Welcoming:8/10
Menu Choices: 8/10
Food Presentation: 7/10
Food Temperature: 7/10
Food Taste: 17/20
Service: 7/10
Ambiance/Music: 8/10
Architecture/Interior: 8/10
Air Quality: 8/10
Total: 78/100
Coquelicot, as I already mentioned previously is one of the nicest French Bistros to open in Beirut lately. I tried the place a couple of weeks before its official opening and tried their special dishes – and positively, I enjoyed and expressed my appreciation already. Today I went there again for lunch, the Bouillabaisse way. Bouillabaissea is a dish few are familiar with in Lebanon.La Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provençal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille. The French and English form bouillabaisse comes from the Provençal Occitan word bolhabaissa, a compound that consists of the two verbs bolhir (to boil) and abaissar (to reduce heat).There are at least three kinds of fish in a traditional bouillabaisse, typically scorpionfish (fr: rascasse); sea robin (fr: grondin); and European conger (fr: congre); and it can also include gilt-head bream (fr: dorade); turbot; monkfish (fr: lotte or baudroie); mullet; or silver hake (fr: merlan) It also usually includes shellfish and other seafood such as sea urchins (fr: oursins), mussels (fr: moules); velvet crabs (fr: étrilles); spider crab (fr: araignées de mer) or octopus. Vegetables such as leeks, onions, tomatoes, celery and potatoes are simmered together with the broth and served with the fish. The broth is traditionally served with a rouille, a mayonnaise made of olive oil, garlic, saffron and cayenne pepper on grilled slices of bread.What makes a bouillabaisse different from other fish soups is the selection of Provençal herbs and spices in the broth; the use of bony local Mediterranean fish; the way the fish are added one at a time, in a certain order, and brought to a boil; and the method of serving. In Marseille, the broth is served first in a bowl containing the bread and rouille, with the seafood and vegetables served separately in another bowl or on a platter.Before sharing my culinary journey at Coquelicot with you I must you my admiration for the interior decoration of the place, which was designed by the owner’s Mazen Kassem’s wife, Diana Ibrahim Kassem. Simple and clear yet enchanting, overpowered by old Lebanese stones, small modern spot lights, chandeliers used to decorate a whole wall, red sofas, brown wooden tables with the fabric long runners. My favorite is the green chalk board filled with the customers inspirational feedback… Enjoy the French musical background and let yourself go…We ordered:- Carpaccio de Poisson Blanc: white thick layers of white fish from the Sarafande region in south Lebanon, covered with shredded green onions, dill and black pepper and seasoned with lemon and olive oil
- Canard a l’Orange: served with Purée avec Moutarde a L’ancienne and its orange sweet couli that neutralizes the salt of the duck. Soft and tender, melts under your teeth with little crunchy effects of the orange zest. The color and presentation of this dish is majestic.
- Foie Gras Poele aux Pommes: Foie Gras, cooked apples, bread socked in Foie Gras sauce, salad of cabbage and carrots.
- Fresh crab served simply with olive oil and lemon. That’s the least good among all the appetizers we tried since it contains a little too much lemon and an over quantity of olive oil.
- Tartare de Viande: The presentation is close to perfect with its crunchy potatoes and black pepper coverage but there is an overdose of onions and oil. I am a fan of olive oil but at Coquelicot there is too much of it everywhere.
- Crevettes au Sesame: Crunchy pieces of shrimps dipped in their Asian sweet special mix (soy, hoisin and sesame oil) and covered with sesame.
- Presented with the famous Rouille of an orange color with its many toasted bread slices (eggs, saffron, mayonnaise, garlic, olive oil, black pepper)
- A plate filled with fish: White fish, mussels, shrimps, crab, scorpion fish, sea bass, red mullet and lobster
- An orange sauce of scorpion fish with saffron and spices where you drop the fish inside and slices of bread dipped in the famous Rouille. Wow! It might be complicated but the one who invented it is a genius.
- Crêpe au Chocolat for the Nutella lovers
- Apple Crumble
- Pain Perdu pour deux personnes
- Mousse Praline
- Cheese cake
- The Mustard potato Purée
- The Duck with its orange sauce
- The Sesame shrimps
- The Cheesecake
- Use less olive oil especially in the crab and the homemade chips
- The tartare is good but requires a little fine tuning
- The dishes should be sent warmer from the kitchen
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