Reviewed by Proxy: La Grange
By Hien Huynh, Jul 30th, 2008 | In Dining
La Grange is the newly opened French restaurant on Julu Lu, a joint venture by Chef J¨¦rôme Lagarde of Sens & Bund fame and the owner of Le Saleya.
Erstwhile writer for SmartShanghai, Rob R. recently had dinner at La Grange, and although I haven't had the chance to try it out yet, I talked to Rob about it via msn and he seemed to sum up quite succinctly what to expect.
Herein, is the copy-paste job from that conversation -- this is as real or true a review as you can get, with no superfluous blather from the reviewer: just the facts, dudes.
It's like the 21st century equivalent of "phoning it in"...
rob.r says: Oh -- went to La Grange last night...
hien says: How was it? Can you write a review of it?
rob.r says: I think someone should go there on a PR invite.
hien says: haha
rob.r says: Although, then they will miss out the most impressive part of the experience... the bill.
rob.r says: It's waaaaaaaaaaaay too expensive.
hien says: Yeah, I heard it's rather expensive...
rob.r says: And their wine list is absurd.
hien says: What do you mean by absurd? Price? Or "awesome" absurd?
rob.r says: the least expensive single glass is 108rmb -- it's 3-4 times the mark-up.
hien says: OIC, any other price examples?
rob.r says: hmmmm, entrees starting at 100rmb up to 200rmb or 300rmb and mains 200rmb to just under 400rmb
rob.r says: they do give you a lot of little "extras" though
rob.r says: and the one French woman presumably manager was very thorough, maybe paid a little too much attention to me, even when my date asked the questions, her answer was directed to me... maybe it's the French service culture.
rob.r says: the remaining staff was acceptably trained but service wasn't where it should be for the price
hien says: that's the standard comment to make for service in Shanghai...
hien says: how was the food?
rob.r says: food was fine
rob.r says: but nothing mind blowing... fairly well-executed south-western French bistro. Although they didn't do a good job of braising the pork, and braising is pretty much the basics for French food.
rob.r says: it was too dry
rob.r says: so...
rob.r says: like I said, it was fine
rob.r says: but nothing great
hien says: should be really great, I presume, for the price
rob.r says: yes... it should be
rob.r says: anyway
rob.r says: so in summary
rob.r says: I'd skip
hien says: I'm curious about the d¨¦cor and design of the place...
rob.r says: The decor is good. The service is very knowledgeable. The foie gras terrine was excellent.
rob.r says: oh oh oh
rob.r says: and the bread is the best I've had in Shanghai
hien says: bake it themselves right?
rob.r says: I think the decor is interesting actually -- it's one of the first places I've seen with such lofty aspirations to open in a space so small but yet designed nicely.
rob.r says: yeah -- bake it themselves
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