Au Crocodile (Strasbourg, FRANCE) ★★★★☆

When we first arrived at the stunning Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg, it was starting to pour heavily from the sky. So, we decided to rush through our tour at Place de la Cathédrale and then head straight to our dinner venue. And with my little umbrella that wasn’t quite doing its job, I ended up soaky wet and dripping with water by the time we arrived at Au Crocodile.

Au Crocodile is our first serious dining adventure on this trip.

To say that Au Crocodile is a storied culinary institution is not an overstatement. Founded in 1840 around a legendary stuffed crocodile brought back from Napoleon’s Egypt campaign, Au Crocodile grew from a historic Strasbourg tavern into a global pillar of French gastronomy. The restaurant reached its absolute culinary peak under the helm of Chef Émile Jung, holding three Michelin stars from 1989 to 2002.

Today, its historic legacy as a premier dining destination continues under Chef Romain Brillat after a complete modern revitalization. The restaurant also regained its Michelin star in 2021.

The ground-floor main dining room features an intimate, romantic atmosphere of light and shadow. The stunning centerpiece of the space is a massive, meticulously restored 1874 oil painting, adding a grand sense of Alsatian history to the spacious room. However, what caught our immediate attention was the breathtaking framed crocodile specimen at the entrance of the dining room.

Unfortunately, with little nugget with us, that was all the time we could spend in the main dining room. We were quickly escorted to an elevator near the front desk and taken to the second-floor dining room — a smaller, but equally elegant space (all while water continued to drip from my clothes!).

Today’s amuse-bouche was salmon tartlet with salmon roe and capers, some sort of chicken rillette (or liver pâté), and lastly a celery horseradish “dumpling” with an extra kick.

Our small nibbles were accompanied by buttery mini brioche served with homemade butter.

A further amuse-bouche arrived just before our first starter, and was introduced as smoked tomato gazpacho with shaved Parmesan. Interestingly, a few of us thought it tasted more like plums or more specifically, mirabelle plums, which are in season in Alsace right now.

Our first starter was beautifully cooked turbot, nicely paired with crunchy vegetables like broad beans and zucchini, and competently finished with an intense sauce made from the turbot bones. The sauce was the star here, tying everything together perfectly.

Next up was duck foie gras terrine. There were a few thin slices, placed over some warm duck meat. The dish was finished with small cubes of vinegar jelly, among other condiments.

Homemade brioche was served on the side, presumably to enjoy with the foie gras as a “spread”.

Next up was superbly cooked abalone from Brittany, matched with a hazelnut ragout and chewy fresh seaweed. The flavors were fascinating, highlighted by that distinct “sea water” note from the seaweed, which complemented the abalone brilliantly.

Some homemade bread was served while they get the next dish ready.

Brittany blue lobster tail, cooked tableside. Everyone loves tableside cooking in fine dining.

Our server carefully transferred the lobster tail into a container filled with rich lobster broth. Within a matter of seconds, the lobster tail was removed and placed on top of a buckwheat risotto, along with an open raviolo. A nice pour of the subtle lobster sauce soon followed.

The lobster was really delicious, with excellent, bouncy texture.

A glass of lobster broth was served on the side to be sipped after enjoying the lobster tail. Unlike the sauce served with the lobster tail, this broth was stronger and far more intense, with a hint of cognac.

Our first meat dish was a lean cut of beef from Belle Robles farm. 

It was served with mashed potatoes and a slightly earthy sauce made from melanosporum truffle.

Our last savory dish was roasted pigeon, matched with variations of artichoke and pigeon jus. The pigeon breast itself was nicely cooked, but I thought the jus did very little to elevate the flavors of the pigeon.

Our pre-dessert was a refreshing one — fresh strawberries and raspberries, nicely paired with a herby rocket pesto.

The sweet ending came courtesy of an iced and creamy vanilla dessert trapped inside a sugar ball. 

There was a small core of caramel in the middle to complement the vanilla, while extra virgin olive oil added more savory-sweet flavors.

Our mignardises tonight were white chocolate with frozen lemongrass (and what my son thought was pear), a tartlet topped with jasmine-infused mousse and what I thought was a mini mirabelle plum pie.

By the time we walked past Place Kléber, Strasbourg’s main square, on the way back to our apartment hotel, it was already 11pm, a familiar scene from 2012 that kept coming back to us from time to time.

Looking back at our dinner tonight, I thought the service was excellent throughout. The restaurant manager and her crew of outstanding servers thoroughly entertained us all night long. There was one dish I particularly liked (the sugar ball with vanilla) and a few others that were pretty darn good. But there were also a couple that were less satisfying.

Surprisingly, even with such a long parade of dishes, I wasn’t totally stuffed like I thought I would. I guess that’s a very good sign, considering we still have three or four big meals coming up in the next few days.

Food Rating: 7.4/10

Price: €€€

Address: 10 Rue de l'Outre, 67000 Strasbourg, France

Tel: +33 (0)3 8832-1302

Website: https://www.au-crocodile.com/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 1:00pm (Thu - Sat), 7:00pm - 9:00pm (Tue - Sat)