I had planned for a true bucket list style special treat of a day in Monaco (arriving by helicopter, then having a top lunch, a little shopping, then a gentle train back to Beaulieu sur mer). The most famous restaurant in Monaco is Alain Ducasse’s three star Louis XV, but I’m not Ducasse’s biggest fan, and I found Joel Robuchon’s menus to be more appealing and less expensive, so that’s where I reserved.

L’Hotel Metropole is a real grande dame of a place, with fountains and statues outside, just off Casino Square. Inside is calm, discreet and luxurious, and to the right of the lobby area is its signature restaurant, the 2 Michelin starred Joel Robuchon Monte Carlo. Monsieur Robuchon also oversees the 1 star Japanese restaurant, Yoshi, accessed just in front of the hotel entrance. These are just three of the 28 stars currently held by Robuchon around the world, making him the most starred chef on the planet!  But his food is not too grand or inaccessible – in fact he’s most famous for his mashed potato (pomme puree).

The dining room is classically styled, spacious and very comfortable. Like the best French restaurants there are upholstered pouffees table side to rest one’s handbag on, which I love to see.

Large floor to ceiling windows offer a view of a terrace area, which itself looks down upon part of the Grand Prix circuit.  I had been looking forward to going the whole hog and having the Menu Decouvert at €220/head, but the Maitre d’ actually suggested that might be too much for lunchtime, and pointed us towards a €97 menu (lower priced menus are also available), which offered two starters, two mains, dessert and coffee.

Said Maitre d’ was a lovely lady called Gitte, who used to be Maitre d’ at La Chèvre d’Or in Eze. Gitte was charming, warm and friendly, as well as very beautiful, and she made us feel very comfortable, like being at home. She even cracked a couple of jokes during service, and took a few photos of us, which I thought was brilliant.  She clearly wanted us to have a lovely meal and she wasn’t just interested in trying to get us to spend as much money as possible, or even to feel we should be grateful for being allowed to dine in such a hallowed place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first food brought to the table was an Amuse of whipped foie gras, strawberry compote and a parmesan foam. This daring combination was totally delicious and served as a great introduction to the skills of the kitchen brigade and the quality of produce they cook with. 10/10

A trolley laden with a huge range of home made breads and butter was presented, and then came the first starter. crab salad in a half avocado, Granny Smith apple slices and a gazpacho. The crab was in a very light curry mayonnaise and tasted so fresh and divine. The gazpacho had a deeper flavour than I was expecting (possibly from ripe Italian tomatoes), but, truthfully, I might have preferred a lighter ‘essence de tomate’ style liquid, like they do at Le Manor aux Quat’ Saisons.  But nonetheless, it was a lovely fresh summery dish. 8.5/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starter two was ‘carpaccio of octopus’ and it came with concassed bell peppers, micro croutons and a very good olive oil. The octopus was so fresh, tasting of the sea, though maybe a little too salty, so I would have zinged things up a notch with some citrus juice, maybe yuzu. 8/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main course no. 1 was red mullet with a ‘Rockpool’ fish sauce. The fish was excellently cooked, but it was the delicious rich and oniony sauce that stole the show. It had a deep flavour of the seaside (almost as strong as a sea urchin’s taste). I thought the portion size was little different from the starters. 7/10

Main no.2 was calf sweetbreads and kidneys, with girolles and parsley and a side dish of Joel Robuchon’s famous pomme puree.  It was a robust dish of well prepared offal, sublime to offal fans, but even those less enamoured by the strong taste of kidneys would be happy that the combination of the elements on the plate disguised any astringency of the kidneys. The mashed potato was comfort food heaven – buttery and supremely smooth. 8.5/10

Dessert is a free choice from a grand trolley brought table side.  The waiter encourages you to try several items, but I modestly went for a small slice of tarte au citron plus a small bowl of Isle Flottante. The tart was good, but I’ve had slightly better (and I’ve made slightly better myself, thanks to the cooking course at Le Manor aux Quat’Saisons) 8/10. The Floating Island was very good, with super-light soft meringue, stained pink by a strawberry coulis, sitting in a pool of the most lovely and refreshing creme anglaise 9/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then had a double espresso, which was strong and just a little bitter, served with chocolate salted caramels. 7/10

Throughout the meal we had the sommelier’s selection of wines to accompany every dish, which were all very pleasant, as was the sommelier himself.  I didn’t make a note of what we had, except the unctuous 1987 Pedro Ximenez we had with dessert, which was heavenly 10/10

My overall score of 9.5/10 reflects the very good food, but also the superb warmth, friendship and humour we experienced from all of the front of house staff.  We both felt very relaxed, and both felt that we had experienced a very special luncheon, which had been our intention and hope for this special day in Monaco.

PS we loved the access to the spacious and super-clean toilets, which is disguised as a bookshelf!