the early September menu, there is almost nothing in common on the carte, a good sign that the chef is working with the best seasonal ingredients he can find and is interested in trying new things.
Truth be told, I wanted to try almost everything on the menu, but for most dishes that will have to wait for other visits.
The wines by the glass:
We chose to go with a full bottle of white Saint-Joseph 2023 from Courbis, a very good producer of Cornas and Saint-Joseph:
The wine, from the Marsanne and Roussanne grapes, was firm and subtly scented and flavored with apricots. It went well with both our first course and our main course.
L began with the tartelette of girolles:
This was a marvelous dish with great finesse and precision, full of intense girolle flavor but also light on the palate.
I took the pressed oxtail in beef consommé:
This, too, was an outstanding dish with the horseradish (raifort) adding a little spice and creaminess and the pickled balls (the menu said ginger, but they were tiny onions) adding texture and flavor.
For both L and me, lotte (monkfish) is one of our favorite fish, and so we both took that as our main course:
Monkfish is a firm-fleshed fish with plenty of flavor that was complemented and accented by the bisque made from the small étrille crab and tonka bean. This was an outstanding combination. The scoop of cream and the mushrooms as well as the crisped kale all admirably filled out the dish.
For dessert, we split the poires confites:
This was a delicious dish and decadent yet without being too sweet. The pears were lightly caramelized, which played well against the crème diplomate (a mixture of pastry cream and unsweetened whipped cream) and the firm texture provided by the pastry leaves. The mushroom ice cream was subtle in its mushroom flavors and I liked it for the originality and complexity it gave, but L was less enthusiastic about this portion of the dish.
The bill:
Erso is providing meals of outstanding quality with original combinations of seasonal ingredients that are nevertheless not mannered, and all at most reasonable prices. I strongly urge you to try it.
Erso
18, rue Saint-Ambroise, 75011 Paris
Tél: 01.81.69.96.55
Tuesday-Saturday lunch and dinner
Métro: Saint-Ambroise, Rue Saint-Maur, Père Lachaise