I have to admit….

I’ve been wanting to go to Les Halles for one reason and one reason only…. this guy [well I guess the fact that they have steak tartare helps too!!!]:

Before I begin this entry… while I’ve written most of it, I just skimmed through and realized that I was extremely biased while writing this.  The whole entry was based on the fact that I’ve been craving steak tartare forever and have been in love with Mr. Bourdain since middle school….

Ahh.. Tony Bourdain ♥ What I wouldn’t do to him :]

I remember when he talks about making tartare and duck confit.. flashback epi? Or maybe part of his books – either way… I NEEDED food that he, used, to make.

And while he did work at the Park Ave one, the one downtown in the Financial District was a lot closer to Z’s place :D aka a few minutes of walking in the cold hahaha…

We booked a table last minute and strolled on over… the place was crowded and we were about to be sat in a stuffy area right by the bar, bad for claustrophobia, but thankfully two people left a booth as soon as we got there so we waited a few extra minutes for that table.

Greeted with two varieties of bread…

And we got red wine… ended up drinking two bottles of this…

2010 Malbec, Altos Las Hormigas, Argentina

Since I was already set on getting steak tartare [and have been since the day I decided I HAD to go eat at Les Halles] we decided to get two half portions of the Moules Frites…. which is just a smaller portion that doesn’t come with Frites :]  WHICH wouldn’t have been a big deal since I soon found out that the most delicious part of the meal tonight as FRITES!!!

Billi-Bi Moules

Saffron, Cream & Vermouth

Z loved this one the most, super creamy. I couldn’t taste the saffron or the vermouth but the mussels were fresh and the sauce was delicious and creamy.

Portugues Moules

Garlic, Cilantro, White Wine, Chorizo & Tomato

I loved this one the most – I like tomato based moules more than cream ones – this was SO good.. the chorizo itself was a bit on the dry side but the mussels were super-infused with the chorizo flavors. I ended up eating most of these and Z ended up eating most of the creamy saffron one hehehe. Perfect.

While it was no Waterzooi… and the flavors are limited, the two we picked were very yummy indeed. I would definitely go back to try more.

Confit de Canard, Pommes Salardaise

Crispy Duck Leg Confit & Truffle Sauteed Potatoes

This was pretty tasty. The duck skin and meat melted in your mouth and the potato salad [basically like little bits of frites on salad] was really good – any time a place can get me to eat potatoes is a good thing – although I didn’t taste the truffle. Hmm… I wonder…

Steak Tartare, Frites, Salade

We had to return the first batch of frites cuz they were cold… but we got a nice fresh steaming hot batch a few minutes later….

Lean Top Round, Ground to Order, Prepared Tableside

SO…. not really like Jacala tableside [but then again, I’m convinced that no steak tartare will ever be that good], but they did ask if I wanted anchovies and if I wanted it spicy… and I guess they made it OUTSIDE of the kitchen… a few tables away…. SO, I asked for spicy, sans-anchovies… it came out not spicy.. too much of everything and not enough beefiness.. I like chunky tartare but this was ground so fine into the ingredients [onions, etc] that I couldn’t tell what was what. TOO MUCH! I like it more natural please. It wasn’t bad, and thankfully it wasn’t oversalted like a lot of places…. BUT… presentation and beef to condiments ratio-wise… not so good. This was the only thing we didn’t clean off… Still a little hungry…

I was so addicted to the crack… uh, frites that we ordered the roast chicken. We also had roast chicken envy from our neighbor earlier on :]

Poulet Roti, Frites

Roasted Organic Chicken

Z said his chicken was good and even gave me his skin but my piece was… not so tasty.. it was too dry for me :[ We took the piece home and I had some of it with my salad and turkey wrap the next day but still icky..  it definitely ain’t no La Rotisserie… ;D

THEN.. yes and THEN after like 30-45 of waiting for our dessert to come, we were deep in conversation, both went to the bathroom, etc etc… asked servers, the manager finally came over, apologized and brought out a creme brulee in like 30 seconds flat. *sketch* Z had some, I refused to… to be honest our service was a little shiesty to begin with but it didn’t really bother me until the end of the night – which kind of killed the whole experience.

Creme Brulee

Classic Custard Topped with Layer of Hard Caramel

Sigh… I left a message on the table stating what a bad service I had…. :T It totally killed the meal… which was, okay it wasn’t bad, I’d definitely go back for the frites… maybe I still will, takeout? Haha… Dammit, should’ve gone to the Park Avenue one instead… that or can I just have Tony with a side of Frites instead?