ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted April 6, 2007 Report Share Posted April 6, 2007 I was intrigued when I found that new restaurant over Meiji Dori from Hiroo Shotengai, mainly because of its name: La Pitchouli de Loulou (03-3440-5858). We waited a week after its opening (learned from past disasters!), then we went in. The restaurant is small, elegantly colored in crimson and brown, with just the right dim in the lighting and a discreet jazz in the background. The cuisine is French-Basque; the menu (in Japanese and French) is on the blackboard. The appetizer list offers French specialties such as tripe à la mode (tripes), boudin noir (blood sausage), œuf en moulette (wine-poached egg), cuisse de grenouille (frog legs), but also some "harmlesser" items like pâte de campagne, salade niçoise, or tarte flambée (the Alsatian pizza-like “flammeküeche”); all from around ¥1,000. Main dishes include bavette de veau (veal flank), bouillabaisse, or couscous royal, from around ¥2,000. Wines (France, Australia, California) from ¥5,000.We onjoyed a good and relaxed evening there. The service is very friendly, the waiters know their stuff, and readily explain menu details, wine information, or even the fascinating name of the restaurant (pitchouli apparently is a bard, and Loulou seems to be a friend of the chef from his time in the Basque country). On special occasions the waiter may play the accordeon. There are just a few tables and a few bar counter seats, so advance reservation is recommended. Open 18:00~03:00; closed on Mondays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted April 6, 2007 Report Share Posted April 6, 2007 La Pitchouli de Loulou (03-3440-5858). The appetizer list offers French specialties such as tripe à la mode (tripes), boudin noir (blood sausage),It sounds lovely, Pat.Is the "blood sausage" akin to English/Scottish black pudding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted April 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2007 Yes, boudin is the same as "black pudding". When I was a child I absolutely couldn't eat that (nor tripes), today I simply love it (if it's well done). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted April 6, 2007 Report Share Posted April 6, 2007 Is the "blood sausage" akin to English/Scottish black pudding?boudin noir The clue is in the "noir". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted April 6, 2007 Report Share Posted April 6, 2007 Is the "blood sausage" akin to English/Scottish black pudding? boudin noir The clue is in the "noir". You know catgate, your sense of humour occasionally borders on the offensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted April 6, 2007 Report Share Posted April 6, 2007 Is the "blood sausage" akin to English/Scottish black pudding? boudin noir The clue is in the "noir". You know catgate, your sense of humour occasionally borders on the offensive.I know. I have one or two scars, in some most strange places, that prove your point! However as a life long chum of mine observed, some years ago, "When you get well past six score and ten you can say almost anything, and still get away with it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted April 6, 2007 Report Share Posted April 6, 2007 I was intrigued when I found that new restaurant over Meiji Dori from Hiroo Shotengai, mainly because of its name: La Pitchouli de Loulou (03-3440-5858). We waited a week after its opening (learned from past disasters!), then we went in. The restaurant is small, elegantly colored in crimson and brown, with just the right dim in the lighting and a discreet jazz in the background. The cuisine is French-Basque; the menu (in Japanese and French) is on the blackboard. The appetizer list offers French specialties such as tripe à la mode (tripes), boudin noir (blood sausage), œuf en moulette (wine-poached egg), cuisse de grenouille (frog legs), but also some "harmlesser" items like pâte de campagne, salade niçoise, or tarte flambée (the Alsatian pizza-like “flammeküeche”); all from around ¥1,000. Main dishes include bavette de veau (veal flank), bouillabaisse, or couscous royal, from around ¥2,000. Wines (France, Australia, California) from ¥5,000.We onjoyed a good and relaxed evening there. The service is very friendly, the waiters know their stuff, and readily explain menu details, wine information, or even the fascinating name of the restaurant (pitchouli apparently is a bard, and Loulou seems to be a friend of the chef from his time in the Basque country). On special occasions the waiter may play the accordeon. There are just a few tables and a few bar counter seats, so advance reservation is recommended. Open 18:00~03:00; closed on Mondays.Sounds interesting. The food sounds fine except the frogs legs. I did eat them some years ago in Paris, and they were very tasty. However, since then I have seen on a TV programme, how they chop the legs off while the frogs are still alive. I just can't condone that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted April 6, 2007 Report Share Posted April 6, 2007 However, since then I have seen on a TV programme, how they chop the legs off while the frogs are still alive.It makes them hopping mad.I wrote to Virginia Bottomley when she was Minister of Something Wonderful, applying for a grant to research the rearing of multi legged frogs for export to France. I got a lovely letter back, seriously explaining that there was "currently no scheme under which such a grant could be made". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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