Le Cirque Signature Turns Two With Lobster Risotto, Lamb Loin And More

Le Cirque Signature, The Leela’s outpost of the New York restaurant has just turned two. And birthday celebrations include a new menu with the who’s who of the fungi, seafood and the meat world.

We were invited for a tasting of Le Cirque’s new menu additions. The restaurant draws on French and Italian influences and spells old world charm with huge chandeliers, twinkling candlelight, flowers and plush seating. While the ambience might seem a bit uptight, the menu dispels any stuffiness with hearty but wholesome offerings. Bonus points for the wonderful plating.

Our appetite and interest was piqued with a lovely amuse bouche of goat cheese, cured beet, candied orange and micro greens. Up next was Egg all Milanese — fried eggs {much like Scotch eggs but with a gooey, soft boiled centre}, served on a bed of mashed, creamy green peas, white asparagus and topped with little blobs of intense truffle pesto. The eggs got along like a house on fire with the truffle pesto.This was followed by lobster risotto {a new York style affair}, made with carnaroli rice, slices of lobster and tossed up in Americaine {a French-style sauce with lobster stock, tomatoes, tarragon and spices} sauce. The risotto was rich, creamy and slightly sweet, thanks to the lobster.

If you want to tuck into mains, our recommendation would have to be the Lamb Loin crusted with orange and olives puree, served with little roundels of bell peppers drizzled with an anchovy-flavoured oil, and a basil potato puree. Done medium rare, the lamb loin was so tender and all kinds of wonderful and the smokey bell peppers complimented it perfectly. Chef Giuseppe Mandaradon, explained that Calabria, where he comes from in Italy, is known for serving elements of seafood and meat in a single dish {Surf & Turf}, hence the touch of anchovies to a lamb. We finished our meal with an excellent Creme Brûlée.

Though the menu is loaded with seafood and meaty heavyweights, vegetarians do have enough options. We tasted some of the Potato Mille Feuille served with mushroom ragout, asparagus, truffle and pecorino fondue, and it was good enough to give the non vegetarian dishes a run for its money.

When: Dinner only {reservation recommended}

Timings: 6.30pm-11.30pm