TimeOut Critic Gets Extra Sassy in Two-Star Petit Trois Review

Occasional TimeOut critic and longtime Food Network host Simon Majumdar isn’t one to pull punches, and in his new review of Petit Trois Le Valley he is absolutely swinging, calling the place “far from revolutionary.”

While some may argue that being cutting-edge is less the point of Petit Trois than simply being very, very classically French, Majumdar says in his piece that even the basics are often mishandled here. He notes:

A crab cake ($25), while pleasingly high on seafood and low on filler, came with enough salt to make me lay down my fork after a couple of bites. And the only connection between the Croque-Madame ($23) and Michelin quality was that the sandwich had been left so long under the pass that it had congealed to the texture of a tire.

Dang. Well, what about the steaks?

Filet mignon was used as the main component in steak frites ($38), and while not a favorite cut of mine, if one does offer a steak with almost zero flavor, one should at least cook it properly. I will leave the fact that four out of five of the steaks ordered when I joined a larger group had to be taken off our check as evidence that Petit Trois Valley is still figuring out this fact.

Wonho Frank Lee

And the staff?

The service at Petit Trois Valley is still finding its feet. At best, it can lead to protracted periods of trying to catch a server’s eye, and at worst, as at the aforementioned breakfast, the notion of customer-server interaction appeared an alien concept to most everyone, resulting in lengthy waits to order, receive our food and claim our check at the end of the meal.

All is not lost, though, as Majumdar seems taken with the early cheese and bread, as well as the foie gras and French onion soup. He even compliments the Big Mec burger that has proven to be so popular, while backhandedly noting that: “One suspects that the kitchen simply wouldn’t dare get that one wrong.”

In all, TimeOut doles out two stars for the restaurant, calling it a “pale imitation” of the original. Given the harsh language the two star marker even seems a surprise, especially as this Majumdar review is not far removed from such winners as Bavel (four stars), Majordomo (four stars), and Dialogue (five stars).

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