“LE CIRQUE” IN NAME ONLY

The implant at Leela Palace in New Delhi

doesn’t live up to the hotel’s or New York restaurant’s reputation

           

Bill Chalmers, co-director of the Global Scavenger Hunt with his wife, Pamela, challenged us to dine at Le Cirque and mentioned that I should review the restaurant since I’m keeping a blog on the trip. I had every intention of visiting the place before speaking with him. After all, La Cirque has been a mainstay of New York for decades, being consistently ranked among the city’s top eateries. While I have never eaten at the original in New York, I have eaten at Le Cirque at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The meal there was wonderful. I fell instantly in love with India and the Leela Hotel, hence I very much wanted this restaurant to live up to its parent’s and sister’s hype. Unfortunately, Le Cirque-New Delhi was the only real disappointment I experienced on this leg of our round the world trip.

Make no mistake: the place is lovely. It has a well-appointed dining area with marvelous furnishings and its 11th floor location produces a balcony with a great view. But then, everything in the Leela Palace Hotel is beautiful. The restaurant also features great service from professional but sociable waiters. Again, though, magnificent service characterizes Leela from top to bottom. The real question was how the food would be.

I had high hopes from reading the menu. Let me preface the next statement by saying I like Indian food. But I was happy to see that the menu at Le Cirque features continental (as in European) cuisine – standard dishes you would expect to find at a top Manhattan eatery. My issue isn’t with the type or category of food but with its quality. My dinner companions, April and Travis (who, unbeknownst to me that night, had become engaged and have since eloped in Delhi) were essentially mum but hardly seemed overwhelmed by their meals.

The standard offerings provided in addition to the food we ordered were fine. A creamy red pepper soup to start was tangy and tasty. A tiny serving of peach sherbet provided an appropriate palate cleanser. But the meal was off when the menu items were served.

I started with foie gras. A generous portion of the liver was cooked well but was otherwise rather mundane. It was served on a single toast point with little else. If there was a sauce other than the remnants from cooking, it was indecipherable. I am not one who believes that rich savory dishes need to be tempered with sugar or that foie gras must be served with a foil like fruit compote. I am quite happy not “counteracting” fatty foods. But some accompaniment would have been helpful. As it was, the first course consisted of nothing more than a hunk of foie gras on bread.

Travis wanted steak and I am never averse to the same. So, we jointly ordered a t-bone sized for two. I order all steak medium rare except for ribeye which I order medium because of the extensive marbling. One needs to melt away some of the ribeye fat. I didn’t expect tenderloin and strip to require the same. The steak that was served -- from both sides of the center bone --- was loaded with fat that was difficult to cut off or even through. Indeed, it was difficult to find meat that could be separated from the fat. The steak also seemed to have little seasoning. It was just beef cooked for a few minutes. Far more flavor came from the roasted potato side dish.

The biggest disappointment, though, was dessert. I say that because the tiramisu looked so appetizing as it was served to our neighbors earlier. It came atop two plates, with the top plate having holes on the side. As coffee was poured along the side of the dessert and into the compartment between plates, extensive steam rose. Travis and I ordered the dish based solely on this visual effect. What we got was essentially coffee shortcake. The lady finger–shaped pastry had little taste. And it was covered only with whipped cream. The dessert was little more than a bit of coffee beneath sweetened bread and cream. I realize that tiramisu is one of those dishes that varies greatly depending upon where it is served. But the principal ingredient of the dish should be whipped mascarpone cheese. There appeared to be none of that here. Nor were there any chocolate shavings. This was literally a dish you could make at home on the fly. And it tasted as such.

April ordered the chocolate soufflé. I found the ordering process odd because she chose her dessert after we had completed our entrées. Souffle must ordinarily be ordered in advance because of the time it takes to cook the rising dish. Her dessert came out very quickly. When I asked her how it was at the end of the meal, she gave me the facial expression for blasé.

In short, I was disappointed with this incarnation of Le Cirque. The food was uninspiring and not on par with the food at the restaurant’s Vegas location. What is surprising is that internet reviews of the place seem universally positive. Whether that is because those leaving such comments are unfamiliar with haute cuisine, or the restaurant is transitioning between chefs, is an open question. But on April 22nd, Le Cirque was Le Echec.