Le Montagne - Chardonne

Sia: Autumn Menu: Foie Gras in soup veggie, Risotto in with very little sticks of black truffle, pigeon

YiChun: Sea scallops

Food:
You can see through the presentation that the cook had put a lot of thought into the food. Two generous slices of Foie gras were laid out with rock salt crystals on top, bringing some sweat out. The risotto was tasty in its own right with the mix of cheeses blended in but unfortunately had little in way of truffle flavor. It was again well presented with thin, fine stick of truffle, garnered with small slice of parmesan, small piece of prosciutto, and a waffle-like chip.

The quarter of pigeon, besides being small was tasty. I think there was a small misfortune with the hind leg in that it was way too salty.

YiChun’s four scallops came well decorated on a black plate with yellow sauce and nicely sliced orange and fennel bulbs loosely stacked together. YiChun didn’t like the sauce and thought the scallops were not particularly outstanding besides being pretty small. Having ordered it as a main course (entrée for us Americans but don’t ever tell the French speakers that entrée is main course), YiChun thought at least it should come with some starch. Since the option exists, the a-la-carte guests should still be able to satisfy their appetite with a just main course, maybe with an appetizer. However, Le Montagne choose to serve their a-la-carte guests the exact same plate as the people going for the menu. YiChun wasn’t hungry in the first place, so she felt alright. But I could tell that four scallops and s few slices of veggies could only serve as my appetizer but not a main course.

YiChun didn’t feel the food was that special nor outstanding. I would agree. But then again, how creative could you be with scallops or pigeons? You pan sear the former – the only way screwing it is either by under or overcooking and an establishment like Le Montagne wasn’t about to make a mistake on something that simple. I have always loved pigeon and don’t think there are that many ways to cook it. The autumn menu was what it was – the ingredients simple, and overall, it wasn’t bad food – it just wasn’t 220 CHF food.

The service was definitely the worst part of the evening. We waited at least 20 minutes to order water after we sat down. And that was only because we stopped stopped someone while they were running back to the kitchen. No, I really don’t bite. You can stand next to me and safely tell me what I was about to enjoy. After my risotto was brought to the table, YiChun had this grin on her. Apparently, the waiter had “walked” away from the table and started running just when he thought he was out of our sight. Just as he laid down my main course on the table, the waiter started to back away at the same time starting to tell me what was on the plate.

After my appetizer was served, a waitress came to set additional silver. We knew right there that she didn’t know YiChun didn’t order the menu. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, someone else came and replaced her silverware.

When YiChun asked for the desert menu, she was told that since she ordered a-la carte, she should have put in the desert order ahead of time, since it takes time to prepare. Only two minutes later, the lady in charge came to tell YiChun that what the other waitress meant was that since YiChun didn’t order the menu, dessert would be a separate item. It would still be possible to order something.

At this point, I told her that was contrary to what the other person said. Before I could even finish, she cut me off, and told me that a-la carte doesn’t include a dessert.

When she came back to take YiChun’s order, I told her that it had been a very disappointing dinning experience. She then pointed out that the fact that the servers only spoke French was an issue – implying that the fact that I didn’t speak French was the root cause of it. I told her that I never had a bad dinning experience with Denis Martin nor the 3 star place in Crissier with my level of French. She then moved on to tell me that most guests were late today and everyone had come at once. Wow, it’s apparently it’s all our fault – the guests.

The chef did make his rounds at the end of the evening. He was calm, reasonable, and apologetic. He asked us specifically what went wrong with the service and provided us some desert wine. It was a nice gesture.

The general mood of the waiters were a nervous, tense and of disorganization.

You expect a bit more when four well prepared scallops run you of 68 Swiss Francs and a 4 course menu sets you back 130 Francs.