French Fine Dining At Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard ... For The Epicurious

Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard offers a gastronomic journey round the world for anyone who appreciates dynamic twists on fine dining French cuisine, the use of high quality ingredients and outstanding service.

Following your complimentary glass of Taittinger, we recommend you let the very passionate Chef de Cuisine David Tavernier take you on a blind tasting journey, with a ménu dégustation. We began with an amuse bouche which was deliciously avant garde: the small, fluted tart shell filled with a tom yum creme had a naturally green hue and a definite kick, in true Thai tom yum style.

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The very French first course was the one I think I enjoyed the most: in its first iteration, it earned Chef Nicolas his Michelin star and is by far his most beloved dish. This contemporary play on soup l’oignon is at first a little confusing. The bowl arrives with no broth, but an emulsion and a quenelle of onion ice-cream - but once the consommé is added to the dish, there’s an interesting hot-meets-cold, foam-meets-broth situation with small pieces of onion for texture - absolutely glorious!

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The next few courses followed quickly: we enjoyed the stellar Vietnamese marriage of foie gras with confit of kumquat and carrots, resting in a pho broth. The Moroccan inspired red mullet course was also a favourite, where the fish filet, sat on the most beautiful eggplant, was paired with gorgeously salty caviar and a saffron sauce.

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The poached chicken breast main was anything but ordinary. The Lebanese-borne combination of confit of fennel, a very light truffle creme and a very rich and decadent hibiscus flower sauce was truly outstanding.

We finished with Chef’s take on a Cuban piña colada: coconut ice-cream, a beautifully smooth, yellow, pineapple espuma and a cute poached pineapple in the shape of a pineapple crown, came together to form this light, exotic dessert.

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The wine list is extensive and the cocktails and mocktails are made with good ingredients, ensuring excellent finished products. One of the things that stood out, aside from the stylishly comfortable decor, the views over to the Grand Mosque and the very, very good service, was the absolutely beautiful crockery, made in France of course and levelling up the already stunning plating.

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