I've rarely seen a place that’s as pretentious as Lola... and it's all for nothing.
A long restaurant with a view of the kitchen, a white ambiance, a warm light and a bar on the right, welcome to Lola, a place that offers a cuisine from the sea as well as local specialties. The place looks professional. Fully booked, we could barely find ourselves four seats.
Walls painted in white on one side and covered with wood panels on the other, a dark stone floor and a long sofa following the left wall with a series of tables facing it. Between the right and left sides, a large corridor makes walking around easy and stress free.
The logo is orange and the interior is as well, it's close to yellow as you'll see in the photos. The tables are set with two forks and two knives as well as two glasses for every person. So we were welcomed with a mise en bouche, cups of salmon cream with green tobiko. A smooth cream cheese with salmon and a subtle fish flavor.
The menu is varied:
- Lola et la mer (oysters, the scallop festival, foie gras and desserts)
- Lola's starters
- Lola and pasta
- Lola and the serious orders (Mamie's orders, the weekend)
- Lola's recommendations
- Desserts
I loved the bread; four pieces of French baguette served warm with Beurre d'Isigny butter on the side. A bread that's fluffy with a crunchy envelope. A good start.
The starters:
- Mushroom Mille Feuille: Three layers of puff pastry with mushrooms in the middle. A nice crunch, a warm filling but a mix that's a bit dry, lacks salt and flavor. I felt the chewiness of the patta negra, but not their taste. This plate was missing life.
- Fresh crab: as good as you'd expect, a portion of fresh crab presented in a cylindrical style.
- Shrimp tempura: Oil-free and fresh, but nothing exceptional about them. Asian restaurant food.
- Raw salmon: Uncomplicated, raw salmon with a subtle sweetness. As good as you'd hope for.
The main plates:
- Roast beef: Served hot, very hot, slices of roast beef floating in their sauce with fried potato balls which were a bit undercooked. A flavorful sauce, but a chewy meat.
- Irish beef: A chunk of meat that's tender and cooked as requested with béarnaise sauce on the side. That's a good plate. The French fries on the side are cooked in old oil, giving them an unpleasant taste.
- Foie gras: A thick chunk of very good quality foie gras with fig jam and Breton bread.
The minuses:
- The staff is not welcoming.
- Service is slow.
- The food has nothing exceptional to it.
- The place is over heated.
- The menu is badly organized and complicated.
- It's expensive for what you get.
We finished dinner in less than an hour and left after deciding not to have dessert.
The verdict: Deceiving! Nothing I ate left me amazed, it's more of a restaurant for a quick lunch break.
Lola is not recommended.
