L'Oasis

A wonderful evening at L'Oasis. The food was delightful and the ambiance and service were top notch. L'Oasis has long held 2 Michelin stars for these qualities and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

Situated just 5 minutes' drive from Cannes. This verdant treasure with a cascade waterfall in the middle is hidden in the streets of the fine city of La Napoule. If it's raining- you'll be seated inside with a beautiful view of the oasis. If it's warm and dry - to be outside is just gorgeous, it feels like you're somewhere in the jungle or at least botanical garden, where they serve gourmand food.
Have to mention that there is not one chef, but a trio, consisting of the Raimbault brothers- Stephane, Antoine and Francois. Stephane is the main. Since he travelled a lot and lived in Japan for quite some time, that would explain his approach to the Mediterranean and Provencal cuisine, and there is a certain influence on his culinary technique, coming from the Oriental counties, no wonder you'll see the dishes with curry or teriyaki, wagyu beef, and more Asian peculiarities.
When they bring out to the table truffle butter, tapenade, tomato paste and bread assortment - you start mouthwatering. All right, recap:
There is a simple Gourmand Trilogy, such as oscietre caviar; langouste rose; wagyu with foie gras and truffles. What else can be simpler?! The price of this regale would cost you 242 Euro per person. Cheeses and desserts are included here too. Menu "Flaveurs d'Orient" is a little bit more reasonable in price and with more complexity. It is 149, and that's for one of course. "D'orient" describes the conception. To start with l'Amuse bouche, which was a trio of salmon, oyster seviche and a sea urchin jelly, all appetizing. Then they brought "Thon, liche" - crudo style tuna, beautifully and smart decorated on a plate that gives you impression that there is twice more raw fish on it. Cappuccino de Noix de Saint-Jacques was really subtle and delicious. We asked the waiter to change the main course and instead of Veau with Foie Gras (veal filet mignon) we ordered Pigeon. We've got a breast and a leg, both tiny, but unforgettable delicious and juicy. As a side they brought zucchini and a stuffed zucchini flower. Then came the cheese cart. An extensive selection of various cheeses to satisfy the most squeamish customer like me. But again, no any accompaniments, like figs, dried apricots, prunes, I don't know, grapes, fig or apricot spread. Just bread... That surprises me a lot: they invented that cheese symphony and don't want to play it no more. And when I asked for some accompaniments - I heard that they didn't have any. Where is their "We will happily prepare exactly what you crave for"?! Too bad, cause my overall impression was perfectly high before this "cheese incident" happened again. Then came the well-known Caravane of desserts. You are dazzled of how much of everything is in there and it's hard to choose just few, you want to try them all, they look so attractive to me and different. Whether it's a seasonal apricot pie, or chocolate cake, or strawberry cake or anything else - all great. And after these desserts you have to save some room for more sweets that will come in the end of your meal with coffee or a digestive may be. Traditional macarons in a huge vase, seasonal currant paste and a set of tiny pastries. Macarons are good, but not as good as you'll find in Laduree or Angelina cafes - those would melt in your mouth if you eat them right away.
You can order all the dishes I described a la cart. And there are a lot more of course. Besides, if ordered in advance they offer stuffed Bresse Poultry, Heart of Veal Sweetbreads, Bouillabaisse and few more specials.
The wine list here is a whole story. It's available in two forms: you can ask for the full version, which can beat some even Michelin star restaurants, and carefully examine it for an hour or more, but that can cause a fair displeasure of your date. For such cases, sommelier Pascal Paulze composed a shortened wine release with his recommendations on just several pages. It comprises everything for every taste and wallet, but special pleasure is that there are a lot of the best wines of Provence for a relatively reasonable price, including some red wines that have already reached maturity.
As for the service - they didn't bring the menu right away, there was a certain waiting time. We had to wait for the wine to be poured few times too. The salt disappeared a couple of times from the table and I asked to bring it back cause we didn't finish the main courses yet. And the "cheese incident"... Sometimes you have to do what the choosy customer wants to get, even if you feel different about that and have some opposite vision.
Traditionally the chef is coming to the dining area and approaches each table saying thank you for coming and asking your impression. Being there about five times for five years, he still doesn't remember us, it might be because he's too occupied creating delicacy at the kitchen or maybe we're not regulars yet and there are customers eating there every day or weekly.
Valet parking is complimentary.