Les Halles--Midtown

ABF & I visited Les Halles downtown sometime last year. I really enjoyed my mussels, and he enjoyed his steak frites, so we planned another return recently. We decided to walk over to the Park Avenue South location this time.

Yes, I realize Anthony Bourdain is not really affiliated with this place anymore, but he is one of the 'celebrity' chefs who first impressed me (even though we disagree on a few points, such as Abba's awesomeness--I heart them-- and the eating of offal--I just can't do it). His straight-shooting, often off-color musings always entertained and informed me. He is not delicate, he can be quite harsh, but you always know he means what he says, and you never wonder what he's really thinking! He's the reason I can't bring myself to eat swordfish anymore, and the reason I rarely order mussels outside of his place ;) The faint of stomach might not want to click on this link.

I ordered the same dish here as the one I got on our visit to the John Street location: Moules Marinieres, or mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce. Yum. These mussels were incredibly tender and delicious, and not a single grain of grit to be felt. I remember liking the sauce more at the John street location, but I was still impressed with this dish, too.

It turns out I can only eat so many mussels in one sitting, and I think I left a good dozen or more in my dish. Not really a doggie-bag type of order, you know? I ate enough to be happy, but they definitely give you a crazy amount of them.

ABF ordered his same dish as he did on John street: Steak Frites. Delicious. It was cooked to a perfect medium, juicy, well-seasoned and not too salty. The fries were perfect: crispy outside, just slightly soft on the inside. I don't think I like this dish enough to order the whole thing for myself, but it is very good.

We had room to share a dessert, so we split the profiteroles. They are ice-cream filled pastry puffs, drizzled with intensely rich chocolate sauce. Long after we'd eaten the pastries, we were scraping up this fantastic sauce. Soooooo good. I even took half a spoonful and mixed it into my café au lait (which was spot-on perfect!) Save room for this dessert...but personally, I'd rather stick with the John Street location.