Maude (Pear)

This is my 5th visit to Maude in 6 months. I guess I have the pleasure of doing this because I don’t have many financial responsibilities. This month’s tasting features pears, and again it did not disappoint me. I love pears, and I was curious in seeing how the chef uses it in his dishes.

Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. This has 1 Michelin Star.

Food

Kumamoto oyster with ice. This was really good. The Kumamoto was definitely very fresh and sweet. I think the ice on top had some pear juices in it, so the water had a little sweetness to it.

1. Oyster Chicken Pretzel. The big brown ball is the pretzel bread. On the bottom is chicken skin with some pears and something else that I don’t quite remember. The top right is pear mustard, which by the way was very interesting and delicious. I genuinely lathered the mustard onto the pretzel bread, and it was a great compliment.

2. Pear & Beetroot with goat curd, hay ash, and hazelnut. This is the first “salad” of the night. The top red thing was a beet chip. There are various hints of pears in the oils. If you love beets, this was also good too.

3. Soup with smoked celery root and wood sorrel. This soup was really good. It had this smokey flavor to it, and was warm and rich.

4. Tuna Crudo with kim chi, forbidden rice, and seaweed. At the top of this tuna “tartare” kind of thing sat some chips. I think they used some of the pear juice to mix with the sauce that they poured on top of it. The tuna was super soft and good. The sauce was also a perfect blend to this.

5. Pig’s Head Terrine with parsnip, parsnip toffee, and raw pear. The little pieces of pork in the terrine were very tender. There were little pieces of parsnip that adds some flavor.

6. Guinea Hen Ravioli with swiss chard, Tokyo turnip, and pear cider sabayon. This was simply sublime. I’ve read some other reviews out there, and some people are saying this is one of their least favorite (some have even said they don’t like the ravioli’s done at Maude period). On the contrary, I love this every month that they have had it. The dough was cooked perfectly al dente. What’s great is the inside of the ravioli is meaty and big. The pear cider sabayon was a nice addition to it.

7. Veal Cheek with cauliflower, pear gel, and parsley oil. The veal cheek was very tender. You don’t even need the knife that they give you. The oil had some pear flavors in it in addition to the pear gel. This is one of those dishes that after you try it, it leaves a smile in your head.

8. Brie with salted walnut tuile, grape, and endive. This is the cheese dish before the desserts. I’m not sure what the shavings on the left are, but the brie was a nice finisher after the braised veal.

9. Cheesecake with pear. The cheesecake with the raspberry dots were nice. The pear ice cream was awesome. If they served pear ice cream, I wouldn’t hesitate to get it. It was a good palette cleanser for me.

10. Stout Pouched Pear with roasted peanut foam, dark chocolate, and panna cotta. I loved the roasted peanut foam with the panna cotta. There was dark chocolate underneath the panna cotta as well as circled around the perimeter. The stout pouched pear was interesting, but did not leave any particular thoughts about it. I actually liked the previous pear dessert a bit more despite its simplicity.

Lastly, we have a trio of desserts. Starting left and going clockwise, we have cactus pear pate de fruit in a lime sugar, pear marshmallow with Tasmanian honey, and dark chocolate and caramel truffle. The cactus pear pate de fruit as usual is very nice and gummy. The marshmallow did taste like pear, and the little drop of honey was fairly potent. Lastly, the dark chocolate with caramel ooze inside was quite delicious.

As usual, they give you some a take home item: cactus pear curd. You can spread this on bread or crackers if you wanted. I didn’t have any as I gave it away, but I am positive this is good too!

Final Verdict

So as you can tell, most of the month’s food was all pretty good. I loved the way they used the pear as a “sugar” for a lot of the dishes. Of all the months I’ve been to Maude, my favorite so far still has been the rhubarb month.

Revisions

1. Nov 13, 2022 - Migrated post from other blog.
2. Oct 15, 2014 - Initial revision.