LE JARDIN: Cuisine de Gils of Trois Gourmands! (First Look) @HassetGo

LE JARDIN is a penthouse garden-themed French restaurant by celebrated French Chef Gils Brault, famous for his top-rated Trois Gourmands restaurant in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. It’s popular for serving classic dishes cooked the traditional French way, and for making their own breads, cheeses, and desserts.

(See related articles: Time Travel  | Hearty French Fare at Ho Chi Minh’s Le Toit Gourmand and review at Trip Advisor | Trois Gourmands Restaurant )

Chef Hasset Go of MedChef, together with Chef Jonas Ng of Mango Tree and Huat Pot fame, trained and worked as apprentices under Chef Gils Brault in Vietnam for 6 months. They were able to convince Chef Gils to partner with them and open his traditional French restaurant concept in Manila.

Working with owner partners James Ng, Peter Mangasi, and  Mike Tayag, they opened one of the most romantic French restaurants in Manila on the penthouse of W 5th.

Here’s a preview of the LE JARDIN experience…

LE JARDIN is located beside Black Sheep in the penthouse of W 5th building in BGC.

You’ll notice the Le Jardin signage put against a backdrop of vertical garden made from real plants when you enter.

There’s a pastry counter and a soon-to-open bakery on the left.
 
Pastry is Chef Hasset Go’s specialty under the MedChef brand. 

I love the garden ambiance with an industrial high ceiling look designed by Randall Lao of daLAOa. There’s even the sound of birds chirping to complete the outdoor garden mood.

A view of the Ortigas skyline in the background, with S&R and St. Lukes in the foreground.

There are two function rooms that can accomodate 8-10 persons each. 

The mini-smoking room, for those who can’t resist a smoke.

The Chef-Owners — Chef Jonas Ng and Chef Hasset Go.

LE JARDIN Cuisine de Gils of Trois Gourmands Degustation Menu
4 Courses (P2,800.00+), 5 Courses (P3,200+), 6 courses (P3,600 +10% service charge) 

• Entree froide | Cold Appetizer and Entree chaude | Warm Appetizer
• Viande | meat, Poisson | Fish, Dessert
• Alcoholic Drinks and
• Beverages, Cocktails, Coffee and Tea

Currently, you have to choose among the 4- to 6-course degustation dinner options. The 4 courses would have 1 appetizer, the 5 courses would have 2, and the 6 courses would have 3.

 

COURSE #1: Bread and Amuse Bouche

They serve this soft roll and really good ✮ brioche, both baked in-house.

✮ The amuse bouche (or palate teaser) is very soft scrambled egg with mushroom and good quality truffle they personally import from France. 

 

Course #2: Cold or Hot Appetizers

We ordered the 4-course option for Rache and the 5-course one for me so that we can try more appetizers.

✮ Assiette de trois foie gras. Goose liver trio.

This is the popular foie gras appetizer from Trois Gourmands. The Foie Gras is presented in three ways — terrine style, torchon cooked in red wine, and…

…in spring roll form! It’s best to balance the flavor of the foie gras with the apple compote.

The foie gras terrine and torchon versions were really smooth and flavorful, but I like this spring roll version the most. 

Coquille St Jacques, puree de pomes de terre aux truffles. Seared Scallops with truffled mashed potatoes. 

The scallops were cooked just right, with truffled mushroom and crayfish sauce to balance the taste. Not very unique though as you can order this type of seared scallops from other restaurants.

✮ Soupe de poisson. Fish soup – French Riviera style.

I personally like this refreshingly different and light fish broth with a taste of the sea. They say this is an authentic style of soup in the southern part of France.

The only thing we did not like is this Garlic Saffron Mayonnaise on top of makunat melba toasts, which was supposed to go with the soup. 

 

Palate Cleanser

 
They serve this fresh lemon shake before the main dish. 

At this point, it’s best to order wine to go with your main choice. Chef Jonas showed us the selection of 5 French wines they carry and recommended the CHÂTEAU LA CALISSE ROSÉ 2011.

It’s “lively and smart” indeed, with just the right sweetness to excite your palate. 🙂

 

Course #3: Main Dish

We ordered the chef’s recommendations — the Beef Cheek and the Tuna Steak.

✮ Pave de thon et foie gras poele, sauce aux truffle. Grilled tuna steak with seared foie gras and truffle sauce.

This is a local adaptation of the classic Tournedos Rossini steak dish with foie gras. Instead of beef, they use our very own Gensan Tuna, cooked medium and served with fish and beef stock with truffle flavor.

The combination of the foie gras, tuna, and sauce was brilliant! 🙂

✮ Joue de boeuf et foie gras poele. Beef cheek topped with seared foie gras.

The beef cheek was so tender and flavorful, especially when combined with the foie gras! You’ll want to savor each bite because it’s quite rare to taste beef cheeks here in Manila.

The La Callice Rose paired nicely with the tuna steak. A full bodied red wine would be good with the beef cheek.

I love these special moments with my wife. A wonderful French degustation such as this would not be complete without sharing it with your special someone. 🙂

 

Cheese Plate

As in any typical French degustation, a cheese plate is served as a pre-dessert course.

This dish includes Peppered cow cheese, Truffle cow cheese, and Chive cow cheese. I can’t believe that they make their own cheese in-house. 

I love how the cheeses pair perfectly with the slices of good solid baguette (with less airy holes).

 

Course #4: Dessert

Fondant chocolat. Moist chocolate lava cake.

For dessert, they serve a typical Belgian lava cake with Sebastian’s Vanilla Ice Cream with a melted effect. This was good but you can find it in other restaurants.

 
✮ Profiterole au chocolat. Light chou pastry with chocolate and ice cream.

This has almost the same ingredients but it’s in a big profiterole shape, served bits of almond to contrast with the creaminess of the ice cream and chocolate.

Italian Roast Coffee (P100 +10% service charge)

Best to order coffee to pair with the chocolatey dessert. 🙂

 

Overall, I love LE JARDIN‘s romantic French garden ambiance and its penthouse location with a great view of BGC. 🙂 I also like the traditional French way they cook their food, taking no shortcuts.

I appreciate how they insist on making their own breads, cheeses, and desserts to offer the best experience for foodies. They plan to smoke their own salmon, bacon, and other future offerings in the resto. 🙂

The 4-course Degustation is enough. Just don’t forget to order the Assiette de trois foie gras or Soupe de poisson for appetizer, the Joue de boeuf et foie gras poele or Pave de thon et foie gras poele, sauce aux truffle for main dish, and the Profiterole au chocolat for dessert.

I also recommend getting the La Calisse Rose to add some spice to your meal. 🙂

Budget is P3,500/head.

I just regret ordering too much foie gras dishes. Make sure to balance your meal with other dishes to maximize your experience.

LE JARDIN Cuisine de Gils of Trois Gourmands
Penthouse, W Fifth Building, 5th Avenue corner 32nd Street
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Reservations: +63 917 8176584

Live an Awesome Life,

Founder, www.OurAwesomePlanet.com 

Disclosure: Thanks to Chef Hasset Go for the Le Jardin Soft Opening Preview!  
(Read Our Awesome Planet Complete Disclosure Policy here)

P.S. They are still currently on soft opening and accepting reservations from friends-of-friends of the owners. They should be fully open by the end of March.