Chez Philippe - Joliette

I have visited Domaine de Châteauvieux once way back in time, nearly 9 years ago. That was such a distant memory and back then I was not very knowledgeable in food and beverage, let alone proper haute cuisine. All I could remember was that the dinner was excellent from beginning to end. Today I happened to be able to make a plan for lunch at Chez Philippe (partly because almost no other Michelin restaurant is open on Sunday), so of course I went for it. 9 years apart, second visit to a restaurant under chef Philippe Chevrier. Expectation was obviously sky high. Located in Passage des Lions, Chez Philippe has two floors. Ground floor is Bar: less sophisticated menu in comparison to first floor, more of a relatively more casual dining space. First floor is Grill: indoor and roofed terrace. A display of the meat products can be seen from the indoor area. Cozy interior design, efficiently elegant and not ostentatious. A fairly big menu for Grill. Quite a number of appetisers, good selection of protein: both land and sea. Some very interesting side dishes as well. Massive wine carte and an impressive number of signature cocktails considering the available wines to choose from. Started with a pâté en croûte and a cocktail called Castanis. Nothing too special about the pâté: it was exactly how it was supposed to be. Castanis was very interesting: rye whiskey with Ricard, apple juice and a couple of other ingredients. Very bold choice of using Ricard: the first two sips were very powerful and nearly overwhelming with the flavour and aroma of star anise. However, starting from the third sip (and especially with a few bites of savoury food), the cocktail was pleasantly refreshing and perfectly balanced, even surprisingly light. Bold choice that paid off: a very delicately designed cocktail. Followed with a bisque de homard with savoury cream on the side. It didn’t look great to be honest. Savoury cream had some crispy rice on top: the rice felt like a very weird addition. Once it goes into the bisque, the texture of rice is instantly gone and it’s impossible to taste it anymore. Savoury cream works perfectly well with the bisque. And the bisque itself: fantastic. I personally did not want to admit it in the beginning, because I have very fond (and personal) memories of lobster bisque from Shula’s Steakhouse in United States. Shula’s bisque is much more presentable, cooked with Sherry au sec and thickened with roux. Bisque from Chez Philippe was cooked with whiskey au sec, slightly looser in texture, but also slightly more concentrated in lobster flavour. Truly, truly fantastic lobster bisque. Not only did I finish the bisque, I made sure to use the bread to soak up every single bit of it. As long as you don’t have shellfish allergy, you should order the bisque here. Ended the meal with an Irish ribeye cooked to med-rare with café de Paris sauce, and an extra side of oignon confit. Perfectly cooked steak, great sauce, fantastic side dish. That’s all there was to it: you have to taste the food to find out for yourself. Being a Bib Gourmand, the pricing is well within the category. For food, the total amount was 99 CHF. That’s not bad at all and the portion size was significant. Of course, if one is to order premium cuts and so on, the check for just food can easily go up to 300 or so, but I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole. Fantastic restaurant, experts working the grill, and commendable service team as well.

Worst experience over valued too long to serve the food and does not value its clients/visitors. Wont be visiting again. ID rather spend my money on other luxury places.

Visited as a couple for a final dinner autumnholiday last year. Elegant restaurant and well sophisticated service. Dinner was just stunningly tasteful and wines well-balanced with menu. Michelin Bib gourmand well deserved for quality-price-ration. Book and enjoy.

Food was great, a little pricey but most all restaurants are pricey in Genève. Wife had steak that she loved and I had the black cod which was delicious. Had Pinot wine with our dinner. Was a excellent meal all the way around.

Excellent, unassuming and wonderful find. Great variety and fine value tasting menu. Exciting food with high quality presentation, service and inventiveness. A big thanks to our waiter Alexy who recommended us some of the best dishes we have ever tasted! A highlight of Geneva. Book to avoid disappointment , it’s really worth it.