No go-er: L`esquisse

It was my intention to never send  any negative messages on this blog,  but I see it as my civil duty to warn people for this restaurant, because this restaurant (or bistro gourmand, as they dare to call themselves) crossed the line. Main problems of L'esquisse (7, Rue du Lac, Genève) are that they lost every reasonable sense of  a normal quality price relation and  that there is a ridiculous laziness in the kitchen.  I have to say that we had the "luck" that we went to eat here with the assiette genevoise card, so we only paid half price for the food, but still this was far too much.

As a starter we took nems filled with langoustines. We got 4 nems filled with a little bit of langoustine and vegatable. Next to that a few leafs of salad that were literally thrown on the plate and as "sauce" a sweet chilly sauce  that you can buy in every supermarket. And imagine that if you pay the full price you have to pay 28 CHF. As a cook you should be ashamed if you dare to sell such a poor dish for this price and as a waiter you should really train on your poker face to serve dishes like this without laughing the customers directly in their face. Apparently the cook has a problem with sauces because both our main plates didn't have any and a quick look at the menu told us that almost any plate had sauce with it. Maybe I didn't understand their "concept" but to me this smells like a lazy cook.

Well, as main course we both  took fish: Loup de mer and Sole. Respectively they cost at full price 52 CFH and 59 CHF. Well normally for astronomical prices like this, you would really expect something. But after the starters we already didn't have high expectations anymore. Well the loup was prepared quite okay, grilled in the oven with some herbes and still juicy. But too big for one person and it missed salt and inspiration. The sole my girlfriend took was dry and I doubt if it was really fresh fish and it was also far too much. The other things we found on the plate almost made me cry: Tasteless basmati rice and a mix of not well cooked vegatables.

After this we didn't even consider to take desserts and asked directly the bill. We paid 130 CHF (it also included a few glasses of wine that we drank as a substitute for sauce) but if we had to pay the full price, we would have to pay the ridiculous price of 213 CHF. So please rather burn your money......

The mythic Malakoff

In Swiss Romandie and especially around the Lac Léman the Malakoff has an epic status. The malakoff is a sort of  deep fried small bread filled with a  gruyère cheese mixture. In other words a calorie bomb made of cheese. It's very tasty and a good alternative to the more common cheese fondue or raclette. There exists many different stories around the origins of the malakoff, the one I like the most is the following story: In 1855 during the long siege of the fortress of Malakoff in present day Ukraine, a few very  hungry Swiss soldiers found out that with the leftovers of their bread and cheese they could make quite delicious and nutritional beignets. Back home they perfectionated the recipe, that ever since was handed from generation to generation.

 Normally we eat around 3 to 4 malakoffs per meal with  green salad and a plate of charcuterie as side dishes. The best malakoffs in my opinion we eat in Vinzel in restaurant au Coeur de la Coté situated in the middle of the vineyards of Vinzel. So you should also try here the local wine. (Others argue we eat the best malakoffs in Luins. They are also good, it's true. But the last time we ate here we had a shouting and insulting psycho waiter, so I won't make publicity for this restaurant.) 

Au Coeur de la Côte, 1184 Vinzel Vaud. Tel: 021 824 11 41

Le Portugais

I have to admit that it was the first time that I visited a real Portuguese restaurant, so I was quite keen to discover this cuisine. For a good introduction we tried the menu découverte (4 courses, CHF 59,-) and I was lucky because I was invited by my girlfriend. We started with a Portuguese classic the bolinhos de bacalhau. Tasty and well prepared, but it was not seasoned enough. After we got served a octopus salad in vinegar. It was a rich portion of pulpo, which was also perfectly cooked. But the vinegar taste was a little to overwhelming and again it was not enough seasoned. (I have to note here that in the dishes I prepare and eat myself I'm far from a salt freak. Still I find that salt plays an important role in the kitchen. It simply allows us to accentuate the specific tastes of the products we use)  The principal dish was grilled bacalhau (cod fish). Perfectly cooked with a nice grill taste, but again (and I'm sorry to repeat myself) it missed seasoning and although they served small seasalt cristals with it, it is much nicer when it is put on the fish while it's being grilled. Apparently the Portuguese love egg desserts, because almost all desserts had eggs in them. We took a sort of Ile flottant, of which the island was huge.
To conclude: I liked the food a lot, also I liked that all the plates on the menu were fish dishes. But if the chef had used more often the saltshaker I would have been more enthousiastic. Also I maybe missed a bit something really specific Portuguese in the dishes, it might as well been a Spanish restaurant that served these plates.

Le Portugaise. 59, Boulevard Pont d'Arve. 1205 Genève. Tel: 022 329 40 98 Website: www.leportugais.ch 
Closed on sunday and monday.