Introduction

I really knew nothing about this place before going in. I had nothing to do with picking it, but I really, really enjoyed it! Generally French cuisine seems like an absurd overload of butter in an attempt to approach umami, but this was really unique and memorable. I had no issues with my gluten allergy here, and the waiter was very helpful in steering us away from a fixed menu experience. Although they can adapt the fixed menu to be gluten-free, he said the experience was severely compromised and it’s better to go a la carte.

Overall the pictures are really bad quality for this post because I sat right under a light. But it’s ok.

Food

We started with the yellowfin tuna appetizer, which was actually sweet because of the raisins! I loved it though I forgot to take a picture. We then moved on to the pike dumpling with lobster sauce. To be honest, I was excited to eat a gluten-free dumpling, but this dumpling was nothing like what I expected. It was very soft (probably did not have an actual dough shell) and very large. The seafood flavor was really overwhelming (not surprising, I know), but the lobster sauce really calmed things down as a nice base.

The main entree was a real hit. Loyal followers will remember that I was disappointed by the duck in Hutong. But the duck in Le Coucou (the dish it is well-known for) is fantastic. It came in two parts: the breast was already evenly divided between the two of us and accompanied by foie gras and cherries. But the rest of the duck was still on the bone¹ and was delivered in a pan for us to share. The duck had a great tart flavor from the cherries that cut through the fattiness, and the foie gras was such a nice treat to enjoy in between. I initially thought that all together, the dish would be far too rich, but it ended up being very balanced and delicious!

We got two desserts. One was a pavlova: meringue with fruit and mint. It was a really nice way to clear the palate after such a rich main dish. The other was on the house: an assortments of chocolates and sweets, all of which were gluten-free!

Conclusion

I would definitely come back here. I would probably get the same dishes though – I don’t think the menu was overflowing with gluten-free options. I don’t mind a restricted meal that’s this good!