We were last at the Sea Grill in November of 2013, a 2 star Michelin restaurant in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel. The elegant dining room is located below the hotel lobby with widely spaced large tables set with lovely clothes and napkins. The lighting is lowered but there are spots directed to each table so it’s good lighting for photos. There were 2 adjoining rooms with larger tables for bigger parties. Wood walls are on either end with art on the other walls and music plays in the background. The excellent service was provided by a staff that all conversed well in English. An old school atmosphere did not provide my menu with prices but did provide a purse stool. The menu offered a la carte options as well as a 4 course tasting, for which they were willing to do some substitutions (we substituted the Sole for the Sea Bass). Pacing of the meal was on the slow side but portion control was very good. They did provide us with a printed menu of our meal however it was not exactly what we had.
An amuse bouche of red tuna carpaccio with black garlic cream did not have much taste but was attractive. In my jet lagged state I did not get a photo but borrowed two from a fellow traveler, Ad W, who publishes on tripadvisor.
A mackerel was grilled and served with lemon and fennel. The fish was barely cooked, almost raw inside, which really helped with the strong mackerel flavor. The lemon was nicely moderated. It was very good.
The bread selection was on a large tray and included white, country dark bread, olive and small baguettes. The small baguette was my choice and it was good with a chewy interior and good crisp crust.
Royal langoustine was served with goose liver from Lafitte. It was presented raw, seasoned with Uda pepper and baked on a stone set on fire with Auchentosahn (whisky) at the table. Along with it was a dish of creamy morels, gyoza (stuffed pasta) and green celery. The gyoza were stuffed with foie gras, morels and green celery in a broth of mushroom stock. Both of these were really good and went well together or were fine eaten separately. The pasta was nicely tender, the foie gras rich and the langoustine sweet. How can you lose with this combination? The fire cooked parts were excellent mixed in with the mushroom broth or just eaten in combination with each other.
Scallops, kimchi, Doyenné pear, verbena, sesame and parmesan were the next plate. The scallops were from Normandy and had a sesame crust. They were nicely chewy yet still very tender and were really great with the super crispy sesame seeds. The kimchi was a tart wrapper that was striped with gold and stuffed with onions. The pear was cut into round cylinders that were sweet and crisp. The broth was great and helped blend everything together. It was seasoned with watercress.
“Sole from our coast” with oyster maki, leek, romanesco, cockles and hazelnut mousseline was next. The maki was raw oysters wrapped in seaweed and one sat on top of the buttery, moist fish; the other was besides some other ingredients. The Romanesco was still rather firm and a number of tiny shrimp were scattered about and were quite tasty. Another included shellfish, cockles, were the final garnish and the dish really didn’t need this in my opinion. However it was a truly great piece of fish in a rich, wonderful sauce.
The first dessert was pineapple gelée and coconut ice cream decorated with a couple cookies. The ice cream was really smooth, silky and very good. The tropical, fruity pineapple had good flavor and added a nice amount of sweetness to the dish.
Cream of chocolate was plated with honey ice cream and a sabayon of olive oil. A crumble was under the ice cream and dots of lemon along with some crisp lacy bits completed the plate. I found the dots of lemon distracting but the lacy bits and crumble did add a lovely amount of texture to the plate. The olive oil sabayon was okay but overall I liked the first dessert better.
Final treats was mascarpone ice cream on a spoon that was cool and sweet. A “snickers” was a chocolate round with a smooth center. A tartlet of mango had a really strong taste of mango and was quite nice.
A chocolate beignet was fried to a perfect crisp on the outside and filled with chocolate liquid inside. It was good but not as great as it should have been – give me the ‘snicker’ and mango and their creamy centers.
