In Lille, Le Braque offers creative cuisine based on local produce, in a very convivial setting.
For this last dinner in Lille, and after testing the two extremes (one estaminet and two starred restaurants), I’ll finish with something in between. While it offers ambitious, even gastronomic cuisine, Le Braque is more akin to a simple, traditional restaurant, or even a brasserie in its approach.
The best of both worlds? Let’s check it out.
You’ll find all the articles about this stay in Lille at the bottom of the page.
The concept
Le Braque offers a cuisine based on local products, used in a fairly creative way in a simple, convivial setting.
The setting
Sleek design, brick walls, open kitchen. Simple and warm.
The menu
There’s a single 5- or 7-course discovery menu and a few light dishes to share, ideal for aperitifs.
The dinner
I arrive at the time of my reservation…
I come in and introduce myself. The person behind the bar gives the person who welcomed me my table number…he’ll accompany me without giving me a single glance.
A waiter comes and gives me the menu. This one’s much more pleasant.
I choose the 7-course menu and add a crispy pig to go with the aperitif.
But the amuse-bouche arrives before the pig…I find it hard to understand the logic.
Very good.
They bring me bread and leek butter to go with the pig. And here comes the crispy pig!
Snacked pig’s head and feet, green mayonnaise .
It’s light, melting and very tasty. I have absolutely no regrets about my choice.
Second serving of amuse bouche: after amuse bouche from the land, amuse bouche from the sea.
Fresh and good.
And now we come to the heart of the matter: sea buckthorn vinegar-glazed radishes, smoked fish tarama, leek oil.
Nice, but perhaps lacking a little finesse. A little too sour, perhaps? Not a big deal, but not perfect.
After a short wait, the next course arrives: ricotta ravioli from the Terdeghem goat farm with wild garlic and rabbit broth.
To be honest, I didn’t really feel the ravioli and ricotta, it lacked a bit of flavor. The broth, quite salty, dominated the dish in terms of taste.
Nice but not outstanding.
Next course: vinegared asparagus from the Ghyvelve farm, 9-month-aged charcuterie from our cellars and pig juice.
To make a long story short, they kill a pig and then cook all its parts in different dishes.
The asparagus is crisp and the taste of the garlic and shallot reduction is very pleasant and present. The downside is that you can’t really feel the charcuterie.
Next comes a sea bass marinated in spring herbs and tarragon hollandaise.
The sea bass is killed with an injection in the back of the neck, so as to avoid pain and stress to the flesh.
The cooking is good and for once all the flavours are perfectly balanced. This is the most successful dish so far, even if it’s more discreet than the previous ones.
There are some lags in the service but nothing to do with yesterday evening’s dinner…
Next dish: Veal tartare, clams, savagnin jus, walnuts and wild garlic.
It’s good but I’m having trouble feeling the land-sea side. There’s a hint of sweetness that comes through, odd…
The waiter sees that I’m getting angry on my phone because the reception is bad and gives me the wifi code. Very nice. On the other hand, the service lasted too long, so I won’t be having cheese.
We then move on to a pre-dessert featuring fromage blanc from Vendeville’s carré farm.
Fresh and perfectly balanced. Really good.
Last but not least, dessert: Baba with strawberries from Jean Michel and sorrel.
There’s a baba hidden under the opaline.
It’s really very good, fresh and light.
To go with my coffee, I’ll have something rather original: a half-yellow, half-green chartreuse, prepared by France’s best craftsmen.
In the end, the promise is kept: the products are of the highest quality, the cuisine is creative and the whole experience is a success. The only criticism I’d make is that there was sometimes a lack of balance, with certain ingredients imposing themselves too much and overshadowing others. Balance is everything – it may be a detail, but it’s the only one that prevents Le Braque from claiming even greater recognition.
The service
Very pleasant, but long.
The atmosphere
Friendly and lively. Music a little loud at the start, discreet at the end as the room filled up.
Bottom line
A very pleasant experience in a restaurant that lacks only a few details to play in the big league.
The articles about this stay in Lille
| # | Type | Post |
| 1 | Diary | Organizing a trip to Lille |
| 2 | Train | Paris-Lille, SNCF TGV 1st class |
| 3 | Hotel | Moxy Lille City |
| 4 | Restaurant | Estaminet chez Raoul Lille |
| 5 | Restaurant | La Table du Clarance, Lille |
| 6 | Hotel | L’Hermitage Gantois, Lille |
| 7 | Restaurant | Le Cerisier, Lille |
| 8 | Restaurant | Le Braque, Lille |
| 9 | Diary | Visit Lille |
| 10 | Train | Lille-Paris, SNCF TGV 1st class ( useless, no review) |
| 11 | Diary | Debriefing my trip to Lille |
Le Braque Lille
Cadre et ambiance
Intérêt de la carte
Présentation des plats
Qualité des plats
Quantité
Service
Rapport Expérience / Prix
Bien
Une cuisine agréable et créative qui ne pèche que par quelques détails.
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