Le Crocodile: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Le Crocodile, located in Williamsburg, is serving delicious French food with a sophisticated yet cozy atmosphere. I had the most perfect dining experience there last week for my birthday, and if you’re looking for a dinner that gives Parisian energy with a hint of a New York City flare, Le Crocodile is your place. I’m also introducing a new rating system for my restaurant reviews. It’ll be measured by flowers for a fun spin off of my blog and brand name The Flour Child — 1 flower means I wouldn’t recommend it at all, and 5 flowers means I’ll be back sometime soon. Between the complimentary birthday champagne, a beautiful wine selection, incredible service, and the best scallops I’ve ever had, I’d give Le Crocodile 5/5 flowers from The Flour Child. Let’s get into it:
After my semi recent travels to Beaune with my dad, I’ve been craving some quality, authentic, indulgent French food to satisfy my craving and transport me back. I didn’t have any expectations for Le Crocodile because I didn’t actually know that’s where I’d be eating on my birthday — my amazing sister surprised me with the entire night’s plan. That being said, I’d go back there time and time again. We were seated at a very cozy table in the back corner of the restaurant and served a complimentary glass of champagne to celebrate my birthday. Our waitress was so friendly and knowledgable about the menu, and I really appreciate when restaurant staff seem passionate about the ingredients on a menu and are excited to talk about them. My sister got a dirty martini and I opted for a glass of Syrah. We wanted to try something from each section of the menu and started at the Fruits de Mer portion with the scallops with ginger, parsley, and Meyer lemon. These scallops quite literally melted in my mouth, were cleaned to perfection (my sister and I are both sticklers about this), and were complimented beautifully with the delicate background ingredients of herbs and citrus. We ate this very slowly so that we could savor each bite, so incredible!
Onto the next section which was Hors d’oeuvres, we chose the leeks with vinaigrette and hazelnuts. Leeks are very much in season right now, and I wanted to take advantage of enjoying them with a French flare. Leeks are an ingredient that I definitely do not cook with enough. They have such a muted onion essence with just enough punch. These leeks were braised until tender and glazed in some sort of butter sauce, and sat over an herby, savory, creamy vinaigrette. The combination of the allium notes, velvety sauce, and crunch from the hazelnuts made for a perfect bite. This is a dish that I’d love to recreate soon with other seasonal vegetables.
Moving on to the Entrées which are actually appetizers in French and served before the main meal, we had to try the escargot. I really enjoyed eating escargot in France and never ever eat it in New York, so this was an obvious pick for the night. The escargot was served out of the shell with parsley, Pernod (a French anise liqueur), and shaved fennel. The fennel and Pernod played off of each other very well since fennel naturally has some anise flavor in it, and the parsley was a classic, fresh touch. I loved this dish and I think if you go to a French restaurant as wonderful as Le Crocodile, it’s mandatory to order the escargot!
Finally, for the main plates, I ordered the roast chicken with herb jus and frites. Now, if you know me well, you’ll know that this was absolutely no surprise at all. I’m known for ordering the roast chicken at different restaurants, and it’s certainly a lovely French classic. This roast chicken was very good and I’d be happy to eat it again. Was it the best I’ve ever had? No. I thought the shared plates were better and had more of a wow factor, but that being said I really enjoyed this dish. I think it would’ve been even more delicious if the chicken skin was slightly crispier, and maybe had some more citrus in the herb jus to cut all the savory flavors. Nonetheless, a very good roast chicken and I’d recommend trying it if you’re a roast chicken lover like myself. My sister ordered the halibut beurre blanc, spring greens, and fine herbs, and this was outstanding. So creamy and buttery, a true ode to France. The halibut was flakey, delicious, and cooked to perfection.
This was the best meal I’ve had since Laser Wolf a few months ago. Absolutely incredible French food, great service, and a few interesting, unique spins of traditional dishes. Thank you, Le Crocodile, for a memorable 23rd birthday dinner! I’ll be back soon, Merci beaucoup!
