Le Clarence

We chose this restaurant because of the good food but mainly because we wanted to see the interior decor. Two people for lunch, we had the three course and two pairings. One being the “around France” pairing and one being the Bordeaux pairing. Both being four examples. The food was seafood. Except for the deserts it was exclusively seafood, which was absolutely perfect for me. And it was very very good. My wife thought the mackerel was most memorable and I thought the lobster. We appreciated that my wife’s gluten free preference was easily accommodated. I said we came for the decor. We were sat in a formal lounge containing three tables off the library. The room was a delight and the tables were generously spaced. All was very classical french, very formal and high quality and perfectly presented all the way to the french flag fluttering just outside the window. I repeated the word formal previously and service was formal but with an informal friendly touch. The staff who dealt with us were all very pleasant and helpful. We hadn’t expected the wine story and hadn’t realised the restaurant has a large cellar and is owned by an owner of a Bordeaux winery. I bought the story and ordered the Bordeaux wine flight. The idea was that the wines would all come from the owners chateau. Of course I was forgetting with all the seafood I was going to be given white. Of course I was forgetting that if all the wines are white and coming from the owners chateau I am not getting much of a pairing. By which I mean that the number and variety of white Bordeaux’s from the same maker is going to be limited. And so it proved with the first glass which was a mono dimensional white. Then came a fantastic white that had complexity. Next the 2001 Bordeaux blend red Haut Brion ( this wine being the reason for buying this pairing) and finally a Sauterne. These three wines were fabulous, I don’t think they matched particularly well with the food but I did not care, I wanted to enjoy the wines and the story and I did. In summary. The things we will remember very positively and in order are a) the setting b) the wine flight c) the quality of the food offering and d) the friendliness of the service. Price I can’t recall in Euros but it was a little over AUD 1100 on my credit card. About AUD 450 was the food. Yes the wine was expensive (AUD 460 for 1+3 tastings of Bordeaux for one person is “fully” priced), but it was integral to the experience and really lifted the experience for us. We thoroughly recommend Le Clarence and all aspects of its offering.