"La Langoustine"

La Langoustine
Crispy langoustine papillote with basil pesto. ($17)

Notes: This is the single most expensive langoustine I've ever eaten (and hopefully will ever eat). Was it worth it? Yes, just this once. If you can manage to put the price to sleep in your conscience, it really is as good as everyone says it is.

The "papillote" wrapper (rice flour paper?) was crisp and shimmering with grease (There's a piece of parchment underneath to help soak up the grease. They also provide a finger dipping bowl with warm water and a slice of lemon.). A single basil leaf appears through the transluscently thin skin. Inside, the langoustine is soft and succulent - and piping hot and well-seasoned. In fact, the texture of the langoustine was unnaturally tender-soft that it tasted almost as if the meat had been pounded or tenderized before being wrapped.

The basil pesto sauce really helped the flavor as well.

I asked the server what kind of oil they used to fry the papillote in - as it had a very clean taste and must have had a very high smoking point (ie. been able to be heated to a very high temperature) in order to effect such a clean flash-fried product. The server's initial response was vegetable oil, but after I pressed him more, he checked with the chef and confirmed that it was grapeseed oil.

Read the full review of this meal on my blog.