Our reservation
was for 8:00 pm and we were seated immediately. The only option at Septime is
the seven course chef’s menu for 65 Euro per person. In summary, we felt there
were great entrees, good mains, good service, ending with a strange transitional (?)
dessert.
The zucchini
with lightly cooked rhubarb was served with soft goat cheese under it, and was
good. The soup dish, my personal favorite, was exquisite, with green beans presented
in a bowl with some herbs (mint and chives, for example) that the server then
covered with a tasty light fish broth that had been infused with herbs. The
white asparagus and fish course was delightful. My one complaint regarding the
food was that the chicken was rather rubbery, but tasted good.
As for drinks, I
had a glass of rosé that grew on me, followed later by a glass of Chablis that
was lovely. My husband enjoyed his Deck-Donahue Beaupres Spring Pale made in
Montreuil. Be aware that the small bottle of tap water costs 4.5 Euro which we
felt was excessive.
The servers
patiently explained components of the various dishes, often trying in English,
although at times, the code-switching made it more difficult than if they had
consistently used French. (I speak
French and my husband is learning.) One issue, no matter which language, is
that we had probably 6 different servers throughout the evening, which made
service seem disorganized.
The meal seemed
to start strongly but we were truly disappointed when the first dessert-y
course was brought to the table. Here is the excerpt of our conversation at
that point:
The server, placing plates on our table: C’est une mousse
aux petits pois avec des fraises et des petites pousses de petits pois.
Roy: Did she just say peas?
Roy: Did she just say peas?
Me: She did…
This, to say the
least, was a strange dish. The pea mousse was sweetened and came with sweet
strawberries. I wanted to love it! Although the color combination was
quite nice, I kept hoping the aftertaste of peas would leave my mouth. It
wasn’t pleasant. David Lebovitz, if you are listening, please explain! Help me
understand! We engaged one of the servers in a conversation about this dish,
still doubting that peas were implicated in a dessert. She confirmed it and
explained that it was meant to serve as a transition from the last main dish to
the sweeter boule of ice cream at the end. J’aurais pu m’en passer, merci! Overall, the experience at
Septime was good, but quirky.
Attendez, one last comment: the noise level is difficult,
due to terrible acoustics with the cement walls. We suggest adding some
acoustic tile to ameliorate this.
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