Eating at the Grand Hotel Europe, you assume the food is going to be good, which was why I and a colleague scheduled two important business meetings in its Brasserie eatery last week.
The food was good, but how did the restaurant rate as a business dining venue? Overall it came up trumps -- with a few hiccups.
Although relatively open, table placement and the overall background noise in the restaurant allows for discussion without fear of those at the next table following every word.
A negative at our second meal was that the waitress, although warned as we walked in that our guests were pressed for time, failed to promptly deliver menus, causing some distracting agitation at the table.
Starters (which range between $7-$20) are presented in hot and cold varieties, including traditional Russian dishes such as borshch and less decidedly non-traditional ones such as "avocado and Kamchatka crab" and "chicken liver parfait." Black or red caviar is also on offer (for $38 or $20).
The mains section ($8-$31) reveals one of the user-friendly aspects of the Brasserie: the flexibility of its menu, which offers a choice of lighter meals such as scrambled eggs (served with smoked salmon and black caviar I should add) as well as more substantial fare.
Seafood lovers can go for "panfried fillet of plaice served with cockles, shrimps and calamaris" sauteed in lemon butter. Meats include the "breast of chicken filled with prunes" served with white wine cream sauce and a glazed pear and beef, lamb, pork or sirloin off the well stocked grill menu.
A daily supplement to the menu offered "fresh lobsters from our tank," blinis and roast loin of pork on the day we lunched.
Our VIP guest insisted on a cheeseburger and French fries -- with the meat pattie well done. ("Cremated" was the word he used.)
Thankfully the waitress didn't even blink as she scrawled the order down in her notepad. But next time a visitor's deputy suggests we lunch at Carrol's -- we had thought it an odd suggestion at the time -- perhaps we should take more notice.
My own "grilled fillet of seabass, with wok fried vegetables and a warm soy, ginger dressing" was excellent. The fish melted rather than requiring chewing, while the vegetables had been allowed to retain their natural juices and flavors.
As I ate the fillet I realized that the Brasserie's small selection of exotica based around a solid core of excellently turned out, but essentially simple or classic dishes really did cater to all tastes -- it turned out it even includes a cheeseburger.
The table was large enough to allow the two of us in the party who referred to and took notes, to do so without difficulty.
For those engaged in commerce over lunch, the restaurant offers unobtrusive service with a few light counterpoints that can be useful for relieving the mood when the negotiating gets tough -- such as the appearance at the table of a waitress bearing a pepper grinder which must be at least a meter (three feet) high.
Unfortunately a mix-up (twice) with our diet-conscious client's drink -- light Coke -- did temporarily distract us from the talk at hand.
Our party spared little time for dessert, but I sneaked in at the first meal the "trio of ice-cream," a simply but tasty concoction of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate ice cream and swirling tangy sauces (though managing the solid brandy-snap basket is a bit of a struggle in polite company).
It was with some interest that I watched the next day as our VIP guest ordered the same dish. When it arrived he simply abandoned the delicate basket as superfluous, tipping the ice-cream out onto his plate where it was readily accessible and attacking it with relish. I think it was at that point that I decided I wanted to work with his company.
Alcohol on offer spans the full range of spirits (starting at $6), ports ($7), champagnes and red and white wines from $30 a bottle. Or, if the lunch is to celebrate a deal done, you might care to uncork the 1986 Corton Charlemagne, Chateau de Beaune at a charming $262 a bottle.