|
As if you haven’t noticed, there are some fancy restaurants in Patong. And you might wonder if their food is up to the standard of the extravagant decor. The only ostentatious feature of La Boucherie, on Sawasdirak Road, is its bold red and white striped motif. Everything else, from the wine to the waitresses, from the salad to the steaks, from the duck paté to the dessert is unpretentious, genuine and top-of-the-line.
Owner, Claude de Crissey, says he’s eaten steak in just about every restaurant in Patong and, although some were good, he didn’t find the perfect one. That’s why he opened La Boucherie. He wanted to open a simple, dependable no-frills eatery. And he’s pulled it off. La Boucherie may be unsophisticated but it’s a clear-cut testimony to quality and service with no compromises.
For starters, we ordered Warm Goat Cheese Salad, Paté de Foie Gras, and Snails in butter and garlic. While sampling the house wine, a Cuvée Georges du Boeuf (600 Baht), we both agreed that if the starters were this good, what was to follow could only be fantastic.
We were right. The steaks were done to perfection: a Chateaubriand with a baked potato and an Entrecôte with mashed potatoes. The meat at La Boucherie is from Australia and New Zealand. Claude explains: “There are many tricks to make cheaper local meat seem as good as the entrecote you’re eating, such as pounding it to tenderize, but I don’t want to cut any corners.”
We share a Tiramisu over coffee and finish the wine off with a flourish. It’d been one of the best meals I’d had in years of reviewing eateries in Thailand. The service had been attentive and lightning-quick, the wine delicious, the food as fresh as could be and the balance of flavours perfect. I’d highly recommend La Boucherie as being one of the best value-for-money, no-frills restaurants deliveri |
