L'Empereur de Huê: Vietnam in Toulouse
Far from the confits de canard, the foies gras poêlés and salads from the region of Landes, some 10,000 leagues along the river Mékong, Toulouse can boast having an excellent Vietnamese restaurant. A must for fans of spicy dishes!
As they say there!
No question of glutamate to enhance the flavour at L'Empereur de Huê ! Here, the gastronomy is natural, a family affair (dad and mum then Sarah their daughter, at the stove), typical and fresh. It is an ode to the cuisine of Huê, the last imperial capital of Vietnam, where one can appreciate dishes more peppered and spicy than elsewhere. The break form the Asian clichés doesn't stop there! The décor is meant to be sober and elegant with the tables made out of oak, the chairs out of trimmed wood and their red and square ceiling lights, we save the eternal languid countryside and the flashy central lights...! A last remark: the dessert menu, that usually is cruelly lacking, turns out here to be a very attractive. With red and white rice in coconut milk, black and white sesame biscuits, mango sorbet, brownies, caramel crème, coconut ice cream, or bananas fried in spices, and star aniseed ice cream, it shows that there is a viable alternative to just litchis and coconut.
14/20 in the guide Gault & Millau
There is not a guide to the region that does not echo there opinion on this restaurant and for a good reason. From the starter to the dessert, the à la carte and set menu (€33) are remarkable. Whether it is the banana blossom salad with roast duck, the green mango and prawn salad, the prawn with ginger and crunchy vegetables or the fried squid with garlic, the suggestions delight our taste buds and the quality is well above our expectations. The Parisians, they despair of the situation: when are they going to open one in Paris ?
No question of glutamate to enhance the flavour at L'Empereur de Huê ! Here, the gastronomy is natural, a family affair (dad and mum then Sarah their daughter, at the stove), typical and fresh. It is an ode to the cuisine of Huê, the last imperial capital of Vietnam, where one can appreciate dishes more peppered and spicy than elsewhere. The break form the Asian clichés doesn't stop there! The décor is meant to be sober and elegant with the tables made out of oak, the chairs out of trimmed wood and their red and square ceiling lights, we save the eternal languid countryside and the flashy central lights...! A last remark: the dessert menu, that usually is cruelly lacking, turns out here to be a very attractive. With red and white rice in coconut milk, black and white sesame biscuits, mango sorbet, brownies, caramel crème, coconut ice cream, or bananas fried in spices, and star aniseed ice cream, it shows that there is a viable alternative to just litchis and coconut.
14/20 in the guide Gault & Millau
There is not a guide to the region that does not echo there opinion on this restaurant and for a good reason. From the starter to the dessert, the à la carte and set menu (€33) are remarkable. Whether it is the banana blossom salad with roast duck, the green mango and prawn salad, the prawn with ginger and crunchy vegetables or the fried squid with garlic, the suggestions delight our taste buds and the quality is well above our expectations. The Parisians, they despair of the situation: when are they going to open one in Paris ?
Décembre 2007
