L’idiot seem to be setting the bar for business lunches right now. Full disclosure – I love me some business lunch deals, with places like Yo Sushi taking some beating for value. Sometimes they can be a bit of a nightmare if it’s in a busy part of town as the place gets rowdy and too busy to quality control the lunches (a little bit like Steak Inn’s business lunch), but L’idiot is not one of those places.
So here at L’idiot, a business lunch is going to set you back $799/person, and it is worth every penny.
When you walk in, it has the grandeur and the open space which means you will not be sat on the lap of the person on the table next to you, and you will feel comfortable as you eat. The décor of the restaurant is classy, but not overly ostentatious or garish. L’idiot really manage to strike the balance of Italian cottage come restaurant, with (relatively) fine-dining, quite nicely.
Inside of L’idiot
At L’idiot, on top of your $799/person, expect to be shelling out a few more dollars ($80/person, to be exact) for some free-flowing mineral or sparkling water. I don’t mind this, as I rarely pair my meal with a drink other than water, but some people would mind this if they wanted water and other drinks.
Bread
First up on L’idiot’s business lunch menu is the bread, which is going to come with a selection of toppings/accompaniments/spreads. Presumably they remain the same again and again here at L’idiot, but I will have to confirm that on another visit (oh no, I’ll have to go again and eat delicious Italian food, what a shame…).
There was a fairly non-descript tahini-like spread, a chutney-like spread, and then a cheese-based spread. They were all OK, but not worth going for if that’s the only thing you were interested in. They seemed like they were all made in-house here at L’idiot, which always ticks the positive box. If you are interested in a good salad, then check out what’s happening below.
Salad
We went for 1 caesar salad, and 1 garden salad. They were both good, but if I had to choose only one again, I would go for the caesar salad. Why? Well, I love cheese. So, anything with cheese on it almost automatically goes to the top of the pile. But, other than the cheese, I think the sauce was a little tastier, and the overall value was slightly better than the garden salad. What the garden salad did have going for it, though, is the addition of the okra and the wax apple. Is that enough to sway you?
Soup
On L’idiot’s business lunch menu, the soup changes on a daily (probably more realistic is to say weekly) basis. Here we had their pumpkin soup. It was good, but I wouldn’t order if it ordering à la carte.
Next, we get down to the tastier things on the menu – the pasta.
Main Meal
Now, an Italian restaurant like L’idiot should be able to stake their life on their pasta dishes, I’d also say quite a bit more so than on their pizza dishes. Pasta is not just a dish in Italy, it’s a way of life. It is what rice is to Taiwanese – in their blood. The two pasta dishes that we ordered were their bolognese, and their seafood pasta with pesto. Truth be told, the pasta has that homemade, rustic, al dente feel to it that everyone who eats pasta (should) want(s).
The bolognese was delicious because the tomato base was rich, flavourful, and had plenty of meat in there for good measure. L’idiot are hitting the points right off the bat. Now that age old Ragu Vs. Bolognese debate is not going to be debated right here and right now, but I feel like this sauce was fairly well-balanced between those two styles of dishes. The pasta itself was an absolute winner.
Al-dente perfection was presented in this style of pasta that I haven’t had the pleasure of eating before. It was truly worth coming back for, as the sauce would find its way into the enveloped pasta shape and sit their humming away until you chomped right down on it. Thank you to L’idiot for putting this in front of me!
The seafood pasta was slightly more oily due to the nature of pesto, but it was all deliciously balanced between the gentle flavour of basil and pine nuts, seafood, and awesome pasta. The seafood tasted fresh and was nicely cooked, the in-house made by L’idiot pesto was balanced really nicely, and the pasta was (in my opinion) the best of the day. The slightly frilled nature to the pasta allowed for the outer edges to be slightly more cooked, but the inner edge being more on the al dente side. It balanced really nicely from a texture point of view.
Dessert
In terms of dessert, I don’t feel like L’idiot’s business menu dessert will win any stand-alone awards, but that’s not to say it wasn’t good. The dessert was a chocolate log-type-thing with a tangy berry sauce. It was moreish, but only because it was chocolate and berries (rarely can you go wrong with that combination, in my opinion). Remember, that the dessert also comes with a drink of your choosing. (coffee not pictured, because it was just coffee).
The verdict
Overall, I really think that $799 is excellent value for what you get here at L’idiot. The food is all cooked and presented really nicely, and is competitively priced among other set menu establishments around the city.