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As I walked in, a smile appeared on my face. More lights decorate Goutons Voir which makes it look brighter yet keeping the warm ambiance, but at least this time I can see my food and take better photos.
I've been here many times already and the experience has always been consistent. A pleasant welcoming, good food, generous plates, a nice ambiance in a restaurant serving tasty French cuisine and one of Lebanon's best pizzas, the thin crunchy one.
I always take a round table on the main wall – the corner tables surrounded by a leather sofa on a side and wooden chairs on the other. It’s calm there and I get to enjoy the feel of this relaxing restaurant and am able to look at the details of the architecture. I love the wooden floor, the small bar, the plants filling the walls, the colorful placemats and the blackboards displaying the day's specials.
Dinner started with a basket of toasted French bread. Airy slices of black olive bread or zaatar with an olive oil-balsamic bowl. What bread! A thin but crunchy envelope around a lightly chewy but crispy heart, filled with flavors while being moist and enriched with passionate spells.
- The Diavola pizza followed: A thirty centimeter circle, thin like paper, crispy like biscuit, generously filled and ready to amaze. A very hard border that breaks, while the heart is slightly chewy but not soggy. Premium pepperoni, balls of cheese melting homogeneously, a spread of tomato sauce... Yummy!
- All the rest was excellent: The Wagu cote de boeuf is tender like butter and perfectly cooked, a red heart but not bloody. The steak and fries are exceptional, as for the steak haché, it's exquisite.
- The best part is surely the accompaniments. The green beans, potato purée with mustard or the potato purée with teriyaki sauce alongside the spinach are all superb.
- Best for last: The truffle potatoes! Uffff! I’m not sure how they do it, but whatever they do, they do it extremely well. I presume the fries are pan-fried in a truffle oil mix, giving them a special crunch, an airy feel, no chewiness whatsoever, and a rich aroma of truffles with the usual Parmesan on top. All you have to do is put it in your mouth, let it relax on your tongue and push up your palate to feel it crumbling into a hundred pieces with such wonderful finesse. Bravo, bravo, bravo...
The cherry on top was our waiter that night. A professional I've seen here often. Smiley, welcoming and attentive, he made our dinner memorable.
I didn't feel like eating dessert tonight, but Jacques, our waiter, insisted on offering us the Pain Perdu to try. He was right, this is one of the finest pain perdu in town. Heaven, it's pure heaven.
Served in two blocks, the pain perdu's juicy heart is so fresh, so good, milky, buttery and tasty. This heart is not fatty or chewy. The caramel sauce adds a certain sweetness to make those two blocks perfect. Being square, the sharp borders are lightly toasted, adding a pleasant crunch while you enjoy the taste of this mouthwatering cake. Last time, the pain perdu needed a little more sweetness, a problem now solved by adding two lines of powdered sugar.
Goutons Voir, an address in Dbayeh I surely recommend. Don't be surprised if I write another review about it soon.
