Le Louis XV — 3 Michelin Stars Restaurant Review, Monte-Carlo

Last summer, my Hubby took me to France for a vacation to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary.  We also spent a little time in Monte-Carlo, Moncaco.   During our stay in Monte-Carlo, he surprised me with an unforgettable dinner at Le Louis XV.  Let me fill you in a little with the background of this restaurant before I introduce you to the food that we indulged in.  Le Louis XV is a three Michelin stars restaurant lead by chef Alain Ducasse and chef Dominique Lory.  It is located inside the Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo, in Monte Carlo, Monaco.  The Hôtel de Paris looks out over the central square of Monaco, adjacent to The Casino de Monte-Carlo.  Le Louis XV has also been included in The World's 50 Best Restaurants by Restaurant Magazine.



The Hôtel de Paris, Monte-Carlo, is definitely one of the most elegant hotel that I’ve visited.  Check out the hotel lobby (picture above) and the structure details right outside of the building (picture below).  I’m sure anyone would agree that the hotel building itself is a piece of art.




The chef de cuisine here is Dominique Lory, who returned to Louis XV after his role as sous chef at Plaza Athenee.  Thanks to my Honey’s arrangement, I had the honor and pleasure to visit the kitchen at Le Louis XV and met Chef Dominique Lory in person!  How exciting!




I absolutely adore their kitchen.  Look how neat and organized they are!  And those glorious copper pans hanging on top definitely caught my attentions!  This is probably one of the best commercial kitchen that I’ve set foot in as well.
 



The excitement of the night (or early evening I should say) never subsided.  After visiting the gorgeous kitchen, we were let to our reserved table.  Since there was an event at the Casino of the central square of Monaco, we got the priority seating at the patio, instead of the main dining area.  But do check out the dining area pictures here at their official website.  It’s gorgeous and left me speechless, just to think about the time, resources and details that they’ve put together to build this amazing restaurant.




I absolutely love their table setting as well.  Simple yet elegant, won’t you agree?



We’ve got complimentary champagnes from the chef!  Cheers!  Sorry that the picture below was a little blurry.  It seemed alright when the maître d' took the picture for us.  I guess the screen on the camera was too tiny for us to detect that the picture wasn’t in focus.



Another corner of our table, how can I not fall in love with the table setting.  Even the salt and pepper holder is super adorable! 




This is the view from where we seated (see picture below).  The building to the right is The Casino de Monte-Carlo.  It happened that they were having a huge celebration that evening and there would be a show and fireworks right outside of the casino!  I’ll show you more in just a minute. 




The first thing that arrived was a few bread crisps with paper thin veggies pressed in.  These are totally addictive!



We also have a company who dine with us that night.  She is simply adorable.  Hm….maybe she was there to pick up the bread crumbs that we left behind on the table.  If that’s the case, I need one, or a few back home at my dinning table!



Here comes the very grand BUTTER!  Yes!!! (Hope I didn’t say that out loud at the table!)  The rectangular block on the lower side of the picture below was salted.  And our server is prepping us another one that is unsalted! 



Let me tell you, the butter here is amazing, so rich and flavorful!  That’s how the pastries and baked goods were so good, it’s all about the butter they used!  I honestly wanted to fill up my suitcase with butter before coming back home….that is, if I’m not travelling with my Hubby.



Here comes the glorious cart of bread!  I love the wide selections here and they simply smells amazing when the cart was parking right next to me!  Should I simply request the server to leave this cart right next to our table?  Just kidding!!!



We’ve got a complimentary appetizer from the chef.  Check out each ingredient in it; the crunchy bread on the bottom, topped with tender eggplant and bell peppers, black olive, a piece of mackerel, fennel slices, a slice of hard boil egg, some lettuce leaves and drizzle of olive oil.  See how artistic they were put together.  The flavor was fantastic and so refreshing, definitely the perfect dish to start a meal. 




My Hubby ordered the Turbot with Celery, Lemon From Menton and fresh coriander (see picture below).  He always tried to eat light when he travels.  The fish was cook to perfection and super fresh.  I love the sauce, which was refreshing, light yet, complex in flavors.  The French are really master in creating flavorful sauces with depth of flavors. 



For me, I ordered the Breast of squab from the Aples-de-Haute-Provence region, grilled duck foir gras and potato, tasty jus thickened with giblets.  It was rich, flavorful, earthy and decadent!  Just the way squab and foir gras should be.  The jus was to die for.  So rich and packed with wonderful flavors.  Yes, I don’t order light when I travel!  LOL….I can do the exercise (or not) when I get home.  This is definitely one of the top 3 best dishes that I've eaten in my life!  



Here goes the performance of the night.  People were gathered in from of the stage to watch, sing and dance along.



After the main course, we were ready for the dessert table settings.



Of course I’ve got to have dessert to complete the meal.  However, the desserts below weren’t what we’ve ordered!  These mignardises (sweet treats) were complimentary by the Chef!  Look at the amount and varieties.  I can pretty much make a meal out of them.



A closer look at these mignardises.  The passion fruit tarts (the square ones on the right) were amazing.  Sweet and tart with a buttery crust.  The wild strawberry over shortbread was just as decadent (the one on the bottom right of the plate). 



My Husband ordered Black Chocolate Leaves, Caramel and pure sea salt, cocoa ice-cream.  Oh so rich and good.  A chocolate lover’s must try!




I tried the Warm “Bergeron” Apricots Souffle, Summer batter-pudding.  The souffle was slight tart and not overly sweet.  I didn’t care much about the pudding on the top left.  But the Vanilla ice cream was amazing.



We were stuffed and so satisfied.  Then, this madeleine came and my life was changed forever!  It was the best madeleine I’ve ever tried.  We were so full by this time, but I still enjoyed this little cake to the fullest.    



Then, here goes the fireworks.  The celebration of our 10th Wedding Anniversary was just as amazing and perfect.   It totally felt like they helped us celebrate our wedding anniversary with some fireworks!   Won’t you agree?



Again, the casino building itself was another art piece.  So gorgeous.  We later took a tour to check out the inside as well.



After dinner, we were on our way out to the hotel lobby to take a few more pictures.  And the hostess handed me this little bag of pastries on the way out.  I bet she knew I need more mid-night snacks after that dinner!  How thoughtful!  




I hope you enjoy reading this post and the pictures.  It was an amazing journey for us in the last 10 years and I couldn’t ask for more.  I really look forward to many many more years of celebrations with my handsome boy!