InterContinental Bordeaux – Le Grand Hotel
A few days ago, we went to Bordeaux, a two hours drive from our home. I had wanted to eat at Gordon Ramsay’s brasserie since it opened a few months ago and I knew exactly what I wanted to eat – the beef wellington with marrow bones. This is a dish served for two and comes with a side of sweet, succulent roasted garlic, creamy mashed potatoes and the best curly kale, I have ever eaten. To be entirely honest, I have not eaten much kale before except raw in salads so do not have much to go on, but I can say, that this was buttery and delicious.
We booked the day before going and the only opening was at 7pm, which suited us just fine. We tend to be very early eaters, by French standards, as the most popular time for restaurant bookings traditionally is 8:30pm. What I love about restaurants here is that they, on the whole, do not try and turn tables, so even if you have a 7pm booking (the earliest, as most restaurants do not open their doors before 7 or 7:30pm) you are actually encouraged to stay as long as you wish. No rushing you out the door or hovering over your table or pressing you to settle up – in fact, we had to flag the waiter down at about 9:15pm to get our bill. Two hours 15 minutes and we only ate one course. Now, do not get me wrong, the service was not slow, in fact, it was perfect. Attentive, without being overbearing. On arrival, at 7:05pm, we were the second table and the restaurant, which was fully booked, only filled up around 8:30pm, we had a glass of champagne for apéritif and were offered the complimentary toasts with foie gras as an amuse-bouche while we looked at the menu. But, as I mentioned above, I had decided months ago that when I eventually got to Gordon Ramsays’ I was going to eat the Beef Wellington. It is not so much that I love fillet but I adore marrow bones, so even if it was tongue with marrow bones, I would have ordered it. Well, maybe not…
The brasserie is situated in the gorgeous InterContinental Bordeaux – Le Grand Hotel.
The menu of Le Bordeaux Gordon Ramsay proposes specialties of South-Western France with a British touch.
Here is a link to the menu Click here
The waiter advised us that this took about 25 minutes to cook and how would we like the meat cooked. Saignant, or rare, and no problem, as we were not in any hurry. Slowly the restaurant started filling up and we finished our apéritif and switched to a glass of red wine, Château Lamarque 2010 – Haut-Médoc, 12 €, an excellent choice to accompany the beef. The dish arrived, presented beautifully on a wooden board. It was about as perfect as a dish could be, the pastry was crispy and flaky, the beef cooked exactly the way we ordered, the marrow bones, generous in size and absolutely delicious. A small jar of jus was served on the side. We had ordered a side portion of french fries, just because we love them, and these are thrice cooked in goose fat – decadent, crispy, fluffy inside. A second glass of red each was ordered and we chatted and ate while people watching the other diners, a group of 6 Brits, a French grandfather with his daughter and granddaughter, several couples, a group of about 14 having a company Christmas dinner. We decided to pass on dessert, although it was very tempting and were happy to finish our wine quietly. Eventually around 9:15pm we signaled to our waiter for the bill and he said that he had not brought it over earlier as he did not want to rush us out and wanted us to enjoy our evening leisurely. Very French and so perfect.
So, if you are passing through Bordeaux, I highly encourage you to book a table at Le Bordeaux Gordon Ramsay.
cindy knoke said:
Looks divine!
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Nadia said:
It was delicious!
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Jane Sturgeon said:
I love the pace of this…it felt as if you stepped in a delicious bubble, for as long as you wanted to, x
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Nadia said:
That is what I love about eating out in France – very civilized pace.
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Jane Sturgeon said:
I love France….x
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cupcakecache said:
We can dream! Thanks for posting.
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Nadia said:
It was a special treat and well worth it.
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cupcakecache said:
Yes, When I lived in New York City, I visited The Russian tea room on a special date. My mom and I visited Serendipity in the 70’s in Manhattan. My husband and I have special trips to seafood places on the beach. It really matters who you are with during the treat. Best wishes for 2017.
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Nadia said:
That is so true.
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cookinginsens said:
The beef Wellington with marrow bones and roasted garlic! What a meal!
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Nadia said:
Heaven on a plate.
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Gerlinde said:
I wish I had eaten there when I was in Bordeaux last fall. If you get a chance visit the Wine Museum, my husband and I loved it.
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Nadia said:
There is always next time. Do you mean La Cité du vin?
We just did that but I was unfortunately a bit disappointed.
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Eha said:
*smile* I shall set the cat amongst the pigeons! Why go to a chain restaurant in a chain hotel where the menu may have been instigated by the ‘name’ who is not cooking and at prices charged accordingly whilst living in a ‘food’ country? Don’t get me wrong: in spite of some of the profanities some countries’ TV demands of Gordon Ramsey I have high respect both for his skills and professionalism, but . . . any half-way decent chef could put the very old-fashioned and boring an unhealthy ‘Beef Wellington’ in place and beef marrow does not take a rocket scientist to cook: where is the foodie charm: am trying to find 🙂 !!
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Nadia said:
Obviously some of us enjoy eating “boring, unhealthy and old-fashioned” food.
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Eha said:
Happy New Year! To each their own!! Enjoy!!!! I presume you are aware the restaurant about which you wrote is just about 250 or so on the Bordeaux restaurant table!!
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camparigirl said:
I had one of my favorite meal at Gordon Ramsay’s in London (the 3 Michelin stars one). I booked months in advance, went alone and spent nearly three incredible hours. The service was impeccable, the food was beyond delicious and they offered to show me the kitchen. The maitre d’ made sure I was at ease and stopped by to chat every so often. When I met Chef Ramsay over a year later and told him about the experience, he was just as charming. A very generous chef and not nearly as angry as he comes across on his tv shows.
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Nadia said:
That must have been a great experience. My nephew worked for Gordon, in London, several years ago and had only good things to say about him.
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Osyth said:
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I would gladly take your advice and trip the light fantastic to Bordeaux to try it myself – you leave me in no doubt that I would love it!
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Nadia said:
Bonne Année!
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Tom said:
Oh wow! We’ve visiting Bordeaux in the summer and might have to stop in here. As a British expat living in Vegas this best thing Gordon Ramsey has done for me is open a fish and chip shop in town, but this looks a little more sophisticated!
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Nadia said:
Do give it a try. I would not mind a good fish and chip shop near me. Do come visit. We are only 2 hours drive from Bordeaux.
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