Les Nymphéas, in Rouen, is a fine restaurant offering traditional cuisine of excellent quality, enhanced by excellent service.

Second evening in Rouen and second restaurant. My initial intention was to try a simple restaurant, a more refined one and a gourmet one. While the simple wasn’t hard to find, the supposedly more refined Jehanne was a disappointment, and when it comes to gastronomy, there’s not much in Rouen center, and certainly nothing that resembles a Michelin-starred restaurant.

So, after a bit of research, I opted for Les Nymphéas, a traditional gourmet restaurant whose menu appealed to me.

You’ll find all the articles about this weekend in Rouen at the bottom of the page.

Concept

Les Nymphéas is a restaurant serving traditional French cuisine, as well as a number of local specialties.

And if you’re wondering where the name of the restaurant comes from, it’s of course a reference to Claude Monet who, although born in Paris, spent a large part of his life in Normandy, a region that served as inspiration for many of his paintings.

The setting

The restaurant is housed in a building featuring typical local architecture.

The restaurant is accessed via an inner courtyard.

The room is quite plush.

There’s also an outdoor terrace in a quiet courtyard.

The menu

Traditional and local…

The name of the menus also refers to Monet.

The dinner

On arrival I was greeted with a warm welcome and seated at my table!

Next to me is a fine collection of whiskies! Unconscious people! They don’t know me…

I’m asked if I’d like an aperitif. Since there’s americano on the menu, I assume they know how to make a Negroni. The waitress goes to the bar and comes back to confirm it. Obvious? You’ll see in a future article that it’s not so.

My order is then taken.

I’ll be brought an amuse bouche to accompany my drink: a sort of cucumber velouté with goat’s cheese.

The negroni will be very correct, and the amuse bouche very fresh and pleasant.

The starter arrives very quickly, and with the glass of wine I’ve ordered, so I have to finish the aperitif in a hurry. They could pay attention to this kind of detail and wait before sending out the dishes when a customer is having an aperitif.

Oxtail and cheek terrine with lukewarm herb vinaigrette

Nice visual.

A fresh dish with lots of flavor, but unfortunately the vinaigrette wasn’t lukewarm anymore by the time it reached my table.

The dish is quite light and delicate for a beef cheek terrine, and is very easy to eat.

Then the main course.

Sea bass fillet, creamy celery and lemon sabayon.

Beautiful presentation that makes you wonder if the fish is on the right or the left.

The creamy celery is very light and tastes excellent.

The sea bass is perfectly cooked and its flesh perfect, but unfortunately its taste disappears completely behind that of the sabayon. It’s a shame, this overdose of lemon prevents you from really savoring the fish, so the sabayon would benefit from being more discreet.

If you mix the sabayon and celery, the balance is perfect, but once again, it’s the fish that loses out.

Then I’ll have a plate of cheese. Are we in Normandy or not?

Camembert, Livarot and Comté.

Ok Comté doesn’t sound too Norman….

Finally, dessert.

Apple soufflé flambéed with Calvados

I would have preferred it to be flambéed at the table, as is the case at the Auberge Bressane, for example.

It’s good but lacks a bit of apple…

To finish, I’ll have a 16-year-old Lagavulin as a digestive. I couldn’t say no to such a great whisky menu. It will be accompanied by coffee and mignardises

I’d like to take this opportunity to highlight the restaurant’s whisky list, which is truly impressive and of the highest quality (even if, in my opinion, Bowmore is missing…).

I’ll learn that this list is the work of the restaurant’s owner… From what the staff told me, he doesn’t drink whisky but chooses them by the nose! Surprising!

The service

Really very good. Very serious and friendly at the same time. We talked a lot and even joked during the service, proving that you can offer a serious service in keeping with the standing of the property without being obsequious or having a broomstick where I think.

I was obviously served by the owner’s son, a really lovely person.

The atmosphere

Calm and subdued without being sad.

Bottom line

Not much to complain about, apart from the sabayon, which was perhaps a little too strong for such a fine fish. Otherwise, both the food and the service were perfect.

The articles about this weekend in Rouen

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